Good Japanese coilover brands?

z31maniac wrote: Definitely function and form. Which is the Whiteline springs would be perfect, however, I've only found one place so far with them for sale, and they only had the front coils for sale. THey are the perfect drop/rate/linear that I'm looking for. Which is why I've been tirelessly researching this all week. I want to upp the handling a bit, get a decent stance, without totally ruining the "GT-esque" ride quality. But mildly stiffer springs/struts and lowered ride height would be phenominal. Then it will just be down to Koni's/Bilsteins. So still a bit before I save up for all of it. But I usually research stuff to death before I purchase it. The only reviews I've read on Megan on the 350Z boards are guys who type like this, "Yaeh mon my MEgan setup is rael gud, i can haz my car rael leaux and dorifuto don teh off ramps" And like mentioned earlier, a company may have their valving spot on for one vehicle, and it be terrible for another. I will admit I'm curious about "Stance" brand coilovers, but not sure I'm curious enough to buy them without riding in a car that has them. I also don't like that it seems most of the Japanese coilovers say "Here are teh rates with our coilovers." Where as places like Ground Control/Vorshlag tailor the setup to suit your needs. If I can find a vendor with the Whiteline springs I'm going to go ahead and buy them.

The misconception is that most japanese companies say "here are the rates with our coilovers." With the vast majority of them you can order whatever spring rate you want. I'm not running off the shelf rates on my setup, and i got them for no additional charge.

I meant Function and Form the company. I think they had a good reputation amount the B13 Sentra guys.

But yeah... i think for what you're looking for, you don't need anything like that. Just struts and the whiteline springs sounds good. I <3 Whiteline.

Now to just find a vendor that sells Whiteline 350Z springs!

I keep seeing the vendors on the forums advertising all the Whiteline products EXCEPT the springs, which is making me nervous that they are no longer available.

You'll probably have better luck getting them from an Aussie distributor for whatever reason.

You could try www.185performance.com. I got my Whiteline sways for the Celica from him. Josh is a nice guy.

Thanks I sent him an email.

Once I get home today, I'll peruse the GRM vendor section and shoot some more emails out.

Z-1 auo sells Whiteline stuff but no springs. Send him an e-mail. He can get anything from Japan if its available. I wonder if they went out of production.

I found one web site (turbowholesaleperfomance or something) that is selling the front springs but no rear springs.

I sent Z-1 a PM on my 350Z and I am waiting for a response.

Josh at 185 is also looking into the matter for me.

However, I have a sinking feeling the springs are out of production, which is truly E36 M3. As the springs seem perfect by the specs.

Well I just talked to one of the retailers from my350z.com, he said the springs went out of production 6-8 months ago.

And he said, since I'm from the Koni/Bilstein using camp that none of the Japanese brand of coilovers are going to make me happy. He said he doesn't mind recommending Tokico DSpecs and Stance etc to people who don't any better than stock, but said they don't hold a candle to Koni/Bilstein/KW.

He suggested trying to use Ground Control parts if available to make a custom coilover setup using Koni's or saving up to get the KW coilovers.

I know AST has a setup, but I'm not looking to spend $3000 on just the spring/adjuster/damper setup.

z31maniac wrote: I found one web site (turbowholesaleperfomance or something) that is selling the front springs but no rear springs. I sent Z-1 a PM on my 350Z and I am waiting for a response. Josh at 185 is also looking into the matter for me. However, I have a sinking feeling the springs are out of production, which is truly E36 M3. As the springs seem perfect by the specs.

Give Josh a little time, i wouldn't be surprised if he came through at all. He managed to get me bushings that were out of production for two of my cars. I think technically the whiteline bars for the Celica are out of production as well. (I have FWD not AWD)

While Im sure megan has impressed you, nontheless I see it as money wasted because the performance trade off is so small. You have to remember that the butt-shock-dyno is even worse than the butt-horsepower dyno. It may feel sportier, and sit lower, but other than being lower and offering a lower center of gravity and possible aerodynamic benefit, I would be weary. It is very hard to beat koni for the money. In fact, I have yet to see it. Sure I had "custom" springs and revalved KSports, and sure it felt sporty. But perceived difference and factual performance improvement are very different. Take the time to find a shock dyno graph, and you will be dissapointed. All those (Megan, KSport...etc, yes I will group them together) have pathetic valving, often those 32 levels of adjustment are smaller than the span of a quarter of the Konis, with less "levels". Tested springs in the SAME box have been found to vary in compression quiet significantly. Im not here to company bash, but data verifies further that you pay for what you get.

93celicaGT2 wrote:

z31maniac wrote: I found one web site (turbowholesaleperfomance or something) that is selling the front springs but no rear springs. I sent Z-1 a PM on my 350Z and I am waiting for a response. Josh at 185 is also looking into the matter for me. However, I have a sinking feeling the springs are out of production, which is truly E36 M3. As the springs seem perfect by the specs.

Give Josh a little time, i wouldn't be surprised if he came through at all. He managed to get me bushings that were out of production for two of my cars. I think technically the whiteline bars for the Celica are out of production as well. (I have FWD not AWD)

Apparently the Whiteline springs were never officially offered here in the states and have since been out of production for 6-9 months.

One of the vendor's I spoke with suggested Swift R Tech springs coupled with Koni/Bilstein would be exactly what I'm looking for.

He said if I could tell the difference between a linear/progressive spring I should be driving professionally.

I'm not saying that I can, I'm just saying I've only ever driven on linear springs, so I'm not sure I'd like progressives. But if I can't tell the difference?

Any input on linear vs progressive?

I can't speak for progressive springs, but the progressive rates that my bumpstops add is quite nice.

z31maniac wrote:

93celicaGT2 wrote:

z31maniac wrote: I found one web site (turbowholesaleperfomance or something) that is selling the front springs but no rear springs. I sent Z-1 a PM on my 350Z and I am waiting for a response. Josh at 185 is also looking into the matter for me. However, I have a sinking feeling the springs are out of production, which is truly E36 M3. As the springs seem perfect by the specs.

Give Josh a little time, i wouldn't be surprised if he came through at all. He managed to get me bushings that were out of production for two of my cars. I think technically the whiteline bars for the Celica are out of production as well. (I have FWD not AWD)

Apparently the Whiteline springs were never officially offered here in the states and have since been out of production for 6-9 months. One of the vendor's I spoke with suggested Swift R Tech springs coupled with Koni/Bilstein would be exactly what I'm looking for. He said if I could tell the difference between a linear/progressive spring I should be driving professionally. I'm not saying that I can, I'm just saying I've only ever driven on linear springs, so I'm not sure I'd like progressives. But if I can't tell the difference? Any input on linear vs progressive?

Progressive can be a bit unpredictable when driven in anger. I hate them. I can tell the difference and i'm not driving professionally.

rwdsport wrote: While Im sure megan has impressed you, nontheless I see it as money wasted because the performance trade off is so small. You have to remember that the butt-shock-dyno is even worse than the butt-horsepower dyno. It may feel sportier, and sit lower, but other than being lower and offering a lower center of gravity and possible aerodynamic benefit, I would be weary. It is very hard to beat koni for the money. In fact, I have yet to see it. Sure I had "custom" springs and revalved KSports, and sure it felt sporty. But perceived difference and factual performance improvement are very different. Take the time to find a shock dyno graph, and you will be dissapointed. All those (Megan, KSport...etc, yes I will group them together) have pathetic valving, often those 32 levels of adjustment are smaller than the span of a quarter of the Konis, with less "levels". Tested springs in the SAME box have been found to vary in compression quiet significantly. Im not here to company bash, but data verifies further that you pay for what you get.

If the butt-shock-dyno gives me more confidence and lets me drive faster, then it's an improvement, no?

As far as progressive springs, I did drive a friends E46 M3 with Eibach Sportlines that seemed to ride and handle great. But I didn't get a chance to really beat on them.

Here is my opinion. For some background info I have owned Megans, Teins and JIC coilovers.

Tein is garbage IMO. The only thing worse than their product is their customer service. From my experience they do not stand behind their products at all. A friend of mine who owns a race shop refuses to carry Tein now because their customer service is so awful.

I also am not a fan of Megan coilovers. Mine did not last very long and they did not seem to be made nearly as well as my JICs.

I love JIC products. I currently run FLTA-2s on my SC and I have never been happier with a set of coilovers than I am with these. They ride great, perform great and are just an all around solid product. I have put approx. 25K on my JICs and this includes countless track days/autoxs and weekly back roads romps!

I would also avoid K-sport coilovers. While I have no personal experience with these products I have a friend who was an employee there and after talking to him I would not run their coilovers.

As I am prone to do, I misread the thread title and thought it was about coilover bands.....I thought, hmmm, what's a coilover band, what do they sound like? Is it only a thing in Japan?

I am a big fan of JIC products, I currently run FLTA2s on my SC. They have been great. I have also owned Tein coilovers and I will never purchase another Tein product. They broke on me fairly quickly, and several of my buddies have had similar experiences. Teins customer service is the worst in the business too.