mojo_jojo77777

All true points. And yes, plan is to rebuild to custom specs. Especially since I have custom rated springs, which are essentially at limits of OTS yellows. Like I said, just playing devils advocate. lol. Yeah, the coating on Koni's is shit, just like their nuts on the body itself. I removed all of their nuts that were welded on for the lower mount when 2 of them stripped out. The gf's nail polish probably has a more durable coat than Konis do. lol.

Tein sells good stuff, just depends I guess on what purpose the car will have. For me, they didnt have anything in my budget that would suite my needs, and I def dont want to drop $3k on a set of SRC's and only use those to 10% full potential.

The Prophet.

I currently have Tein Flex Z's on my 06 ap2. I think they are excellent coilovers, and I'm not just saying that because of the price. I think a big reason why the price is so affordable and makes us wonder is due to how it is designed, and in my eyes from a manufacuturing standpoint, it is a good step forward. I am not a professional on this topic but I do have a lot of experience with coilovers, mainly on my previous drift cars and both of my s2000's.

Currently, I have my Flex's set at 21 clicks from soft. At this setting, now that the coilovers have been broken in, it feels ever so slightly stiffer over bumps than my H&R coilovers that I had on my old AP1. Another big plus for me is their corrosion resistance properties. All of the coilovers I have had in the past gave me problems when they got old and the height adj. threads had a tiny bit of corrosion, which would seize the collars. The teins have a finish that keeps rust and corrosion away, and on my friends' teins, they also do a great job of not letting dirt stick to them over time.

Everything looked very high quality out of the box, and it came with spanner wrenches, the damper adj. tool (don't really need that), stickers, instructions, etc. And just to verify, I saw a few posts where people thought theyw were made in China but I can verify they are made in Yokohama Japan. HUGE plus for the price.

I just don't think you can go wrong, especially with the Tein name attached to these coilovers. Stay tuned, I'll be posting up a full review soon. Like I said, I'm not a professional and only do a handful of track/autocross days per year, so I do not ask as much out of my coilovers as a dedicated track nut.

If you have any more questions, feel free to PM me or check out the review I'll post soon

B serious

^One thing I will caution about is NOT to count clicks from soft. Always close the valve (full stiff/clockwise), and then turn backwards to get to your setting every time.

They come with 32 clicks. But going beyond 16 clicks from full stiff can damage the damper.

Its a stupid design...but their manual does cover how to properly adjust the damper.

Also...edit to my earlier post.

Flex Z's are made in Japan just like the rest of the lineup. Not China.

I am sure that the quality is high, and can attest to the corrosion proofing being remarkably good.

The Prophet.

Thanks for sharing that info on adjusting the dampers, I didn't recall seeing that in my manual but I may have just missed it. I've been rolling around for a couple weeks now with my dampers set that way. After work today I'll redo my settings per the way you mentioned.

Do you think any damage was done though? I'm assuming it should be fine but I feel like I'm becoming this forum's resident worry wart. Thanks again

B serious

21 from full soft is 11 from full sfiff. So you're fine.

If you rode around at like...15 from full soft or softer than that...then you may have some issues with the damper.

I am surprised, however, that you're able to tolerate Tein's soft side settings. I haven't tried the S2000 Flex Z...but on the cars that do have Teins, I need to run the damper fairly stiff to prevent the car from floating all over the place like a bag full of hot air.

The Prophet.

I think my initial ride was around 13-5 clicks from full soft, and it was floaty. At the softer ride settings they definitely were softer than a stock 06 ap2. I gradually increased until it felt like my H&R full coilovers I had. But now that I read your advice, on my lunch break I set the dampers to full clockwise/stiff, and counted my clicks backing off. My only issue with these dampers is that the very last click before it was full stiff was kind of vague, or undefined. I don't know how to describe it, but it was either going to 31 and a half or 32 and a half. For a couple of the dampers, I was having a hard time telling which was the very last click for full stiff. So what I did was turn the knob fully clockwise, backed off until I thought it reached the last position, then counted down and turned counter clockwise from there. I know that sounds wordy, but maybe if I used the little tool provided instead of my fingers it would be more defined.

Anyways, thanks again for pointing me in the right direction. Car is currently around 5 clicks from full stiff and feels great. Relatively comfortable and a compliant ride. I noticed that after this final adjustment, I instantly felt how much more responsive the turn in is now that it is significantly stiffer.

I still recommend these to those looking for a good coilover setup for a DD. As stated, i'm not a professional racer or anything like that so I'll make sure its known on here if any issues arise.

-Bryan

B serious

Its fully closed when the adjuster stops turning (clockwise). don't apply force. it'll be obvious that its finished turning.

I know what you mean about the first click back, however. its a little vague. I count back from full stiff.

I should also add to my previous statements about these. If you decide you want to have the valving customized, I belive you can order customized cartridges from Tein. They're sealed and cannot be rebuilt. But..you can tell Tein you want new cartridges with valving for certain spring rates.

If the cost of buying a new, custom cartridge is close to that of an unsealed shock's rebuild...then that is a pretty nice deal.