Alright guys, I'll like to tell you first I do NOT have any pictures of it. The a$$holes who re-painted the house stole my digital camera.

If anyone in area like to check it out, or maybe get some pictures, I'll be free Thursday and Friday night, and will be attending SEMA on Sat/Sun.

Anyways, back to the review..

Installation:

I'd like to thank John for doing pretty much the entire installation. He helped me learn the suspension a lot better. I've worked on the engine a lot, but never messed with suspension parts.

The rear springs were SIMPLE.. It was simply removing 1 bolt, and just popping the spring out and putting the new one in. It took literally 10 minutes to do each rear spring

Now as far as the fronts go, those were a P.I.N.A!!!!!!!! We ended up removing the entire shock and spring from the car which wasn't SO bad, but the bolts were on pretty tight. I recommend spraying some type of lube or WD-40 if you have any laying around first and do the rears while it settles in.

After the shock and spring were removed, the hardest part was getting the 17mm nut at the top of the shock off. We tried to unscrew it using a 17mm socket, but noticed it was just turning the entire shock and boot. Then we used a 8mm wrench to hold the top of the nut, and then a 17mm to turn the actual nut. This took roughly 30-40 minutes since they are STUCK on there!! These nuts were not meant to come off and put back on. BE CAREFUL NOT TO STRIP THE NUT! because it does happen very easily since they are brass. After removing the nut, it's fairly simple, just slap on the new spring and install back in the car, and repeat for the other front.

Look:

With my 19" rims and 245/35/19 front and 285/30/19 rear, I had a slight gap in front, and even bigger in rear due to the 30 profile (not the 35 recommended). When first installing the spring, I noticed it didn't look the least different, and was somewhat dissapointed. John told me they will take a while to settle in and such.

3 days later, they began to sit a bit lower. Before I could easily put my 4 fingers vertically between my tire and fender in the rear. Now I can fit 2 fingers with a slight amount of room left. I'd estimate the rear dropped about .8".

Looks much better IMO. Very pleased.

Ride:

Ride is slightly better.. nothing huge. Don't expect it to be a drastic difference, because it's not that big. Now it is little better, not as choppy. I'd say it was only a 30-35% improvement. Nothing major.

For those worried about speed bumps, I have pretty moderate sized speed bumps and I clear them with about half inch with my 19"s and these Tein springs.. so unless you have abnormally large speedbumps, you should be in the clear.

Verdict:

WORD OF ADVICE: Tighten the bolts VERY tight. We didn't tighten them as much and it was hell getting the alignment because we'd set it perfect, take a test drive, and then put it back on the machine and the degrees were all screwed up again. Took us 5+ hours to figure out what was causing it, and it turned out the bolts in the suspension were not as tight as they should have been! Make sure you get an alignment afterwards too. If any of you go to a Goodyear, they usually offer a 1 year/12,000 mile warrenty on alignments, so just let them know it's thrown out again, but do not let them know you installed springs or they will charge you.

For $150 dollars, $40 rental of spring compressors (which is refunded at Auto Zones nationwide), 3 hours of labor (Thanks John, I owe you big time).. I'd say this is one of the best appearance modifications for the price. It's not so much what it actually does, but the feeling you get seeing the car a bit lower. This is the height it should be from factory IMO.

I couldn't be happier. And for those who plan to get a bodykit or any type exterior work, remember most kits will drop the car even more. Usually .75"-1" depending on lip/side skirts. So if you plan to drop, consider .8" from the Tein S-Techs + ~.8" from a lip/side skirts, you just took off 1.6" off the ground clearance, which is a lot if you have speedbumps/ramps on driveways!!

Finally, Thanks to Intense Motorsports (www.i-m-racing.com) for suppling the springs at a GREAT price! I know some people have had skeptic comments about them, but I experienced nothing but a hassel free transaction with them and couldn't be happier with their service.

Thanks again to John on this board for the installation. If you ever need help with anything, you know how to get a hold of me

Hope this helps!

Any questions/comments, feel free to PM me.

 

This thread is worthless without pics.

 

Haha.. you and your useless comments! Haha.

Be my guest to come to VA, take a few shots and post them..

PS - I dynoed more than you..

 

... cough, not for long... <cough, cough>

 

awsome rick! cant wait to see it in person, might ask for you help when i get my coilovers, make it an afternoon project

Ben

 

Yes yes.. I know you have a *BLANK* on the way. But atleast I don't have :counts: 1..2..3..4..5..6.. STRIKES!!

Bwah hahahaha.. *adds another just for kicks*! jk.

 

Keep runnin that mouth I'll find room for a 7th strike...

BIOTCH!!!!

 

Awesome! Coilovers and much easier since you don't have to remove that damn nut from the shock..

But I have to warn you.. I'll have to charge you. 1 Large pizza, 12 pack of beer, and 2 Fast 2 Furious to watch after, so we can get into the "race" mood..!

 

Yeah then you can tell everyone "I got 2 LINES of strikes! BEAT THAT!" ..

*gives you the 7th one*

 

Ricky, nice writeup. Getting s-tech on my 19" volks this saturday... With 19's, the smallest road imperfections feel like i'm offroading. Even 30% would be a great ride improvement. If it's noticeable at all, i'll be happy.

Thanks for the review.

 

What about a performance review?

 

S-Techs installed Saturday afternoon. Didn't feel like starting a new thread, so i'll just add my review to this one.

Appearance: Doesn't look much different. *Slightly* lower in the back, but I can't note a difference in the front at all. Probably needs more time to settle. "Feels" lower when driving, however.

Performance: A bit different here than what I expected. It feels definitely stiffer. Wavy imperfections on the road are amplified, so the car moves up and down more. But on the plus side, these imperfections aren't harsh. Also, edged objects like cracks, minor holes, manhole covers, etc. that hit the front tires don't have nearly the same harsh impact they did after switching to 19's with less rubber. It feels like how 45 profile tires felt. This will probably aid in protecting the wheels.

Overall I'd recommend these springs to someone who's looking to improve handling with a slightly stiffer ride and is also looking to go a *touch* lower. I'd absolutely recommend a progressive setup (at least in the front like the s-tech) for anyone with 19's. Linear springs all around with 19's would probably be extremely harsh.

 

What happens to your camber after the suspension finally settles? Do you have to go back for another alignment? How much are these springs going to shorten the life of the shocks?