Tein Coilovers etc?

It’s been a while since I have paid much attention to aftermarket stuffs. One name I’ve come across recently is Tein suspension items.

In general is this a quality manufacturer, like Koni or Eibach is (was?)?

Thank you

Sort of depends on your tolerance and needs.  Some like Tein, others says it's junk.

I'm happy with my Feals, Redshift seems to have a good rep, and/but otherwise it's usually wise to find a company that builds for your specific car model.

Also, Koni came out with their GTS coilovers, but only for the most popular stuff right now.

Speaking of which, what car is it?

They're decent quality, somewhat better than the Taiwanese cheapos, probably on par with Koni but not as good as Eibach.

I'm considering FEAL or Redshift for whenever I can afford coilovers for the Toyobaru.

Back when you could get aftermarket parts for middle aged corollas I bought tein lowering springs and thought they were ok. Then I figured out they were way to soft yet too harsh. A couple years later I bought H&R springs to replace them. The H&R's were cheaper up front and much better in every metric. I'm still running the H&R's 15 years later. I threw the teins in the trash 5 years ago.

Had a good experience with feal coilovers, the people there seemed pretty knowledgeable on applications

I had a gc8 2.5rs with Teins. It was great IMO. There is a 90*+ turn by my house that I cannot take as fast with my Cayman as I could with the GC8.

FWIW-My Golf R is on BC Racing and I like them too.

I just did redshift on my mirage. Chris over there was awesome to deal with and they are really good. I like them a lot. It wasn't super cheap because I had a custom application and needed to order a second strut mount for the shock but given that it's a non USDM setup, I'm happy to get the exact thing I needed. 

I've had tein in the past and they were decent. I just like the Redshift more. 

Thanks guys. This is just for general info. When I do wrecking yard therapy the green color of the Tein parts tend to stick out and I was curious as to who Tein is.

They are generally pretty good. But I'm always skeptical of people who think stuff like BCs/KSport/etc is great stuff.

It's almost always confirmation bias and having never driven on higher-end setups. 

The only exception was Flying Miata's VMaxx setup. They were great, but even the track spring package was a bit soft for RComps. Then went to the 949 Racing BGK, and tracked a friend's NB on Fat Cat Motorsports. 

Since they are mentioned, I'll share that I did a couple of autocross runs last week in my friend's NB2 with VMaxx coilovers and front bar, and the stock sport rear bar. He and I both own and compete in E Street with 99 Sport miatas with the factory Hard S suspensions, Koni Sport shocks and hollow Racing Beat front sway bars, so we're used to driving very good autocross cars.

He had me drive the NB2 because he loved it so much he's going to sell the 99, and he wants me to understand why. I took it easy on the first run to get a feel for the car, then pushed a bit on the next. I have to say it was amazing how composed and responsive the car was, and the grip was fantastic. I will miss having him in our class, but I had to say that I understood.

RedShift fan myself.  Same idea.  I have them on my ND and both CRXs.

Not to spam, and I dont want to ruffle feathers

BUT - if you do have teins and are interested in a new old-version of the EDFC system, let me know.

Just picked up a kit from an estate sale that Im trying to sell. I promise it'll be cheaper than a used kit via ebay etc

z31maniac said:

They are generally pretty good. But I'm always skeptical of people who think stuff like BCs/KSport/etc is great stuff.

It's almost always confirmation bias and having never driven on higher-end setups. 

True. I have only driven on two sets as mentioned. Way better than stock.

If I decide to keep my Cayman it will be getting Ohlins. Cheaper than replacing what's there.

About 20 years ago I bought some Tein Flex coilovers for my FC and upped the spring rate on the front end to better match what was a known good starting point for road course work. I thought they rode well enough and handled track use well, but I didn't really have anything to compare them to and didn't have a ton of track experience. My dad also ended up with some used Tein Flex on his turbo NA Miata, again, with stiffer front springs and those handled pretty well too. Neither of us had any issues with them leaking and needing rebuilding and they didn't seem to have their performance degrade over time. Both were a bit stiff for daily driving, but we were prioritizing track performance over street comfort. I later got some KW V3's on my RX8, but it was a few years between, so I have no back to back comparison.

I think in general, if you get the spring rates right and the damping isn't crap, anything will feel better than worn out stock to most people.

One seemingly common issue with Japanese coilovers, at least 20 years ago, was spring rates that are far off what most people run on track. On both the FC and Miata, they were way more rear biased than what most people found to work well, so one would need to either swap springs or go with a big front bar and no rear, or something like that.