Have any of you chaps heard of or got these coilovers?
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/List...x?id=174663007
From the description and photo, they sound and look like rebadged and recoloured D2s.
They are on the "budget" end of coil overs... Maybe have a talk to Autolign about the basic Tein's?
Just a thought,
J
Looking closer at them, I don't think they are rebranded D2s, the top hat on the front shocks is quite a different shape.
You have to realise that like most cheap coilover systems these are very generic.
This means you will need to get the correct spring rate. (very important to get this right)
Most generic brands let you specify the spring rate you want.
You also get 32 levels of adjustment, which basically means you can fully control the damper rate (though you don't get separate rebound adjustment) from fully closed to fully open. Again, you will need to find the rate which best suits your vehicle and spring rate. Too hard and you will feel every bump, too soft and your car will feel bouncy.
#1 priority is to get the spring rate correct.
Oh, and you need to find out what he fully extended length is. Mine (another generic brand, but much the same) at full length still drop the car height considerably.
Kenneth, out of curiosity, is D2 a generic brand? I've had my heart set on them for a while now, but want to be sure before I splash out.
Yes they are. They are the same as K-Sport for which there are some good deals on trademe at the moment (http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-174566517.htm)Originally Posted by smohekey
Nothing wrong with generic brands, so long as you don't set them up stupidly (i.e. max damper rate with soft springs) then they should last well.
You need to ensure you can choose your spring rate before buying though.
Oh, and that k-sport advert says for 2wd Galant... just make sure that the rear is the same as the VR-4 (if it is the same as in the picture, it is wrong)
Yeah, I guess TEINs might be the way to go. But maybe not basic. If I go that route I might get a proper set-up with the in cabin electronic controller and such. That'd be cool.
Have a talk to the guys in Autolign in Petone then.. They are very friendly chaps..Yeah, I guess TEINs might be the way to go. But maybe not basic. If I go that route I might get a proper set-up with the in cabin electronic controller and such. That'd be cool.
Though you could get them from www.RHDjapan.com
J
BC coilovers are totally different in both quality and design to **** cheap coilovers such as D2, K-Sport and MDU (worst!)
If you can get the BC gold series - ive had a set in my silvia and they were spectacular
And what information do you base those statements on?
The BC Coilovers linked to were NOT the gold series and were as cheap as D2 and K-Sport usually are.
You cannot fairly make sweeping statements about a brand based on their lowest range goods because they don't compare to the higher range goods of another vendor.
The external design of the BC coilovers linked to is exactly the same as K-Sport and D2. The internal cartridge might differ somewhat, but I doubt it.
To say something is rubbish quality because it is cheap is also unwise. A lot of high quality goods can be made cheaply if mass produced. Why do you think there are all these suspension brands out that provide 32way damper adjustablity? It isn't because your car requires even 1/4 of that adjustment range, it is so the same cartridge can be used in hundreds of applications.
I think there is a lot of misinformation out there on suspension, especially the generic stuff. People complain about bad ride quality, busted top hats and all sorts of crap. I suspect that in 99% of the cases it is due to a bad setup due to a lack of understanding of the way suspension works.
I have had expensive coilovers and cheap ones. the cheap ones are just as good as the expensive ones, but they required careful spring rate selection and a fair bit of tweaking the damper rates to get right.
The expensive ones (Tanabe) were great because they dropped straight in with no fuss and provided an excellent ride 99% of the time.
Down side is I grew out of them and wanted more adjustibility.
Last edited by Kenneth; 16-09-2008 at 11:02 PM.
Thanks for the info. By specifying spring rate, do you mean I will need get coilovers of a particular spring rate when I buy the set-up, or subsequent to purchase, will I be able to adjust the sprint rate, much as you can adjust damper rate and ride height?
Spring rate is the "stiffness" of the spring (to use a very bad analogy).
So you buy the springs....and you have to stick with them, or buy some more.
I've seen spring clamps and rubber spring buffers which can tweak this, however I'd not touch them with a barge pole.
I just rung up about D2's for the legnum and apparently the spring rates are
16.1kg Front
7.2kg Rear
I think the front will be fine (maybe a tad hard for some) but what do you guys reckon about the 7.2 rear? Sounds a bit to soft doesn't it?
Yeah, I understand that if we get D2s with the correct spring rate, they'll be fine, but what IS the correct spring rate?
Thats what I am trying to figure out, from other posts I have formed the opinion that 12kg / 8kg is the minimum i would go and think i would like 14kg/10kg (due to lowness of car).
But, if the D2's come with 16.1 / 7.2, I am not to concerned. The main thing for me is that on the D2 website it says we can get street or tarmac rally kits for VR4's.
The streets are probably OK, but the rally asphalts are inverted and better quality.
When i ask what kits they supply they don't really know.
Also, for note there is no VR4 stock (D2s) in NZ and take 4-6 weeks by sea and up to 2 weeks air.
Which website are you referring to?
http://www.d2racing.com.tw/shock.htm
under street and rally asphalt
Ah, I see. I've only ever looked at their street series.
Yeah, I also found this on the aussie site
http://www.d2racingsports.com.au/suspension.htm
And even though the model numbers are out by one (comparing aus to tw site), I can assume that when places sell D2's for VR4's here they are talking about the street ones. So, this might be the only option.
The next thing is, on the aussie site is says you can customise the spring rate. If thats the case, if anyone disagrees i reckon upping the rear rate would be a good idea?
Also FYI apparently Air shipped to NZ will cost $1760 (from memory, will confirm later).
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