I Need Your Opinion on a Product

[joe@jdm]

I've been looking for something new to offer here at JDM, and I found something I think would interest Mustang owners, especially those who race, specifically autocross and road racing.

I've always been a car guy, and never differentiated between import and domestic when it came to how impressive a car can be. The same goes for aftermarket parts companies. I've always been a fan of this company, and I've had huge success with their products in the past.

So, without further fanfare, what do you think of this?

http://www.tein.com/products/flex.html

http://www.tein.com/products/edfc.html

Basically this set up gives you the customization of ride height and suspension that an air bag system gives you in a truck. Full 16 way dampening control. From being able to stiffen up one side of the suspension for perfect launches at the strip, or the perfect ride height for hugging those corners on a road course or, dare I say it, drifting in a Mustang!

Please let me know what you think!

 

[joe@jdm]

come on, someone has to have an opinion!

 

[flaming70vw]

They are popular among the drifters. I have driven a few cars with them and they were briiliant. Super easy adjustability from within the car even.

 

[don_w]

come on, someone has to have an opinion!

Not something I would be interested in... but I'm sure others might be.

 

[07torchgt]

I think it would be bad ass, but at what cost is my only concern... i'm sure other people thats less of a concern though... mines mostly a daily driver but if I had nothing left to buy and had the money..... you better believe i'd get it...

 

[Black_GT]

I will most likely be going with Tein Springs for my car. Tein is a well respected company I believe. Heard they do massive amounts of R&D work on their products.

 

[US-1]

Give it some time, Joe. Let the corner turners get on and see this one. Most of us are straight line guys but there are several road racers here.

 

[SoundGuyDave]

Not being confrontational at all, just asking what I believe are valid questions...

1) What damper design are they using (inverted monotube?)
2) What makes them any better than the Bilstein, Koni, or Tokico kits that are out there now? I know they have the ride-adjust option, but besides that?
3) How do they compare, price-wise, with the Ground-Control shortened Koni setup?
4) Are the strut and shock housings and piston strokes shortened to compensate for the reduced suspension travel?
5) Do they use standard coil-over springs?
6) Are they available as just the damper assemblies, without springs or upper mounts?

I guess, really, I'm looking for information on product differentiation against the "big three."

 

[joe@jdm]

Not being confrontational at all, just asking what I believe are valid questions...

1) What damper design are they using (inverted monotube?)

It's a twin tube design.

2) What makes them any better than the Bilstein, Koni, or Tokico kits that are out there now? I know they have the ride-adjust option, but besides that?

They are more adjustable than any other coil over on the market. Also, the pillow ball upper mounts they use increase handling over the other coil overs out there.

3) How do they compare, price-wise, with the Ground-Control shortened Koni setup?

It's more expensive than GC's Koni package, but it's not really comparable. This is a different, more tunable, more adjustable system. Installation of the EDFC with the coil overs allows for way more suspension adjustment without having to take out a wrench.

4) Are the strut and shock housings and piston strokes shortened to compensate for the reduced suspension travel?

With separate spring perch height and shell case adjustment, they actually retain stroke.
5) Do they use standard coil-over springs?

Yes

6) Are they available as just the damper assemblies, without springs or upper mounts?

Not sure. I just emailed my contact there a few questions and this was one of them.

I guess, really, I'm looking for information on product differentiation against the "big three."

In my experience in the world of imports, TEIN has always been tops. I've run their S.Tech coil overs in previous cars, and I even got my pops to put them in his Audi S4, and he's not a car guy at all, but he was impressed with the improvement in ride. I'm using them to install this system in one of my cars come March.

Thanks for the questions!

 

[joe@jdm]

Give it some time, Joe. Let the corner turners get on and see this one. Most of us are straight line guys but there are several road racers here.

even as a straight line guy, there could be benefits. tightening up one side to combat engine torque on launch could shave a tenth or two from your quarter mile ET.

i understand this is a more costly upgrade, but it's something i would like to offer and i want to gauge the community's interest in this. They also make regular coil overs and springs for the S197.

 

[slvr08gt]

I had that Tein setup on my STi. Night and day compared to the factory STi suspension which was awsome to begin with. The EDFC was super easy to use and I never had any problems with it. I paid almost 1800.00 for the system with the EDFC, so Im guessing it would be somewhere in that price range. Nick

 

[flaming70vw]

Think of them like tokico d-specs that you can adjust while sitting in the driver seat.

 

[SloSVO]

@ 1800 bux.. you'd have to be pretty well off to shell out that kind of dough these days..

 

[Chris B.]

I've heard many good things about their products. I'm not sure if I'd be anywhere close to needing that kind of adjustability any time soon though.

 

[aeraceranthony]

I am very interested in this and will later like to add it to my stang when I have the money. Im very much into drifting and was when I was also introduce to this product. It is pricey and would like feed back from other mustangs with this coil over system and the edfc. Freinds of mine have it on there 240's and love it. I always wanted coil overs for the adjustment, the edfc is a plus because I can do everything from in the cab.

Do you have rough prices for the coilovers, edfc and strut kit? Maybe a deal if we buy everything together? (msrp is $2300 for the flex kit and $418 for the edfc) Thanks.

 

[DKO]

I've got a lot of personal experience with Tein products as a couple others have chimed in. Yes, the product IS top notch. My only concern in regards to the mustang crowd is the COST. Tein doesn't make cheap stuff, and their price reflects it. I just don't see a lot of mustang guys ordering what is essentially a set of dampers and coil springs with a few bells and whistles attached for two to three times what a set of Tokicos and Eibachs will run you.

In regards to the EDFC I don't believe you can adjust ride height with it. You can with the tool on the coil-over itself of course, but unless something has changed recently you can only adjust the 'stiffness' on the fly while inside the vehicle. The little motors have broken before too, and getting tein to warranty them is a bitch. Just something else to keep in mind.

 

[aeraceranthony]

O, that makes sense now.

I still want though...

 

[joe@jdm]

thanks for all the input guys. we do have some customers who are autocross guys and would benefit more from this than the average stang owner, but the opinion and needs of the average owner are what drives the aftermarket business. I'm going to look into their product more, since they offer another coil over system and some different springs.

 

[raverjames]

I am an autocross guy who wants to get into road racing. I have had a decent amount of experience with Tien on Sentras. They are awesome coilovers. I am surprised that with all the aftermarket for the mustang, no one has made a coilover setup for us yet. Not all mustang owners just want to go in a straight line. A nice Tien setup would be key for guys that like to actually turn the wheel.

 

[SoundGuyDave]

I am an autocross guy who wants to get into road racing. I have had a decent amount of experience with Tien on Sentras. They are awesome coilovers. I am surprised that with all the aftermarket for the mustang, no one has made a coilover setup for us yet. Not all mustang owners just want to go in a straight line. A nice Tien setup would be key for guys that like to actually turn the wheel.

Check out Griggs, Sachs, Ground-Control, KW Suspension: all have coil-over setups for the S197. Tein has a great reputation, but at nearly twice the cost of the Ground-Control kit (using custom valved and shortened Koni single-adjustable dampers), it will be a hard sell, IMO. Tein is using the same basic design that the others are in the rear, namely standard dampers with an adjustable spring perch that attaches to the axle. For Tein to "justify" the cost of their system, they're going to need to differentiate themselves from the others, and demonstrate some benefit to their setup that the others just don't offer. KW sells a double-adjustable (independant bump and rebound adjustments) for less than the Tein single-adjustable, and also have a great reputation for quality. Griggs and Ford Racing/Sachs do have true coil-overs for the rear, using an adapter to change from the pin-mount upper to a clevis mount, but that increases the expense, as well. From what I can tell, the Griggs setup in the front IS the ground-control rig.

If the Tein setup uses standard coil-over springs, that opens up a LOT of spring rate choices, and are considerably cheaper than the purpose-built sets for the S197. I've seen coil-over springs for as little as $35/pair, which makes experimenting with spring rates a lot more affordable.