Tein Mono Flex with EDFC Review
10-15-2007, 11:43 PM
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ima shirimasen
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Tein Mono Flex with EDFC Review
First off, I would like to thank Moe, Hoang, and company from Speed Image doing a nice clean install for me. I know the most difficult and time consuming part is just taking your time and taking out parts of the interior. Again, great job! Well worth spending the money on have Speed Image do it.
Here is what I have to say so far about the Tein Mono Flexes. Wow.... The totally changed the personality of my car. And having the EDFC at your finger tips is awesome. To start with, the spring rate on the this kit is EXTREMELY high. So you expect a much harsher ride. Currently, I have about 260 miles on these this coilover kit. I got the pleasure of driving home from Denver to Grand Junction in the rain then crappy *** snow. So I got a good idea of the Mono Flexes with several different surfaces. I will post some pics from my iphone of my vail pass experience later. But I know it really sucks to take over an hour to drive 4-5 miles through vail because there was a major accident with two semi on the side of the road. I got a picture of that, but sadly, the iphone does not have a flash, so you see almost only pitch black.
Anyway, back to the subject in hand. I had Moe lower my car maybe .5 inch - 3/4 inch.. From what I understand, the new sprinces are going to settle and thus lower the the car another 1/4 inch or so. No problem. Better to be safe and not have my tires rubs. After all, I can always adjust it myself later as need be. The car is obviously lower than stock. Again, pics soon. I also, noticed, that even with my consertive lowering height, the new coilovers changed the way the car feels. Note, for most of this initial review, I am going to focus on the "softest" setting as I drove most of the 260 miles in this setting.
The first thing I did was test the settings at the default. I found out very quickly that have the EDFC set to 0 Front, and 0 Rear was the stiffest setting. And on that setting, you felt everything. I immediately increased the settings to 16/16. Immeidiately, the harshness of the suspension subsided. Now here is one of the extremely interesting things about these. I believe TEIN did an unbelievable job with their spring and damper design. I am going to venture it is because of the monotube I experienced the ride quality I was getting. With the settings at the softest (16/16) I was able to experience a near stock ride quality at low speeds. It really shocked me as I was expecting a much harsher experience. And if you have ever been on certain parts of Federal Blvd, in Denver, you will understand that the road is horrible. The ride was not "harsh" per se, but much more reponsive. You can feel all the bumps and the cracks in the pavement, but it didn't wasn't a ride in a car with no suspension. I really don't know a better way to describe this, but the ride wasn't as harsh as I expected it to be. Of course, the same is not true when I have the EDFC set to 0/0. You felt everything, and it hurt. Definitely not the setting you want for the streets. At high speeds, there was a distinct difference. Though again, the ride was not harsh, you could easily carve corners at signififantly higher speeds than with the stock settings. I didn't really play too much with the stiffer settings as it was raining and snowing most of the time. Also, I am one of those drivers who always turns off of the VDC in the car. For the first time on Sunday, when I was driving in the snow/ice driving down Vail pass, I decided to go ahead and turn it back on. After all, I spent most of the time engine braking while going download on slush/ice. Anyway, for a while when driving the raining streets of denver. During my "testing", I go sideways a bit when I get on the gas a little too much while accelerating around a corner. When the back end broke loose, I just counter steered and gave it a little gas and the car effortless straightened up. The Teins seem to make the car a bit more predictable.
After finally getting out of time, I started my trek into the mountains toward Grand Junction from Denver. From the beginning, it was raining heavily. And after 30 minutes of driving east on I-70, the weather went from bad to worse. The cold rain turn to cold snow. And the highway was covered in slush and ice. Not a very good environment to be driving a Rear wheel drive Z with the stock RE50s. I was taking my time lower speeds and was amazed at all the drivers (all with front wheel or all wheel drive vehicles) zoom by me. This was the not the first time I have driven a rear wheel drive car in snow through vail pass (I used to do it all the time in an old beat up 1978 Toyota Celica when I drove from Colorado School of Mines in Golden to my parents house in Grand Junction during Winter Break.), but I have never driving my Z in heavy snow. Heck, I have never driving her in heavy rain. The only time I drive in the rain is when I get caught in it. If I know it is going to rain or snow that day, I will just drive my old 91 jag instead. In any case, I was extremely stressed out driving down this mountain. The Teins responded exactly as I expected them to. I can't really tell you if the old suspension would make any difference, but the VDC seemed to work fine with Teins. After passing the accident, I was happy to be moving again. It wasn't until the roads started to dry that I started to increase my speed. In fact, even when the roads were dry, I didn't increase my speed until I was sure my tires were dry. The worse time to drive fast is when the roads are just getting wet or when the roads are drying andyour tires are still wet. That is when it is the most dangerous. In any case, I was able to finally get back to highway + speeds. As I was carving corners at 100+ mph, I was amazed at how easily I could hit them. Remember, this is just with the "softest" setting. It was obvious, this setup was a giant leap of improvement from the stock 07 suspension. When got to Glenwood Canyon, I did try out the stiffest setting, 0/0. I was able to hit those 50 mph turns in excess of 100 easily. Of course, I only hit a few corners at that speed so I could testing my suspension. It was still a bit early in the evening (9 pm) to rip through there. Of course, after I had my fun in Glenwood, I switched it back to the soft setting of 16/16.
I really can't wait to get to a track. I will need to play with the settings a bit more this week. When I was driving back from Denver, my car was full of my luggage, old suspension, anda bunch of items my parents to pick up for them in Denver. (tons of asian food items). It wasn't really the perfect chance to test my car. I look forward to finding the perfect setting for me on the track. It's nice that I can adjust it on the fly without needing to stop. Overall, this option may be a bit more expensive for your taste, but I would definitely say it is one of the best suspensions out there. I am glad I decided to go this route. Hopefully, this little review will help you in your decision in purchasing a suspension like this. Next purchase of me is a set of new Volks. Still debating on which ones. Anyway, I will add more to this as I learn the feel of this setup. Thanks everyone, pics will com later.
Pics in the snow.
http://s204.photobucket.com/albums/b...ki%20-%20Snow/
Pics with TEIN installed. Conserverative for now.
http://s204.photobucket.com/albums/b...ki%20-%20Tein/
-Joe
Here is what I have to say so far about the Tein Mono Flexes. Wow.... The totally changed the personality of my car. And having the EDFC at your finger tips is awesome. To start with, the spring rate on the this kit is EXTREMELY high. So you expect a much harsher ride. Currently, I have about 260 miles on these this coilover kit. I got the pleasure of driving home from Denver to Grand Junction in the rain then crappy *** snow. So I got a good idea of the Mono Flexes with several different surfaces. I will post some pics from my iphone of my vail pass experience later. But I know it really sucks to take over an hour to drive 4-5 miles through vail because there was a major accident with two semi on the side of the road. I got a picture of that, but sadly, the iphone does not have a flash, so you see almost only pitch black.
Anyway, back to the subject in hand. I had Moe lower my car maybe .5 inch - 3/4 inch.. From what I understand, the new sprinces are going to settle and thus lower the the car another 1/4 inch or so. No problem. Better to be safe and not have my tires rubs. After all, I can always adjust it myself later as need be. The car is obviously lower than stock. Again, pics soon. I also, noticed, that even with my consertive lowering height, the new coilovers changed the way the car feels. Note, for most of this initial review, I am going to focus on the "softest" setting as I drove most of the 260 miles in this setting.
The first thing I did was test the settings at the default. I found out very quickly that have the EDFC set to 0 Front, and 0 Rear was the stiffest setting. And on that setting, you felt everything. I immediately increased the settings to 16/16. Immeidiately, the harshness of the suspension subsided. Now here is one of the extremely interesting things about these. I believe TEIN did an unbelievable job with their spring and damper design. I am going to venture it is because of the monotube I experienced the ride quality I was getting. With the settings at the softest (16/16) I was able to experience a near stock ride quality at low speeds. It really shocked me as I was expecting a much harsher experience. And if you have ever been on certain parts of Federal Blvd, in Denver, you will understand that the road is horrible. The ride was not "harsh" per se, but much more reponsive. You can feel all the bumps and the cracks in the pavement, but it didn't wasn't a ride in a car with no suspension. I really don't know a better way to describe this, but the ride wasn't as harsh as I expected it to be. Of course, the same is not true when I have the EDFC set to 0/0. You felt everything, and it hurt. Definitely not the setting you want for the streets. At high speeds, there was a distinct difference. Though again, the ride was not harsh, you could easily carve corners at signififantly higher speeds than with the stock settings. I didn't really play too much with the stiffer settings as it was raining and snowing most of the time. Also, I am one of those drivers who always turns off of the VDC in the car. For the first time on Sunday, when I was driving in the snow/ice driving down Vail pass, I decided to go ahead and turn it back on. After all, I spent most of the time engine braking while going download on slush/ice. Anyway, for a while when driving the raining streets of denver. During my "testing", I go sideways a bit when I get on the gas a little too much while accelerating around a corner. When the back end broke loose, I just counter steered and gave it a little gas and the car effortless straightened up. The Teins seem to make the car a bit more predictable.
After finally getting out of time, I started my trek into the mountains toward Grand Junction from Denver. From the beginning, it was raining heavily. And after 30 minutes of driving east on I-70, the weather went from bad to worse. The cold rain turn to cold snow. And the highway was covered in slush and ice. Not a very good environment to be driving a Rear wheel drive Z with the stock RE50s. I was taking my time lower speeds and was amazed at all the drivers (all with front wheel or all wheel drive vehicles) zoom by me. This was the not the first time I have driven a rear wheel drive car in snow through vail pass (I used to do it all the time in an old beat up 1978 Toyota Celica when I drove from Colorado School of Mines in Golden to my parents house in Grand Junction during Winter Break.), but I have never driving my Z in heavy snow. Heck, I have never driving her in heavy rain. The only time I drive in the rain is when I get caught in it. If I know it is going to rain or snow that day, I will just drive my old 91 jag instead. In any case, I was extremely stressed out driving down this mountain. The Teins responded exactly as I expected them to. I can't really tell you if the old suspension would make any difference, but the VDC seemed to work fine with Teins. After passing the accident, I was happy to be moving again. It wasn't until the roads started to dry that I started to increase my speed. In fact, even when the roads were dry, I didn't increase my speed until I was sure my tires were dry. The worse time to drive fast is when the roads are just getting wet or when the roads are drying andyour tires are still wet. That is when it is the most dangerous. In any case, I was able to finally get back to highway + speeds. As I was carving corners at 100+ mph, I was amazed at how easily I could hit them. Remember, this is just with the "softest" setting. It was obvious, this setup was a giant leap of improvement from the stock 07 suspension. When got to Glenwood Canyon, I did try out the stiffest setting, 0/0. I was able to hit those 50 mph turns in excess of 100 easily. Of course, I only hit a few corners at that speed so I could testing my suspension. It was still a bit early in the evening (9 pm) to rip through there. Of course, after I had my fun in Glenwood, I switched it back to the soft setting of 16/16.
I really can't wait to get to a track. I will need to play with the settings a bit more this week. When I was driving back from Denver, my car was full of my luggage, old suspension, anda bunch of items my parents to pick up for them in Denver. (tons of asian food items). It wasn't really the perfect chance to test my car. I look forward to finding the perfect setting for me on the track. It's nice that I can adjust it on the fly without needing to stop. Overall, this option may be a bit more expensive for your taste, but I would definitely say it is one of the best suspensions out there. I am glad I decided to go this route. Hopefully, this little review will help you in your decision in purchasing a suspension like this. Next purchase of me is a set of new Volks. Still debating on which ones. Anyway, I will add more to this as I learn the feel of this setup. Thanks everyone, pics will com later.
Pics in the snow.
http://s204.photobucket.com/albums/b...ki%20-%20Snow/
Pics with TEIN installed. Conserverative for now.
http://s204.photobucket.com/albums/b...ki%20-%20Tein/
-Joe
Last edited by tsabrale; 10-31-2007 at 08:16 PM.
10-16-2007, 06:45 AM
#3
ima shirimasen
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Originally Posted by !prjctmax!
sounds like you had a good time testing them bad boys out!
If you don't mind me asking, where and how much did you pay for the set-up?
If you don't mind me asking, where and how much did you pay for the set-up?
I purchased the suspension from Speed Image in Denver Colorado. The cost of the Tein MonoFlex Coilovers, EDFC, and install was a little over $2400. Moe hooked me up with a great deal for being part of the our local MileHighZ forum. They did a great job with the setup. I will get some pics up soon.
-Joe
10-24-2007, 10:48 PM
#5
ima shirimasen
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I will have to post pics. All I have are ones from my iPhone, and I have been lazy. I have it mounted above my stock bose stereo in the storage compartment there. That way no one can see it. I plan to mount 1-2 more gauges in that area as well.
-Joe
-Joe
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11-01-2007, 01:58 PM
#9
ima shirimasen
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Originally Posted by omega6
ah ok, i guess i can put mine in there too, thanks for the pics
all i put in that compartment is my gum, lol.... now i have to make it all nice
all i put in that compartment is my gum, lol.... now i have to make it all nice
11-01-2007, 02:00 PM
#10
ima shirimasen
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Originally Posted by bugsbbunny
Gangster for driving in snow... probs my boy.
But as usual, good experience.
-Joe
11-04-2007, 03:59 PM
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Originally Posted by tsabrale
I am thinking of add another 2 guages there. But when I do that, I will have a custom cover.
11-06-2007, 03:38 PM
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ima shirimasen
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Originally Posted by BenchTT
Nice setup. I'm thinking about doing the same exact thing to my new 07. What 2 gauges are you thinking about adding?
11-06-2007, 03:44 PM
#14
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Originally Posted by iyah
So I take it Tien Flex is a step lower to mono? So at 16/16 setting should be at just stock feel and at 0/0 should be 6/6 somewhere in the mono setting?
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