I recently installed Tein's Super Racing Damper on my S2k. This SRD coilovers were just released recently (May 2005) for our S2000.

As some of you know, I was using the KW V3 till recently for track / time attack application.

Although I was happy with the KWs on the street, it left something to desire about the body roll and frequent in-lifting issues seen on R compounds. (Note: Due to the smaller MY04 front sways, my car sees in-lifting even on a stock suspension / OEM street tires).

Another thing that convinced me to switch my KW is how I was using 1/4 turn away from full stiff on compression valving and the inability to lower the car w/o losing the preload on the springs.

Some of the specs of the Tein SRD:
16kg/mm F&R Springs; 895lbs/in
16 "Actual Clicks" of Compression and Rebound Adjustments
F&R External Res.
Preload independent hight adjustment Capability

Using the OEM 17" street tires, the ride is quite stiff. You will really notice the spring rate driving on concrete highways. On the track, the car corners very flat but once you start to drive beyond the limit, the handling is very quick and faster inputs and corrections are needed to stay out of trouble. Your inputs ramp sharply up to the tires limit. I needed to back down on the shock valving to allow more movement in the suspension.

On R-compounds, the car corners flat and feels very confidence inspiring. You can drive aggressively over the curbs with out upsetting the car and exit out of turns without losing traction. The shocks feels like they are active and doesn't feel harsh like the other JDM suspension. The shocks to me feel very european in a way. Very compliant as in terms of dampening with sharp feed back. You can feel all bumps on the track but it doesn't shake or make the car hop. The shock controls the bumps very well.

I have only done two track events on it so far but I think its couple of levels above the KW for track application in terms of its responsive-ness, predictability and traction level.

For street application, I would stay with the KWs. If your aiming for time attack, then its a great sub $2600 system for the track.

Pros:
Spring Rate for R Compounds
Ability to adjust hight with out messing up the preload
Ease of Install (Comes with top hat)
Easy valve adjustability (Actual clicks on a nob unlike KWs pin adjustment)
Shocks can accommodate different spring rate form 16kg/mm to 20kg/mm with out need to re-valve.

Cons:
Some concerns over long term reliability & Warranty Handling


Front


Rear


Suspension Droop

TEIN Front Shock Valving:


TEIN Rear Shock Valving:

Note: Rear Rebound is different from the front. KW also recommends less rear rebound valving for better traction.

KW V3 F&R Valving:


Flat Cornering

 

Forgot to mention that the SRD's come from the N1 series damper for consumer application. The N1 dampers were used in the Super Taikyu Class 4 seriese in 2004 by these cars.





Note: I am not affiliated with Tein or any other vendors of Tein. I will update on how well these shocks work in my 2006 time attack season.

 

nice review...

nice pictures also.

doesn't those coilovers use a dual EDFC?

 

very nice... i was thinking about getting these myself.... however the spring rates are just way to stiff for street driving... ... so i'm opting to go with the tein rs when the time to upgrade comes along...

did you end up getting the edfc's also??

 

Nice write up, Rob. Although, isn't it SRC and not SRD? I smell a group buy coming soon

These coilovers work perfectly fine for the street if you turn down the compression and rebound. I just got my alignment done this week and i'm heading out to the track in a few hours. I'll let you guys know how these work with street tires (hankook ventus rs2).

 

Hey Stinky,

Yea your right. You can turn down the valving and it will work fine for the street. Maybe I am getting too old! Have fun at the streets!

 

Very interesting, but how are you measuring pre-load?

None of the euro shocks I have seen have this feature and they seem to work fine.
My friend has Buddy Clunks and they had an adjustable foot on the bottom of the shock body.

Also, height adjustment is normally a one time thing so I don't see how the ease or lack there of is an issue.

And if you are getting inside rear wheelspin, this is something that is shock independent.

Is the dampening on these adjustable via a needle valve?

 

Hi Asura, Heard a lot about you.

You can set the preload equally but it gets complicated.


Its true, I have used many Euro shocks in the past and they do not have this feature. However, I do like ability to keep preload and shock travel while lowering the car.

I tend to mess with my ride hight and alignment on a monthly basis as I enjoy finding the small differences. However I have tried going lower on a KW V3 and lost preload and wasn't too happy with the handling as a result.

I feel that the smaller front sways combined with the grip of a 255 front tires created a lot of body roll on my AP2 which resulted in in-lifiting at the rear with the KWs. The TEIN with a higher spring rate keeps the body roll to a min.

 

rob, nice write up!

i thought we were keeping the Tein N1 and SRC in the dark...

rumor has it tein coilovers suck, and so are all of the other jdm coilovers. that's what i've been hearing from people who've never tried these coilovers out before. but what do i know? it seems like i've pursuaded two KW owners to switch to Tein SRC, even though the Tein N1 suck. i don't know how i managed to do that... sorry for brainwashing you guys onto this bandwagon...

should i write a bit of a review for the N1's then? i think we should contact tein so they can throw in some cheaper or free rebuilds on our coilovers!

maybe when i come back we can do a direct comparison at the tracks... not at laguna though, i just want to have fun there and not worry about anything else.

i'll add a bit more in regards to what i know of the N1's

the N1 supposedly has different rear valving compared to the SRC. the N1 only comes with tender springs in the rear. they are valved for spring rates between 16-20 kg/mm as well. only the rears come w/ an external reservoir. the N1 also has less usuable stroke compared to the SRC. the n1 does not have a separate spring holder independent of the upper pillow mount.

EDIT: wanted to add the the N1's have 20 rebound x 20 compression clicks. more fine tuning. you can clearly feel the differences between 2 clicks. i can hardly tell the difference when adjustments is made through single clicks.

regarding the characteristics of the N1 coilovers they seem to be very similar to Rob's review of the SRC but when not using the tender springs on the N1 the rear end seems to hop over bumps fairly easily. it doesn't disturb the car too much as traction is regained right when the wheels land back on the asphalt.

from my experience with using 16/16 spring rates and tein N1, street tires seem to limit the coilovers capabilities. the tires are being overworked and are not grippy enough to handle the higher spring rates. the tires seem to get greesy and overheat overtime, even though the car is very predictible, the car seems loose but controllable w/ driver feedback on street tires. with street tires the response seems a bit slow, i'm not sure if it's the crappy street tires i'm using, or maybe it's because the fact i'm not using r-compounds to compliment the coilovers high spring rates. when i try on some r-compounds next year i can directly compare the differences.

i think will/marty (sphinkterMC) can also comment on this thread as he has the tein SRC besides rob and tim...

 

Great review, 850+ lb spring rates.... yikes!