I just ordered a set of Tien Flex Coilovers w/EDFC. My buddies that I autocross with were telling me that I made a huge mistake because the Tien Flex model is crap. The, however drive an S2000 and an IS300. I did research on this site about coilovers and it seemed to me like the best way to go for my driving. I wanted something that was good for track/autox and also was comfortable for daily driving. I figured that the in-car adjustability of the EDFC was the way to go. Am I going to have to re-build the shocks every year like my buddies say I will?

 

Yeah what do they have?

No mistake. Tein Flex is a great choice, I love it. On the softest setting they are better than stock but not so rough that you will hate your car. On the stiff setting the car feels much tighter and drives like its on rails. If you are building a track only car then you might want to go with something even stiffer but otherwise you made the right choice. I dunno what your friends are thinking but they are probably driving on crap compared to the Tein Flex. Just jealous I would guess. Flex is not cheap and Tein has a great reputation.

 

Never listen to what the owner of an IS300 has to say about footwork. That is not a logical thing to do =)

 

Actually, his IS300 can hold a steady 1.16 lateral gs, but its still a 4 door sedan

 

Hmmmm, 1.16g...are you sure about that? The Enzo does a 1.05g.

 

=)

 

Yup. I was there when he did it.

 

You spelled Tein wrong

 

the same parts have different results on different cars. The Flex's are a decent choice for a Z - not the best out there for the $$, but there are far worse choices as well

adam

 

What do you suggest that is better for a street/track setup?

 

^^^What he said.

 

you really have to define what your definition of "track" is

 

Cusco

 

Hmm, I tried searching for this but couldn't really find anything on it. How often (either mileage or time) do you have to rebuild coilovers?

 

no real way to tell - depends on how they are treated. FWIW, we have sold Tein for ~4 years now and have not had to send a single set in to be rebuilt yet

 

Do not agree to say the least as they are setup out of the box, only consider them if you take them up on their offer to custom order them with different spring rates, i.e. clear up the huge roll stiffness transfer to the front.

Cusco Zero 1&2 Monotube
Zero1=non adjustable dampner
Zero2=adjustable dampner)
Full-length adjustment and height adjustment for separate setting of the height and spring preload
Spring rates 560/392
Stiffer then oem by F+78% R+15%
Transfers +63% roll stiffness to front (no they do not run their rear springs on the dampner body, oem location, seen them on the car with my own eyes.)
Side Note: Thats a awful lot of spring stiffness to move to the front

 

Yep, well said Adam.

 

Cusco does not offer revalving though to suit other rates. While I agree on paper the roll stiffness is alot for the front, in practice, as one often finds, things are vastly different. The one and only time I tracked my car I netted lap times that were as fast as our full ITS BMW - and my car is full weight, no cage.

It is all about proper setup, no matter what solution you choose

adam

 

As racetracks such at Putnam, Road Atlanta, VIR, etc.

 

Ok here is what I do. Autocross, open track days, drag racing, and its my daily driver. Thats why I picked the easy accessibility of the EDFC.