Hey everyone,

I think time has finally come to lower my '98 GS4. I was deciding whether or not to buy coilovers or lowering springs and I thought a decent coilover set will last me longer and would be the same price as new shocks and springs. It would also be good to have the dampening and height adjustment as well.

My price range is around $700 max. I've been searching and asking around and the 2 top answers and choices I've narrowed it down to were the Megan EZ Street or the Function and Form Type 2. I was a stiff ride...but not too stiff as it is a daily driver and I will running the new suspension will stock wheels too.

Is there anyone that can give me some insight on what to buy and do? I plan on using the suspension for a long time as well...so I want the reliability too.

Thanks,


Huss

 

Coilovers will not last as long as a quality set of shocks and springs. Just my 2 cents. I don't have coils so I can't comment on the ride of them but Megans and BC racing seem to be the 2 most popular brands

 

Lowering options have been discussed extensively here already. Search or use the FAQ thread.

Also, Muffinizer, coilovers are springs and shocks. They can be as good, better, or worse than non-adjustable options. Also, they are often made with rust-inhibiting materials, and serviceable, unlike standard replacement struts.

 

I was going to go the cheap route and get some Teins or something but I decided to rebuild my front end and save up for BC's instead. The custom spring rates are what really sold me. A lot of the cheaper coilovers have really soft spring rates which I don't want either. Plus a lot of the lower end coilovers aren't rebuildable which sucks if something goes wrong down the line.

Just my two cents.

 

I've heard nothing but good things about a good shock and strut combo but I think it's nice to be able to change your dampening and height settings when need be. I love the drop of the DF210 but then I would need to get new shocks as well.

A lot of people have been running the cheaper Tein Basis Z coilovers for $439 and I thought those were great but they do not have dampening adjustments. Whereas the Tein Street Advance do. BC are awesome with the custom spring rates but I do not want to spend that much money on the suspension when I only paid so much for the car as well...that's where I am stuck at. LOL!

I understand what you're saying about the rebuilding and I am now saying to myself...would you need to? I thought they would still last a decent amount of miles.

Here are my options right now...in no particular order:

- Tein Street Advance Z
- Tein Basis Z
- Godspeed Mono RS
- Function and Form Type II
- Megan EZ Street

Thanks for everyones insight and opinions as well...it really is influencing my decisions.

Regards,


Huss

 

For your price range, I would recommend the Megan coilovers. I was really set on going with BC on one of my other cars, but a buddy of mine that's high up in the auto distributing industry advised me to go with the Megans instead for cost effective options and what I was looking for (decent drop, but still comfortable with dampening options). If I wanted to stance and go super stiff, then the other BC, FA500, and other $1000+ coilovers would be ideal.

I went from stock blown suspension to Tein Basis, which rode like stock, but too soft for my drop/wheel setup (rubbed with additional people in the back seats), so I picked up the Megans... I did not regret my decision. I will also be looking into Megan coilovers for my 2GS as well when that time comes.

 

Ya everyone says BC but A) I don't have that much money to spend on the car and B) I'm looking for a slammed look either. I want the lowered factor, but not low enough to not get up driveways, go on certain freeways, and to get stuck on speedbumps. That's a showcar job. LOL!

I have heard about the Tein Street Basis Z and those are the cheapest out of my list right now. Would I still rub with people in the back with stock wheels? Because I plan on running the stock 16' wheels for a little while.

Megan is at the top of my list right now along with the Tein Advance coilovers because those both offer dampening adjustments.

Now I'm looking at the DF210 springs made by Tanabe and the price is so attracting...UGH! I SOME HELP.

Regards,


Huss

 

Like I said, all this has been discussed extensively, so go read that wheel and suspension thread and you will have your help.

read this
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sus...d-threads.html

 

I was in the same boat as you in regards to funding my project car (IS300). In that car, when I ran the Tein Street Basis coilovers and stock wheels, I DID NOT RUB. These were on the 17x7 5-spoke wheels that come on the car stock with 245/45 tires. When I switched over to my other wheel setup (17x8 +40, 245/40) I only rubbed whenever I had anyone over 150lbs in the back seat. Mind you, my fenders are also rolled. However, in any other situation, I did not rub at all. The only reason I switched over to the Megans was because I wanted a slightly stiffer spring rate and the dampening option for my newer wheel setup (18x8/8.5 & 225/40 - 255/35 staggered setup). I haven't gotten the wheels mounted yet, however with my current 17's on the car, I no longer rub in the back with a sub-200lb person sitting back there. I imagine the 2GS will not rub either, and with the Teins, the ride will be pretty close to stock (with the option to lower/raise). You'll should be at ease with the stock 16's.

I'd recommend looking at the thread posted above if you haven't already. It'll really help you get an idea of what type of setup you should go for.

 

Thanks, firelizard. I have looked at that thread...quite a few times, but there were not any comments in regards to the different coilovers I was interested in.

Awesome, toneekay. Thanks so much for the insight! I know for sure if I was going to buy the coilovers...I needed to know how someone elses experience was before I went and did it on my own. Props!

Now I plan on driving once in a while with other people in the car as well. I am going to assume the rubbing wouldn't be there as much with the coilovers rather than the springs. Right?

How did the Tein handle? Was it better performance-wise? I want something that wil last long too. But for the price of the coilovers I thought you cant go wrong. Were they bouncy too?

Thanks again,


Huss

 

Not a problem. I made a thread like this over on MY.IS as well and everyone shunned me for going with the Teins at the very beginning. At that time I had blown shocks and I just needed a quick replacement ASAP while I attempted to restore the rest of the car, so that's when I found a set of used Teins. I can't say how long they'll last, but I've had them on my car for a good 10K miles, and I believe the previous usage was around 50-60K miles. They rode great for what they were at similar stock ride heigh (or a tad bit lowered - Like 1-1.5"). I continued to lower the car even more and that's when I started feeling more bumpiness going over certain dips, cracks, imperfections in the road, etc... However NO rubbing. No discomforts that bothered me to change it though, until I had someone ride in the back seat for the first time. At that time, those same road imperfections caused the rear to rub here and there, but driving on a flat road I had no issues.

Performance wise, I can't say it was THAT much better than stock, however being that you have lower center of gravity, it makes the car drive like it performs better (could be placebo though). With the Megans on there now, I can tell the difference in stiffness and handling over the Teins, and it's much preferred on that car. With the 2GS, I think I want a softer spring rate or go with a progressive shock/spring combo instead to maintain that comfortable ride. I'm not looking to slam the car either, just want a subtle drop that'll complement any future wheel setups I may throw on the car.

 

Got it. Yea that makes sense...the lower the car is the more bumpier and stiffer it'll get. What kinda GS do ya have, man?

Yes I would defintely love the handling increase. That is partially why I'm looking in to the suspension changes. I don't want to slam the car either. I just want to get rid of the ridiculous wheel gap and of course...spruce up my handling.

I was doing a little bit of research online and here is the drop with the springs...I don't have the sport design wheels but I do have the 16s.

Regards,


Huss

 

I'm in a GS430. I found one for real cheap (and abused), so I'm in the process of bringing it back to life to make it my daily driver. I honestly want to make it as comfortable as possible, but I can't help but to mod everything I touch sigh...

If you're thinking about going with the Teins brand new, I would recommend looking into a used set of Megans for a little more. There's a bunch of GS groups on Facebook that you can find stuff on.