quest Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 Hey everybody. These are about evenly priced. So what would you pick? GPMoto - supposed to be more comfortable and more damper adjustments, but cant lower the car more than 1". Tein Flex - "harsher" ride, but more height adjustability and also the EDFC. So what would you go with? I am confused enough, so dont go recommending other coilovers. I know CUSCO or ZEIL are probably better, but they are more money. Bring on the comments, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOXRPWR Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 Love my GPMs. Ride is very gentle 98% of the time. You do give up a bit of "slamming" distance but I think the car lowers just enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
typeSpeed Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 I wouldn't mind a set of GPM's but from what some people have posted getting any post sale support is horrible. Here's a thread to NASIOC, where some people have given their thoughts on the product. http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=821266&page=3&pp=25 Silver-Arts.com - Custom web design Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOXRPWR Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 just read through the NASIOC thread above.......seemed generally very UPBEAT about GPMoto coilovers. Sure, one guy railed on Rallitek's response time and he did have a real problem with a broken bolt. But several other guys said that they got a good response when contacting GPMoto directly. And a few had several thousand miles on them with some Auto-X time as well. I'm still comfortable with my purchase decision. And I've never had a problem reaching and talking with somebody at Rallitek. They've been very cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boostjunkie Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 Hey everybody. These are about evenly priced. So what would you pick? GPMoto - supposed to be more comfortable and more damper adjustments, but cant lower the car more than 1". Tein Flex - "harsher" ride, but more height adjustability and also the EDFC. So what would you go with? I am confused enough, so dont go recommending other coilovers. I know CUSCO or ZEIL are probably better, but they are more money. Bring on the comments, Jason I think you are reiterating my opinions, since I posted something to that effect and I have the only set of Flex's out there as of now. To clarify the Teins are not harsh, as in too stiff. They actually absorb small bumps very well. So over reasonable roads they are very smooth riding. I personally think that they are a touch underdampened even when the shocks are cranked stiff, so bigger surface imperfections are met with a more jarring response. I think part of that is that the included bump stops are too long, and therefore come in to play more often and to a greater extent than with some other coilovers. One of these days I'm going to take mine off and see if the bump stops can be trimmed a touch or swapped out for a material with more gradual compression. Between the the GPM and Teins, I think a big factor is how much you are want to lower your car. If want a more obvious drop then the GPM just don't allow for much lowering. Ultimately, if you can't get the ride height you want, you'll be unhappy with your coilovers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quest Posted October 28, 2005 Author Share Posted October 28, 2005 Ultimately, if you can't get the ride height you want, you'll be unhappy with your coilovers. Thats whats keeping me away from the GPMoto's. I don't necessarily want to "slam" the car, but I also dont want to stare at my car with $1500 coilovers and wish the car could be a little lower. I am getting very close to ordering the Tein's. Thanks for the input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warnoldscu Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 I don't know where you got the idea that the GPMoto's aren't capable of lowering the car enough... I'll post pics later (I'm at work now), but I have the GP motos and they are VERY adjustable height-wise. My car is currently as low as it could possibly be (literally NO wheel gap) and the ride is fairly rough, but it's not too bad on full soft. I also called Rallitek at least twice while installing and they answered and helped me each time. I would recommend them as a vendor and these coilovers in general. Weston ps... my avatar <<< is with stock suspension Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abakja1 Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 GPMoto CO look awesome, dont know much about them till I heard about them being a CO choice for our LGTs..TEIN are probably more familiar and test proven,...Your choice,.. Id get the GPs if they were more test proven, but Id get TEIN for peace of mind,...or at least more members can post their reviews about GPs,...I would wait if you could to get more opinions though,...Save $$ in the long run before you "jump in",.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quest Posted October 28, 2005 Author Share Posted October 28, 2005 Warnold, posting pics would be great. I was under the impression that GPMoto's had a lowering limitation of about 1" based in the posts I have read on this forum So unless you got 20" rims, I wouldnt think 1 inch would fill the wheel well. I would love to be wrong though, as I was leaning toward the GPMoto's until I read that. Basically all I have done all week at work is read the various suspension posts. Your opinions are appreciated. Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOXRPWR Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 Here's a pic of my LGT sedan with GPMoto COs. Obviously, it can be set pretty low. I reached a physical limit that the bottom end of the shock body was within 1/4" of hitting the front drive shafts. This was without adjusting the spring post settings out of the box. I could lower them to further lower the car. But then I would be changing the damping properties. And I like the way it rides right now. http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a373/BOXRPWR/Install/NRSubMay05020.jpg http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a373/BOXRPWR/Install/NRSubMay05017.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quest Posted October 28, 2005 Author Share Posted October 28, 2005 BOXRPWR, so those pics are set to the ride height at which you enjoy the ride? Im not looking to lower it much more if any than that. That looks really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobY Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 Depends what springrate you got... The origninals had 6/6 rates. You could lower those until you had no gap left. With stronger 8/8 springrates you car will sit higher with the cups bottomed out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warnoldscu Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 I had no problems getting my car as low as I wanted it... here are the pics I promised, some of them are a little fuzzy cuz the freeway was bumpy, but you get the idea. BOXRPWR mentioned that he didn't adjust the spring post settings out of the box. I was told by Rallitek that the settings in the box were completely random, so I did play with all the settings, even the "preload" or whatever on the spring. This is probably why my ride is still fairly rough even on full dampening - that and the fact the CA roads SUCK! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warnoldscu Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 The close-up pic on the left is the front, and the one further to the right is the rear... here are the stocks for you to compare Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boostjunkie Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 As far as know BOXRPWR has the old 6/6 springs. I checked his spring seats for preload and they are just snug, but no signifigant preload. The problem is that the bottoms of the shock bodies are already sticking out of the lower strut mounts and are really close to the front axles at full droop. That car cannot be lowered more in front without and interference problem. Or rather, you could lower the spring perches, but with no preload as is, that would be a far from optimal setup. Unloaded, the springs could rattle around in the perches, and that's not good. While it wouldn't be a good idea from a ride and handling standpoint, I could easily set my car up to have fully tucked tires. The GP Motos are a fine setup, the shock bodies are just a bit too long. Who knows, maybe there have been a couple of running production changes, were some people got shorter shock bodies... I do know that from a dimentional standpoint the Teins fit right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quest Posted October 29, 2005 Author Share Posted October 29, 2005 Warnold, thanks a bunch for the pics. Your car is obviously not having a problem getting as low as you want. Do you have the old 6/6 spring rate, or the newer 8/8? I guess there just hasnt been enough people to try the Tein's yet to give an even response. Everyone seems to be happy with the GPMoto's though. This is a tough decision. As far as I can tell, BoostJunkie, you are still the only one running Tein Flex's and your writeup gave great information. Do you know if your setup was changed at all for the production version release? I think I may need something like the EDFC in my car to get my lazy azz to change dampening on a regular basis. That is certainly an advantage of for Tein. Maybe I should have made a poll. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warnoldscu Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 Rallitek told me that they would order the springs at whatever rates I wanted... I believe my setup was 6k in the front, 8k in the rear. Weston Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignignokt Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 Warnold, thanks a bunch for the pics. Your car is obviously not having a problem getting as low as you want. From what I've seen here, there seem to be different shock bodies out there from GP Moto... Mine don't have any issues going as low as I want either. My car is at roughly the same height as BOXRPWR's pics, and I've put over 4k miles on them (owned them for about 5 or 6 months) - no problems yet. I have the 6k springs, which are fine for street driving. Bought mine from PDXTuning and never tried to contact GMMoto directly, so I can't comment on support from Rallitek or GPMoto. I'd recommend them to anyone not wanting to spend $2k and up - makes the car a LOT more fun to drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobY Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 The 6k springs are the reason why your car can be set so low. I have 8k's and they bottom out after about more than an inch of lowering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignignokt Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 The 6k springs are the reason why your car can be set so low. I have 8k's and they bottom out after about more than an inch of lowering. I should have been more specific - in the back, the spring rate will make a difference since the adjustment range bottoms out pretty quickly (though I wouldn't personally want to go lower anyway). In the front, there's room on my shocks to put the car as low as possible (ie, not driveable since the tires would be hitting the top of the wheelwells), no matter the spring rate. Some other posts have indicated that the front shock body ends up close to the driveshaft with only 1" of lowering - that's definitely due to a longer shock body, and thus my comment about different versions. Granted, assuming you want an even drop all around, if the rear is limited to 1", it doesn't really matter if you have more room in the front! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobY Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 Yes, but when you raise the springrate you raise the car given the same shock body length because it dosent compress as much. On the same shock body a 6k spring rate bottomed out on the braket may result in a slammed car but if you do nothing but change the spring rate to 8k your car will be 25 percent higher than with the 6k springrate. If each corner of the car weighs 400kg the 6kg/mm springrate will compress 66.7 mm. If it were 8k the spring would compress 50mm. The result is that the car with the 8k springrate will sit about 17mm higher than the one with the 6k rate. Sooo... people with the 6k springrate will have plenty of room to lower further. however people with the 8 springrates must lower the shock body even further to acheive the same amt of lowering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOXRPWR Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 Honestly, I don't know for sure which springs I have. Since I didn't specify them....I presume they are the 6k/6k springs. But given the height adjustment differences between others with GPMs, perhaps they sent me the 8k/8k springs. Is there a marking on them to find out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobY Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 I have the 8k springrates... No markings. Just a beefier coil. If you have room to slam your car you probably got the 6k rates. The rears on mine are bottomed out on the cup and the fronts are near the cv boots. Which results in a little more than an inch of lowering. Im happy with it i wouldent want to go much lower. We get lots of snow here and I need some sorts of clearance. Also the markings should be on the side of the box. It should indicate which rates you got. Seriously for a daily driver I think 6k/6k is perfect. 8k/8k can be abusive at times. Its like being raped by a gorilla in the dysmal states the roads are in Buffalo. They are absolutely BEAUTIFUL on the highway or a good condition backcountry road though. I must say the GP motos have a great range of dampening. The 8k springs are well dampened for street use at around 3 out of 16. They are great for agressive street use at 5 out of 16. AutoX its great at 8. I cant imagine these things maxed out at 16 im afraid my kidneys would fall out if you hit a pebble it can get THAT stiff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignignokt Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 I can literally eat up almost all of the front clearance I have with the car up on jackstands (ie, when the shocks are fully extended). So any compression at all in the "lowest" setting would be undrivable on my shocks (unelss you like the car sitting on the bump stops all the time). So I guess I can't prove it without a direct shock body measurement, but I swear my fronts are 2"-3" shorter than the newer ones people have been getting. At any rate, I was wondering how rough the 8k springs were - the 6k are about as stiff as I'd want for a daily driver with the dampening at 6/16 f/r. The 8 setting seemed to be too much for the 6k springs. I didn't even bother going any stiffer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quest Posted October 29, 2005 Author Share Posted October 29, 2005 The inconsistency amongst everyones results is a bit scary to me. So I am still leaning towards the Teins. Will be placing my order for one or the other on Monday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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