Hi guys, after a disasterous few months with my car in general but in particular with my Racing Logic coilovers, I am looking at some new coilovers. I am torn between the Tanabe Sustec Pro SEVEN and the Cusco Zero-2. Iread somewhere that the Cusco was a better shocker but no reason was given.

In writting I can see very little difference (http://cusco574.securesites.net/english/e_sus_1.html and http://www.tanabe-usa.com/coilovers/SEVEN.asp)

Can anyone provide any comparison one way or the other?

Regards

Andrew

 

Anyone?

 

I would tell you, but I have the same questions.

 

Thank god I finally found out the details on Cusco.

Now the front spring is 8K and rear is 5K. They are in line in most of the sport suspension in Japan. Good.

They are the exact brand that was reviewed by Takashi Ohi on RevSpeed 3 months ago. He commend in his road test on a STi that in bumpy road the suspension feel a bit firm on soft settings. The setting of full soft and next firmer one is tremendous. The damper rate is good on the circuit though.

For comparison to your RacingLogic, there is a 6mm thick silent rubber shoe to make it quiet!

The same review did Zeal Function X, Tein Mono flex, RS*R sports*i, Racing Gear JTC'N1, Prodrive Sport suspension system, Ohlins DFV, Aragosta, .... Tanabe just has a mention in the list at the start.

Anyway, at the back of the review there are tips for changing damper rate on circuit... haha I keep that as my secret weapon haha

 

Perhaps this review should be amended?

 

haha, yes maybe, if they gave you a way to do that.

But truely, the issue I have with the Racing Logic kit isnt massive, but the attitude I got has forced me to look for an alternative. They appear to have an issue with particular springs and I couldnt get an acceptable rear replacement from Racing Logic. I could have gone with non Racing Logic springs but their attitude stunk, so on principal I am looking for an alternative.

If you can ignore the noise they were making they are still an great kit with a lot of adjustability. Its a pity the springs let them down.

Cheers

Andrew

 

I got the Tanabe's simply because I wanted the auto-speed capability of the TEAS unit. The Seven's are not really available for possibly a few more months, if that is a factor for you.

-Dan

 

So from my understanding:

Tanabe - Twin Tube Damper

Cusco - Monotube Damper made by Showa, OEM damper for FD3S R1/R2 spec.

Cusco has 2 options, one with rubber bushing uppermount and another with pillowball mounts.

i've personally never been a huge fan of Tanabe coils in the past because they either seemed overpriced or missing a key element in their design when compared to other competitors.

This has now been solved with the Tanabe Seven. In reality it's a toss up. I went with Cusco because I felt it was a better value and I've never heard bad things about Cusco units.

also keep in mind that if that review was done on a subaru you're comparing a Completely Macpherson strut vehicle to a Double wish/Multilink vehicle. This is not a good comparison. I've always found double wish to ride a lot better than Macpherson vehicles.

I know because i've done head to head comparisons in

Miatas = double wish
FD's = double wish
RX8 = double wish

Subaru = Macpherson
FC = Macpherson
S13 and S14's
EVO's, etc....

Just some info from my personal experieneces. The ride quality of a cusco unit will differ dramatically from a subaru to a RX8.

TEAS has AUTO SENSING so it can change damping force mid turn, that's the only other thing you would gain from their controller.

Thanks, Rishie

 

On the track or autox I don't expect to be using the auto-speed feature. I'd prefer to set the ride to a stiff static value. So I only intend to use the auto mode on the street.

I may test the auto feature on the track to see if it is useful though. Perhaps softer dampening helps in low-speed turns? I'm still learning about suspension and setups. I'm not ashamed to say I'm a complete noob to this.

 

Guys, thanks heaps for that.

Rishie, I am still not 100% sure why or even if a monotube is "better" than a twin tube but I will go googling later.

Also, I have read that the pillowball top mount is going to be of no benefit to a double wishbone setup, so why would you get it?

Lastly, do you know if the Cusco controller allows manual adjustment while the vehicle is moving?

Dan, what did you mean by the SEVENs aren't available for a few months?

Again, thanks for you input.

Cheers

Andrew

 

The Seven's are still on their way from Japan. Tanabe-USA says it will be at minimum 6 weeks, but I suspect even longer. That's why I bought their test/demo Seven's from them.

I looked up the Cusco's before deciding on the Seven's and the Cusco's require you to be stopped when you change the settings.

 

What is the difference it will give/offer to the ride on Cusco's 2 options, one with rubber bushing uppermount and another with pillowball mounts?

Thanks Dale

 

When I look for coilovers I look for monotube no matter what. The advantage to having a monotube is that it is an inverted singl tube meaning the piston inside the suspension is bigger. This means that there is a huge range in the adjustability of the suspension. Anyways every single form of racing uses a montube design coilover. This is because it is a more tunable suspension and is also easier to rebiuld. In other words better every way possible. Twin tube design is basically every cars stock suspension.

Anyways trash the tanabe idea. I have three friends that ran it on their s13. 2 of them already broke. The adjuster on the top of the shock broke on both of them (yes its warrentied but its a pain in the butt to have to remove them. especially when they are probably gonna break again). On top of that. Cuscos make awesome suspensions. A lot of my suby friends run them and they love it. I would choose cusco over ALMOST any suspension out there. Its just they are a little bit more pricey.

 

Thanks cfrx8 thats nice to know.

I have recently been pointed to these http://www.dmshocks.com/

Cheers

Andrew

 

I think you are wrong. I'm installing the 2e's now and there is nothing there to detect motion - so no way that it knows about the state of movement of the car.

There may be **WARNING** notices in the instructions, but that won't stop the steeper motors from responding to the buttons on the controller.

 

It is never nice to change the valve settings when there is forces going though. Motionless is always the best.

On broad damper adjuster make life very easy I have to say...

 

I did some research on Bilstein and DMS a while back. I thought it was 3 years but it is only 2 years ago haha.

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...&highlight=dms

 

OFFICIAL CORRECTIONS TO PRIOR STATEMENTS:

CUSCO UNITS CAN CHANGE DAMPING WHILE MOVING, I DID IT.

MONOTUBE DAMPERS ARE NOT ALL INVERTED. THAT IS SPECIFICALLY FOR MACPHERSON SUSPENSIONS TO IMPROVE LATERAL LOAD TOLERANCES.

MAJOR BENEFITS TO MONOTUBE VS TWIN TUBE:

1. Larger piston diameter, can produce same damping force with less vertical motion of the piston shaft.

2. Free floating piston in Monotube dampers PREVENT CAVITATION OF GAS AND OIL

3. Due to monotube design you will REDUCE VISCOSITY, alleviating premature overheating issues.

Hope that clears the air a little.

KONI, a DIE HARD TWIN TUBE COMPANY ALSO PRODUCES MONOTUBE DAMPERS FOR THEIR HARDCORE STUFF.

just depends on what you're doing and what your budgets are.

PILLOWBALL UPPERMOUNTS - I AGREE THAT IT WON'T BE OF GREAT BENEFIT TO OUR SUSPENSION GEOMETRY. BUT I DO BELIEVE IT WILL IMPROVE FEEDBACK FROM THE ROAD SO YOU CAN PROVIDE BETTER STEERING INPUT.

Rishie

 

I'll add one more:

A cheaply built monotube is not superior to a quality built twin tube. Fancy anodizing, marketing hype, and electonic adjusters are not indicators of a quality shock. The flow control design, precision, and build quality of the internals are what count. There's a reason that real racing shocks cost $4000+ a set bare, and also a reason why they don't come with electronic adjusters ...

 

I just went to the track today wtih my Cusco's. I can confrirm Rishie's statement that the dampening can be changed while in motion. I can say that these coilovers worked very well on the track and the guy in the C5 corvette in front of me would probably agree. The car stayed very flat through the corners but was not upset by the bumps. I have not ridden in a car with the Tanabes but the Cuscos are fantastic.

 

I totally AGREE with Mark TeamRX8. Naturally R&D, engineering, and quality control are going to play a huge part.

I was simply commenting on some of the physical attributes/benefits of a monotube. But if it has poor quality parts and engineering then no doubt it will be crap.

Hey joy, do you know what you had the dampers set to on the track? I noticed a large difference in stiffness between 1 and 5.

Rishie

 

True about the cost TeamRX8. When I was having my shocks installed I was shown a set of Ohlins that were going on a Porsche. Mono-tube and with very short travel. These things weighed about a quarter of what my Tanabe's weigh. They were as light as a feather.

I know Ohlins for their motorcycle shocks, but never knew they made them for auto's as well.

If I'm looking to get into that level of equipment I think I'll get a Lotus though.

 

I used 3, 4, and 5. I liked 4 the best. On 5 the car seemed to bounce off of the bumps and push to far into the corners. I had front and back set the same. A storm rolled in so I only had 4 sessions on the track. I may go to auto-bahn country club on the 20th and mess around some more.

 

Using Ohlins DFV now instead of Cusco Zero 2E. The Ohlins DFV is a lot more comfortable and handles very well (20 settings). Excellent stuff!!!