I'm looking at getting the Tein CS coilovers. However, I talked to my friend, and he told me that coilovers will prematurely wear out the tires. He also said that the alignment will never be perfect with coilovers. Is this true? If it is, how fast do tires wear out? What about the alignment?

And I've always wondered what ride quality of the Tein CS coilovers are compared with the stock and the sport suspension. I vaguely recall that someone said that the stock suspension is like a 16 on the Tein CS, but I can't find that thread anymore. I'm just asking this because I may want a stiff ride now, but maybe later, I would want to soften the ride up back to the normal suspension. Thanks

 

if you properly install coilovers, then you shouldn't have any problems.

 

A lowered suspension of any kind without an alignment to get within the factory negative/toe/caster specs will wear out the tires unevenly.

Again, if you're lowered less than 1", you might still be within the factory specs' range. Beyond that you will need to get a camber kit to correct the excessive negative camber. Your tires will have uneven wear which can shorten it's life up to 50%. You will have the inner treads nearly worn out while the outside tread looks brand spanking new!

I have the sports suspension with 18". It's already a bit bumpy compared to other lexus but inline with the bmw 3-series and a bit harsher than the Audi A4's - just to give you persepective. The Tein CS comes with spring rates of Front 8Kg and Rear 6kg which is about 2.5 times stiffer than the OEM spring rates.

Coilovers are designed as a complete shock/spring package targeted to provide race-car like handling which allows the car to retain more feedback from the road surfaces to the driver. So expect to feel every little imperfection on the road. If looks and handling are important to you, then go for it. If you want true real world handling on normal streets and the occassional winding country roads, the OEM or sports suspension package provides a pretty good balance between handling/ride comfort.

If not, just go with springs only which usually have lower springs rates of between 4.5 to 5.5 kg. However your OEM shocks will wear out a bit faster due to the higher spring rates. Its' suggested you change your OEM shocks at the same time but it seems right now there isn't too much aftermarket offering for just shocks upgrade.

good luck with your decision!

 

So the Tein CS's ride can't match the OEM's? Then what setting on the Tein CS would the sport suspension be (roughly)?

 

One thing you're forgetting is that the dampers play a crucial role in how soft/stiff, or harsh/floaty the car will ride. The CS are the least aggressive of the Tein line and at the softer damper settings, they should be somewhat close to stock.

I haven't taken a ride in a IS with the CS but I have been in a G35 with the CS. At the lowest damper settings, they were softer than stock.

If you want the 'race car' experience with Teins, go with the SS or the Flex.

 

if u want to stay close to factory, go with the CS. I just sold mine because I've decided to go w/ teh Flex

 

your friend is silly.

 

You are right, the dampers do play a role, and that's where coilovers fall short. The Tein CS, even at its tallest setting, already sits about an inch lower than stock. With 1-inch shorter suspension travel, it would be silly for Tein to create a stiffness setting that were "softer" or equal to stock. The damping rate needs to be, at minimum, stiffer than the OEM shocks in order for the suspension not to bottom out.

Again, the "seat-of-the-pants" evaluation of how soft or stiff the ride in your friends' G35 is subjective. The difference between the OEM G35 to Tein CS softest setting might be insignificant, but the coilovers will still ride rougher. Remember coilovers are built for performance driving, not for looks alone.

If coilover is the choice, yes, the Tein CS is the best option that will be as close as OEM in terms of ride.

 

Cs is designed to feel more like stock. I agree with what people say. I say drop that thing i hate wheel gap

 

why would you get something to feel like stock for? if you jut want it to be lower save your $$ and get springs. me personally i think even the sport suspension is350 is still soft for a car like that. with performance like that it should ride a bit stiffer.

 

Springs have their drawbacks including uneven drops, poor spring to damper compatibility, etc.

You're also forgetting that you can adjust the dampers on the coilovers to get a much stiffer ride if you wanted.

 

You can get away with softer damper settings because the springs are much stiffer than stock. That alone will keep it from bottoming out.

 

Stiff ride != better. Also, using compression damping to make up for lack of spring rate doesn't work well. Harsh ride is the only result, and poor wheel compliance means performance is worse, not better. Add in the short sidewalls on 18" and larger tires, and you have a recipe for wheels skipping over bumps and failing to properly follow the surface contours.

My chief complaint with Tein is their lack of adjustability. You get both compression and rebound changes in the increments they deem suitable. It is not possible to properly tune damping with compression and rebound tied together. Not only that, but you can only adjust low speed damping with their adjustments, and there are no options for the home mechanic to change any internal settings. Not very friendly for true performance tuning IMHO.

 

True, but what do you expect for $1200? Most double-adjustable race quality shocks are $1200 per unit, and can reach upwards of $7000 per (mmm...Ohlins TTX40...). Also, single adjustables are usually just compression damping, not a two-in-one sort of setup.

Finally, how are you gonna do REAL performance tuning without a shock dyno, which will run you back another $10k?

 

Real performance tuning? Lap times never lie. Besides, it's not rocket science to figure out when the tires are skipping over the tops of bumps on accel or decel. That's SOTP stuff I learned from tuning road race bikes.

Oh, almost forgot - go to Tein's website. They have charts showing the damping changes (oops - not anymore!). They (still) change compression and rebound with every click. Sad but true.