nice so far!

 

damper is adjustable, but height is not the true way of adjusting it. moving the entire spring seat up and down affects the dampering. All it'll do is add more or less tension to the springs, causing the struts to either be more or less compressed giving you adjustable height. In order to get true height adjustment without affecting spring rate, would be to have a separate perch that allows the entire strut body itself move while keeping the springs in place.

the Tein Advances don't do that. Until Tein makes the Flex Coilovers, there are still no true full adjustable coilovers on the market for our specific cars. Buddy Club also makes the N+ which is equivalent to the Tein Flex, but it's only for the Civic non-SI 2012+ models.

 

Not to be contrary, but that's not entirely true.

Spring (and rates) determine where the car sits. The shock/dampener determines how fast or slow everything bounces back from impact. The faster it does, the more sporty and harsh the ride. The TEIN's are fully adjustable, they just don't have a separate preload on the springs like Megan/Form and Function style. They are also a monotube design vs. dual tube. There are pluses and minuses to both...

Personally, I had the Megan style on my last car and I'd never look back...rocking Tein SS, maxed out and it rides great. I wouldn't look any further than Tein based on my own experience.

Tein, comfortable and very reliable and simple to adjust, well built and thick threading that doesn't seize as easily.

Megan/FF/buddy club are for going low, very low...stiff and sporty and usually cheaper.

My 2 sense...

 

Yeah, I mean you can have 36 adjustment options.. but I'd rather just say.. I want it to be this comfortable/sporty and I want it to sit this low. The TEINs from everyone I have heard owning them, sounds like great bang for the buck.

 

I don't want to sound like a fanboy...but I'd 100% buy TEIN again if I had to choose again. I'm as low as I'd want to be and the car still rides really nicely.

 

Your TL is slammed and nicely so.
Thanks for chiming in, it all helps solidify that I wont have buyers remorse going TEIN.

 

Thank you, buddy...
most of the time I feel pretty qualified to spew my opinion on it since I've had both variations of the coils described and wouldn't go down that road again. Not saying that they're POS...but can't compare to the quality of the TEIN's.

 

If tein sold Flex's (what I had on both my legacy and impreza), I would go for them. The Advance's are fine for what most people need, but I would like a separate adjustment on along with camber adjustable top hats. I would rather not re-use our ILX top hats, for all I know, they could also be the culprit to all the noise we get in our cars.

 

btw, I had Tein SS on my 3.2tl and I blown three of the four shocks. The tein flex also did blow on me after about 30k miles, and I replaced them with JIC Magic inverse strut monotubes with matched Swift coilover springs. Rides ridiculously smooth, and perfectly flat for track duty.

Oh if I can do it like this from the beginning...

 

You're all making the case for the oem suspension setup for me.

 

I think the key point is that I am not going to track the car.. very unlikely it will see abuse to merit a bust at 30K..

 

I've been on the Tein's for 60K now, almost, absolutely no issues. Intended purpose is probably one of those things that should be mentioned when giving advice. I will say I've had great luck and have never tracked the car.

 

Its a different case, since I tend to beat on all my cars.. (of course not so much on public roads but closed-off tracks).

I do want to take the ILX on the autocross course every now and then, so i'll look to see if Tein's will come out wit the flex's, or buddy club with the racing specs, or KW with the Variant 3's or so along those lines.

 

I'd rather see you tracking the Subi in your avatar!

 

gladly.

 

btw,

ever consider ultimate-racing's exaust system?







it might just work for our cars. may requiring a bit of trimming though.

 

I have been looking at all the 3" exhausts and how they line up with the bumper.. You'd have to go about 1 inch out then have the dump or dolphin tip start.

In my opinion the UR catback sounds terrabad so far I like GReddy most out of the big three. But.. GReddy only has a coupe setup

 

ah. i didn't know how nasty the UR sounded. I was just looking to see some options on making exhausts work on our cars. maybe I'll just get whatever one that sounds best and chop the tip off. or weld a stupid drooping pipe to it.

 

Get the full-race, it sounds the best from what i've seen / heard. Though the invidia q300 is quieter. Also, the magnaflow and borla exhausts sound great, but they're only 2.5" and are very pricey.

 

love those track pictures, thanks for sharing!

 

im probably gonna go with the UR downpipe and invidia q300.. probably the most cost efficient and net some good power as well.

 

thanks and no problem!

 

The Q300 is the only one outside of the GReddy and Full-Race I have liked the sound of so far. The full race downpipe has a weird tinny sound in it apparently.. didn't notice when I first watched their video



On the otherhand.. I emailed my local tuning shop.. gonna see how much they will charge for installing a LSD..

 

The UR downpipe is 3" and the q300 is 70mm, you may end up creating a bottle neck with that setup. I'd rather go for a 2.5 to 70mm instead because you'll be increasing the speed of the flow that way. Or you can wait for the invidia downpipe.

 

I'm thinking the full-race sounds tinny because of the cat. Either way, it's not even ready yet. I'm kinda liking the borla for our cars because it's not loud and sounds the least 4-cylinder like:


The magnaflow is ok, but the tip is weird:


I can't find a good video of the q300.

 

NVM, found this video of the q300:

 

The Full-Race has that tinny sound apparenlty in combination with the integrated header the piping on Full-Race is so thin it amplifies the sound. At least that's what Geoff says.

I am gonna have to listen to that Borla ASAP!

 

I know the diameter steps down, but don't you want a bit of back pressure anyways in a NA 4 cylinder? Having a straight free flow exhaust especially at 3inches seem overkill on an NA car anyways.. Unless these K motors get more power from having a freer exhaust side.

 

Yea, but you'd want to step up, not step down. Also, dynos have been showing gains up high with a 3" system, though I prefer extra bottom end torque and a quieter car to a few extra ponies up top.

 

So... who's getting an exhaust first? I am about ready to drop the hammer on all my suspension stuff

 

I think I am...I have the money, just trying to determine if saving for the s/c and fp is a better idea. A stage 1 s/c will sound stock and give great gains.

 

The way I've had it explained to me is like comparing it to a straw.
Take a coffee stirrer, a regular straw & a paper towel roll. The regular straw is going to give the best exhaust velocity, the stirrer is too restrictive & the towel roll is too open. You want no "back pressure" but you don't want it to be too big either.

 

!! Yeah, the CT supercharger looks the best (even if it doesn't make the most power) I take their quality any day!

I want to see what an exhaust is gonna be like on the ILX! I know I want the full race cat back but I want the suspension first.

 

do it

 

Hmmm...first SC'd ILX. I'm in.

 

Talked to one of the performance shops in my area.. They want $1600 to do the differential swap.. needless to say, I'll still be shopping around! lol..

It should only be like a 3 hour job so a reputable shop will want to charge like 6 hours worth... If it's $800 to install I understand.. but 1600? HA. He goes "well if you want to swap in a new clutch that's no extra charge" ... like really bro?

 

That's insane! I know the parts are around $800

 

There are 3 parts different from the Si to our car that are a direct bolt-on swap. The cheapest I found after shipping was $960. I am putting off suspension until I get the LSD and S/C.. I am getting a new house soon and I wanna get my huge car purchases out of the way so I avoid the regret if I cant get 4 grand for an S/C later.

I was look at it and it really seems straight forward.. I am talking to Cobb Tuning now about them installing it. They're unfamiliar with the car but they specialize in AWD cars and I am sure those differentials are more complex than ours.. they have a great reputation.

 

You live near cobb tuning? That's pretty awesome, though I suspect their labor doesn't come cheap. I gotta hand it to you, you seem very well off for 23 years old.

 

god, i wish I was near cobb... I get all my tune maps from them online and use the accessport to flash my subarus. Would be nicer if I could get a dyno tune at their facility.

LUCKY YOU