All who know what the tein basic coilovers feel like please inform me. I have been looking for a comfortable set up and went back to stock from sprints. I dont like how high it is, nor how high the h&r springs leave the car. I heard the tein basics are comfortable? What are they comparable to? stock? just a lot better handling? Thanks in advance! - Matt

 

i have the h-tech i the ride is great. run on 18 with stock struts no problem

 

Hes refering to tein BASICS,which is a coilover setup they sell for the maxima, not normal springs, easy to confuse i guess. But I agree with you, even S-Techs are butter smooth.

Tein basics SEEM to be the most comfortable coilovers around from the little research I've done into coilovers. Goalikeg has them on his car with no complaints (might want to PM him and ask him about it). But just be aware that if comfort is your main priority, coilovers might not be for you. Although Tein Basics are amongst the most comfy/ smooth riding coilovers (along with boss chens for example), Im not sure if they'd be any more comfortable than say H&R with GR2s.

You say you dont like how high H&R leaves the car, try what I used to have, Progress on GR2s. Amazingly smooth for the amount of drop you get, and if you cut the bumpstops in half like I did you get more suspension travel - I never bottomed out while on that suspension for the year and a half I had it on the car.

 

alright. I think I have chosen to go with illumina/progress over the coilovers 1 because of reliability and 2 price. So hopefully it will work for me!

 

Everything I've read suggests that Basics (and Boss Chens) will give a much more comfy ride than any spring/strut combo. The secret to a good ride = plenty of suspension travel. You lose a lot of travel with lowering springs on stock-size struts, unfortunately.

The confusion is this: most coilovers are designed for pure handling, not comfort. Most use pillow-ball mounts, which are noise and make for a harsher ride (because they eliminate some rubber and replace it with metal). However, the Basics and Boss Chens both use the stock front upper mounts. (Basics use the stock rear upper mounts too, while Boss Chens have a complete rear mount with rubber parts.) So this plays a major role in their comfy ride versus most coilovers. I have ridden (briefly) in a BC-equipped 5th gen and was very impressed with the ride. It felt stock despite being very low. BCs also use a high-quality damper, and the damper is the single most important factor in ride quality.

I rode on TEIN H-Techs and Illuminas for 2.5 years and the ride was acceptable over most surfaces, but as soon as moderate or large bumps were thrown into the equation, the ride was unacceptable to me as I was bottoming out all the time. When you have half the travel of stock, you're going to either require extremely stiff springs, or you're going to be hitting the bumpstops if you have softer springs.

Regarding reliability, I just have a little anecdotal evidence from Org members. I talked to two guys with Basics (one was ewuzh I believe) and they both had a lot of miles on the coilovers with no problems whatsoever (30-40K in one case). 1FSTMAX has one of the first sets of Boss Chens made and has around 30K on them with no claimed problems.

 

I have Tein- H and I'll tell u these springs suck dont waste your money on these.These springs are to soft that they bottom out all the time. When I hear people say that they are smooth and that they dont bottom out, I start tripping out. I have a friend that has a 2002 se with Tein-S, damm it is true they are smooth as butter but what I dont like is that they're to low for my taste. I'm thinking of buying Eibach so I'll keep you guys posted once I find out for myself what's best.

 

I think you're on target about the H-Techs, but you've got to be kidding me that the S-Techs are "smooth as butter"...they are the WORST riding spring out there because the drop is too low. Eibach is a good bet.

 

If I remember correctly, Sprints have the reputation of being the "worse for comfort" springs, due to their extreme drop and stiff rate. I have these springs on blown AGXs up front, so yes right now my ride is crappy over bumps. But before when the fronts were still good, the ride was stiff but very much controlled and responsive.

The thing is though I eliminated the bump stops. That along with the stiff spring rate, I've RARELY bottomed out. It would take me going over a pretty deep pot hole to actually bottom out.

I like tein S-techs for their drop and their comfort. VQuick, I think when he says "smooth as butter" he meant to say that ...relative to the other springs at that drastic of a drop, they ride smooth as buttter.... But as far as handling goes they are a bit too soft for my taste (but my opinion is biased on that aspect, since Im used to riding on sprints)

 

I've heard a lot of complaints about S-Techs but I can see how they might be OK compared to Sprints...still, "smooth as butter" is an overstatement. It's interesting that you say you rarely bottom out with the bumpstops cut. I think H-Techs are too soft for their drop, and they're only a 1.6" drop.

 

Fixed. and yea smooth as butter is more a relative comparion, but nowhere close to pure fact

 

so if anyone had a choice, would you go with ksports or Basics "IF" they were the same price?

 

I have over 50k on my Basics.

 

Probably Ksports because it comes the the camber plates

 

Teins all the way! i have SS's and i've put 65k on them and they were used when i got them. i haven't had a single blow out. sent them to Tein for an overhaul before my first autoX event, and it was covered under warranty. i have no complaints w/ Tein. read up on some of these other brands (KSport being one of them) and i hear blowouts are not uncommon.

i also found out through KSport USA that KSport CO overhauls are more expensive then just doing a core swap for a new unit which cost $120 front and $100 rear. a rebuild by Tein cost $75 front or rear. definitely look into rebuild/replacement costs if your going with CO's.

 

though the OP doesn't seem to be interested in camber plates since his concern is comfort, you can put plates on Teins as well. i have Stillen Camber Plates up front and Tein b14 Pillowball Mounts in the rear.

 

what about the tanabe's springs I've heard some decent stuff from friends but haven't heard anything about the maximas =(

 

Late to the thread but the Progress Gen3's sold by Cattman also use stock mounts for less harshness like the Basic's and Chen's. They too are easily rebuildable for <$70 if needed. In stock form the damping and springs are nice, not harsh at all.