Im trying to decide which coilovers i should go with, i've thought of BC racing and someones told me KW suspension but they are double the price at 2k. Whats the major differences? which coilovers should i go with. thanks

 

The KW V3 is a great coil for the track/daily driver, but if you never visit the track then the bottom line coilovers are ok (Those would be Megan Racing (BC)).

If you want a great coil for a good price, try Stance GR+. Basically the only differences are quality of parts used, build quality, adjustments for dampening, and spring rate.

 

Megan racing, d2 etc are CRAP. Avoid them.
Try and run them on semislicks with a stiff chassis... the hydraulics will boil and you will be floating around. Nothing cool.

Bilstein, kw, ohlins are all wiser choices.

 

There's a few members on here that have been using the Megans for over a year and no problems. Like I said, if you don't visit the track then they are ok. Are you speaking from personal experience with the Megans for the rx8?

 

Yes, i am telling my personal horror stories with those coilovers. I own a set of d2 and have ordered some ohlins for this very same reason.
That cheap family of coilovers is ok if you drive around town or small tracks with tyres that have a threadwear of around 180. I have track driven them with this set-up for a while.
When i felt capable of using some semislicks to their potential, and added some sway bars in the meanwhile tings got worse and i nearly killed myself while driving around the 'ring.
At first I thought that the tyres i was using were the problem. They were overheating (Toyo R1R, a compromise to allow me to drive from Rome to Nurburg, do around 25 laps and come back. I will be using their r888s or advan's a 048 model from now on since i have solved the tyre transport issue).
We found out that it was the shocks after a couple of sessions in an open-pit day. The car was behaving the same even with cold tyres.

The high spring rates, coupled to tyres that are a tad grippier than what I was used to and stiff sways literally cooked the hydraulics and brought the valves to their failure point.
Even when i set them to ALL SOFT they still couldn't do their job anymore, plus they now sound like crap even if i just sit in the car

My advice is to simply go big or go home for several reasons:

1)Cheap coilovers cost the same as some respectable, less adjustable, dampers + spring sets (see koni yellows etc). If you don't track the car more than often you don't need coilvoers, the other choice is more reasonable and set-up friendly.
2)Installing coilovers requires a serious shop with car scales and some track days to test the differences and find the right settings once the weight distribution is set. Are you willing to do that with a cheap set of coilovers whose valves will change their behavior from day to day?
3)If you want performance, cheap coilovers won't satisfy you. If you want to drop your care 250$ of springs will do.
4)Rebuilding cheap coilovers is fairly useless.
5)They're not "balanced", meaning that their specs will differ from coilover to coilover even when purchased together.
6)Reliabilty issues when driving (my experience etc).

That's why i made my conclusions, I hope it helps!

 

^well put

 

i feel like some peoples definition of no problems/OK ride quality is not up to par

 

Very helpful, thanks!

 

Ok ride quality does not mean "good/great" quality. The cheap coilovers are more cosmetic lowering than performance based. Great coilovers you have to pay real money for and would expect the quality to be second to none.

 

so my options are Stance GR+, Bilstein, kw, ohlins, which should i go with? my budget is anything that's worth it really.

 

^All 3 of those are much better than Stance. But honestly if you are just driving your car on the street, you will be very happy with the Stance, I had them on my car before switching to a set of Moton's.

 

If i were you I'd spend a just a couple hundred more and instead of stance get the bilsteins.

 

alrite thanks. i'll go with the bilsteins. anyone know some cheap online places?

 

Seconded on the Bilsteins if you're talking PSS9s. They do pretty much everything better than the OEM shocks - ride quality, handling, you name it - with the added benefit of being adjustable. Plus, they're not too hard to install; see the excellent thread on them here: https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-wheels-tires-brakes-suspension-55/anyone-here-run-bilstein-pss9s-140733/ .

 

I plan to get the Bilstein PSS9, hopefully sometime this year. If you find a really good price, let me know!

 

Hey guys, not trying to thread jack or anything but I figured I'd ask here instead of making essentially the same thread:

My 8 is my daily driver and I have no intentions of tracking it anytime soon. I want to upgrade to coilovers mainly for ride height adjustment. Are the Megan coilovers for me? The Stance coilovers look nice but if I'm keeping my 8 on the street then I feel like that extra $400 is going towards something that I won't really need unless I track my car. What do you guys think?

Also, how difficult is it to adjust the ride height once the coilovers are installed? I am a car rookie in every aspect and have only installed my intake and exhaust.

 

^Megans will be fine for you, but the Stance will be more reliable and have Much better customer service. I've had both Megans and Stance, and the extra $400 is worth it. Once they are on the car the fronts are easy to adjust, the rears take a little more work, but after a few times of doing it you'll be able to lower the whole car in less than an hour.

 

I agree, the Megans sound like they would suit you just fine. Spend the $400 you saved on sway bars and endlinks or something.

 

hmm. if i'm not gnna really drive track either. is getting bilstein coilovers a waste? does it enhance in any way street driving. or should i too get megans or stances?

 

how is it no one mentioned (and everyone continuously forgets) about one of the best coilovers out there.

HKS Hypermax III


http://www.hksusa.com/products/more.asp?id=3436

 

I can confirm the spectacular customer service of stance. Every time that I have called them they were relentless in helping me solve my problem, even if that meant they overnighted me parts free of charge.

 

Bilstein is better...At a cheaper price...

 

better is so subjective...
and besides, who pays retail?!

 

Go put the HKS on a shock dyno and see how accurate those 30 different clicks of dampning actually are...