Brad thinks I should ditch my OEM sport shocks and Swift Springs for a set of Tein Basis Coilovers.

Tein Basis... opinions anyone? No damping adjustment. Hmm.

 

If I were you I would just pony up the extra coin and go with some nicer coils. Tein is good but I wouldn't go with the basis I d go with their higher model ones. Or another brand

 

Opinions: I'm awfully skeptical of $600 coilovers. I paid $500 just for front shocks, so I kina question the quality

Find a set of gently used KWv3

 

Loving the look of the tails Chris and on that white Sedan, also looks good on Mike's for the unique lighting pattern! Making me jealous!

 

At that price point, I'd shell out the extra cash for a set of BC's.

 

Coilovers are a good option for desired ride height but if you go too low almost all will inevitably have some sort of issue.

 

John, I mentionet the Basis since they're a mild drop coilover. If you have the budget obviously KWs FTW, the KWV1s are a great setup w/out damper adjustment.
I'd either go minimal w/ the Basis or big $$ w/ the KWs~the Taiwan BCs, Megans,et al aren't a step up from the Teins IMO, and like I mentioned, the 32 click adjusters is more of a gimmick as there's such a small window of useable adjustment that it really should have 3 clicks, lol. Adjustable coilovers in the higher price points are a different story though.

 

Dang, you just missed out on a set of KW V3s for $1400...

 

Thing is, the plan was to go big with high-quality (and likely high $$$) coil-overs, but not for another three years. You guys know that I plan this stuff out.

Here's what happened over the last 12 months:

• 19" staggered Vossens & PSS made me look at the poke and gap. Unhappy from Day 1, so I immediately purchased some RWD Swift Springs.
• Swifts lowered the car, and I was happy for many months. But over time, the rear looked more and more droopy to me.
• Last winter, I bought some 5/8" poly spacers for the top of the springs, customized them to fit, and installed in Spring 2015. Immediately unhappy...
• ...because that actually created a 1"+ increase in ride height. There wasn't any give to the poly the way springs normally settle into the rubber top-seats.
• So I bought 3/8" spacers, and two top-seats customized to fit the spacers this time. Installed, and incredibly happy. Blissfully happy. Perfect fitment was had! Win! (LOL)
• For about a month, when the 3/8" spacers failed, and stretched out of shape. Now I have a droopy bum again.
• On top of that, my recent alignment is giving me a -2.7* camber on one side, which is just wrong.
• I also just last week dropped $140 on a set of SPC Rear Camber arms. Those are just sitting in my office right now, mocking me.

That's my story.

I'm considering a number of options:

• Leave it alone and accept the droopy bum. Cost $0.
• Remove the spacers and install the camber arms and accept the droopy bum. Cost $200 after installation and another alignment. I already spent the $140 on the camber arms... so those are getting used eventually anyway.
• Try poly spacers for a third (and last) time,along with the new Camber Arms. Only this time, put 3/8" spacers on the underside of the top-seats, instead of against the springs. Cost also $200 after labor and another alignment.
• Buy some Tein Basis, as a 3 year stop-gap until I buy some worthy CO's. Cost $1000 after installation.

 

You wouldn't say , even the 3 clicks of dampening, warrant the extra $300? What about build quality?

 

I think the Tein build quality would be a notch over the Taiwan COs, most Japanese products are superior in that regard, but YMMV. I have Megan COs which are from the same source as BCs and are so similar they could almost be called the same, and I've been happy w/ them for about 35k miles now, but that adjustment "feature" isn't really much of one IMO. A couple clicks down and it's too floaty and a couple clicks up and it's too firm.
Also using OEM top front mounts is superior to pillow ball mounts too, at least in the cheaper setups. FWIW KWs use OEM top mounts too

 

Rochester--

How long are you planning to keep the car? I think 3 years is a long time to wait for coils only to enjoy them for a couple years.

Between here and the 370 board, you should be able to score KWv3s for not much more than the Teins. Remove the spacers, wait a bit, and score some gently used coilovers

 

I bought it used in Jan 2012 with only 3900 miles. It now has 24k miles on it, and I'm 1.5 years out from paying off the lien on the bank loan. I've been enjoying (most) every moment with the car, and my mod plans extend out for a number of years still.

I'm loosely planning on 2020 for next car, when I hope to pick up a 4 to 5 year old Jag F-Type S Coupe 6MT.

So to answer your question... five more years. Six on the high-side.

 

So if you adhere to your plan and get coils in 3 years, you'll only get to enjoy them for 2-3 years. Buy them now, and you get coilover awesomeness for 5-6 years.

It's always easy spending someone else's money, but I think going with cheap coils now, and the install and alignment costs only to do it again in a couple years isnt worth it. And you're not going to recoup much $$ on $600 Teins selling them in the classifieds.

 

No doubt. I do it all the time.

Look, I'm usually very disciplined when it comes to sticking with my budget. The number of times I forced myself to wait until "next month" to buy something is so frequent, it's actually the norm. My point being, I already spent money on the "big" mod this year (FI catback). Next year's major mod is supposed to be rear gears, and I really don't want to push that out any further.

I do appreciate the advice, Lego. But these discretionary expenses on the car are big decisions for me, whether they have to be or not. It's not really about the money, it's about how the money is spent, and done so in a way that I can rationalize as a hobby activity while still being responsible for family and home. So I talk about it, and ask questions, and debate myself as much as others. Blah blah blah.