Originally Posted by mrheeltoe

I am making this article in response to an overwhelming number of times I have to answer this question. I am going attempt to make this posting grow to reflect more suspension items in Tein's lineup. Right now, it should give you a little insight into which direction you should go!


Basics - For the customer who wants to lower the car, improve handling, and retain a relatively nice ride. Most times the ride is comparable to stock. Over certain roads a difference can be felt. This suspension makes the car feel more attached to the road.

SS - Same thing as Basics with the ability to adjust stiffness. There are 4 reasons to get the SS over the basic. 1- You have extra money to spend. 2- You are really concerned about ride, so you want to soften it up making it closer to stock. 3- You are really interested in performance, you want to be able to dial in the shocks where you feel they handle the best. 4- You want your gadgets to have more tweakability.

FLEX - FLEX are for the person who wants maximum handling with a ride that is still acceptable on the street. These have a higher spring rate than the Basic/SS. These shocks and springs are designed for a higher performance level. This also means they will ride firmer than the others. Upper pillow mounts are included, which increase responsiveness and linear feel of suspension, but also make the ride feel harsher (similar to effect of installing low profile tires). The Flex also have a unique lower bracket that facilitates changing of the damper length. This gives more height options and allows for spring preload. If maximum lowering (3"+) is your goal, the FLEX will work. These adjustments also allow for greater track tuning.

EDFC - Simply allows you to adjust the firmness of the damper from inside the car. Not always compatible with all cars and all adjustable dampers. On the TSX it works with the FLEX and not SS due to clearance issues on the car.

Originally Posted by jlukja

Marcus, did you leave out the CE on purpose?

Originally Posted by jlukja

Marcus, did you leave out the CE on purpose?

Originally Posted by mrheeltoe

Stay tuned to this link to always get the most current information on these systems. I am going to be changing the content periodically to reflect new systems, and new concepts. Will add pictures as well.

Originally Posted by hfkuan

whats the approx. drop of the basics? Are these also height adjustable?

Originally Posted by MrHeeltoe

The Basics and SS will drop the TSX about 2" in the front and about 1.7" in the back. That yields about 1 finger gap all the way around. Some people are afraid of the 2" in the front, but this drop is nice and even looking, rides excellent, and offers much improved handling. Ground clearance is less, but still plenty adequate. Overall, I think it is the perfect drop. But you have about 3/4" adjustment up or down without hurting the ride.

Originally Posted by TodaSi

Reading this makes me a little sad. I guess we have come to the point where performance is lost and aesthetics reigns supreme. I may be miss reading Marcus' article but it does drive the point of looks...which is unfortunately what most (I'm guessing here) customers want. Nothing against Marcus (who is and has been an awesome vendor) but have we all lost the point of coilovers? Coilovers are to balance the vehicle via cornerbalancing/cornerweighting. How many people on this site have actually cornerbalanced their car after they installed coilovers?