This is the next upgrade I'd like to do. So I started looking and researching for the BC's as they have a lot of users here and on other sites, and have come back with good reports for performance and price.

When I asked the guy who looks after my car what he recommends he say the Teins are fantastic, I worried though they are too hard even on soft setting for the UK roads.......is that right?
He wasn't trying to sell the dearest set, and can get the BC's if I really wanted, so I trust what he says, he's only saying what he has seen and fitted himself, with 30+ yrs experience he knows more than me

One thing he did say about the BC's is that they are not servicable i.e if they leak and a seal has gone, you have to buy a new strut, where as the Tein's have a huge service parts back up, and can get the odd seal as and when needed.

So now thats thrown another brand in the mix
Looking for some good advice on both makes pros & cons for each, prices I have, yes the Teins are dealer, but if they stand up better that a bonus.

Thanks for any info.

 

best bet on the bc's is talk to bren at apec im sure they are servicable

 

just had bc s put on wifes jdm bugeye and they are great would recommend them

 

Had both personally if i had to buy another set for a car it would be BC's.

Teins are not as hard as people make out, yes they are slightly harder then the BC's but the BC's have a very soft set up on full soft and actually can make handling pretty bouncy and undesirable.

Teins: very good quality coilover, with very good soft setting ride quality. Can be a bit firm for some but i would class them as pansies! . more expensive though.

BC's: much softer ride of full soft... although handling can suffer. change it to medium and becomes much better and still retains great road drive ability. Down side i found over many models of car is they dont go overly low in hight. Havnt had any issues with leaking or potential burst shocks.

Overall both very good coilovers. Tein will out handle BC's but as a daily drive BC's might be the better option

hope that helps bud

 

Thanks very much for that info
I doudt whether I'll be tracking the car, more into show and shine lol, but as my shocks are knocking and its a worth while upgrade, so from that point Teins seem more suited to track action.
BC's do different sets dont they, seen BR's and other spec, trying to figure out whats what?

 

Darren i'm driving Zaks RA at the mo whilst mine's up with him. It's fitted with Tein's and they are WAY stiffer then my BCs. So much so that on a fav road I take on the way home the RA would of been much much slower than my STi due to poor traction caused by the over firm ride. I'd stick with the BCs with 5/6 spring weights all day long

 

Oh really, well thats the sort of info I'm after, Teins do just seem too hard for UK roads to be worth having, maybe make sence if i track the car say 50/50, but I dont think I'll be doing that.

By the way Bod, hows yours getting on?

 

I've tried messing around with the EDFC on them Darren to soften them up a bit and they really are too hard. Maybe excellent on track and certainly seem to offer better feedback then my BCs on smooth tarmac (or maybe that's just the RA???) but i couldn't live with them everyday.

Mine's up @ Mocom still. No problem with the car and hopefully it'll all be finished by the end of this week

 

I've tried messing around with the EDFC on them Darren to soften them up a bit and they really are too hard. Maybe excellent on track and certainly seem to offer better feedback then my BCs on smooth tarmac (or maybe that's just the RA???) but i couldn't live with them everyday.

Mine's up @ Mocom still. No problem with the car and hopefully it'll all be finished by the end of this week

 

depends if you wana spend 600 quid or 1500 quid

 

I have Tein fitted to my never experianced BC, but the Tein are noisey and do my nuy in, had them checked by a few peep and all in gud condition, they get worse after driving 20miles or so

 

I've been looking at investing in coilovers too - the responses in this thread echo what I've read in several other posts where this exact question has been asked before:
- Tein are too hard for UK roads, even the top most expensive electronically controlled units.
- If you want top quality, go to Powerstation and buy AST's, as fitted to the T-25. But they'll cost you in excess of £1500.
- BC's are good budget units, and come in under £700.
Scoobyworld are currently offering a promotion where they fit and align them for you for under a grand.

BTW - your mechanic needs to have a look at Apex's replacement prices for BC struts - they cost next to nothing for a replacement strut from Apex - circa £50-60 I think? - see the GB thread and Bren's comments. They're far cheaper than most aftermarket or OEM items you can buy, and he reports never having had a unit returned having sold thousands.
I can see myself investing in a set when the next GB is on. It's a no brainer for me.

 

Should get some HKS coilovers like me, even tho driving a steam roller on bumpy concrete is far more comfortable. Ha ha great on the track tho! Oh and i live in Devon!
Good luck with your purchase.

Clarky.

 

Don't want to complicate your decision making for you, but I have just put up my KW Clubsports for sale in the Classifieds section. These are better than AST as fitted by Powerstation, better than the Teins and at a price closer to the BCs.

Not pimping for business, but if I was in your shoes I know which I would choose.

 

Not at all biased then? lol

 

I have chosen the BC's, being fitted this Friday,

Just left with how low do I go, Im thinking stay with 35-40mm, and whether to tweek the camber/caster/toe for a more fast road setting?

 

lol.

not biased at all. every manuactuer makes cheap as well as expensive dampers. the clubsports are near the top of the tree, the BCs near the bottom. Everyone can make their own choices.

 

glad you asked this question as its what I was wondering! Bc's it seems on all fronts

 

No disrespect intended here mate, but that's a bit of a sweeping statement.
If they're better than AST's for all round everyday driving, I suspect Litchfield would use them mate.
They don't really skimp on costs when they're putting their cars together from what I hear!

 

First thing I always ask (having been down this road myself) is do you NEED coilovers?

Forget the notion of having a lovely soft ride one minute and then firming things up to track spec at the turn of a dial. It doesn't work that way. Spring and damper rates have to work in harmony. If you set the dampers to max soft, the car will be inadequately damped and bouncy as heck! If you wind them up too tight, you'll loose your teeth! There is some degree of adjustment possible in the middle ground, but it's not a case of Limo at one end of the spectrum and race car on the other I've yet to see coilovers that has completely transformed the handling of the car AND retained the subtlety of the std car set up; they generally improve handling significantly, but there is a noticable price to pay over the bumps.

Adjustable dampers are overkill for most people. Better to let the people who developed the suspension determine the optimal spring rate and damper combo and stick with that.

Tein with EDFC was a high quality set up, not doubt, but I found them a little on the firm side if you wound the dampers up to where the springs wanted them to be.

I have Eibach coilovers at the moment and they're definitely better for A-B road driving on UK roads.

Softer (within reason) is better for UK roads.

My suggestion would be stick with std set up and modify things like Roll bars etc first and see how you get on with that.

 

Valid point

 

No offence taken mate

The AST are closer in spec to KW Variant 2, but cheaper. Litchfield will be looking at cost/benefit when putting their package together, and the KW Clubsports are an eyewatering £ 1800 new.

Just to demonstrate, my Clubsports sold in 24 hours on here. There is a set of ASTs (same ones that Powerstation fit) for sale at half the price I wanted for the Clubsports, it has not sold in a week.

AST are a good brand and they have a set of coilies comparable to the Clubsports, but they are also a lot closer to the Clubsports in price (as well as being three way adjustable also). In my statement above I was specifically comparing Clubsports and the Powerstation ASTs.

 

Has anybody heard of the hotbits dt1 coilovers?

 

i had leda coilovers on my last classic and they were superb, not hard either, offered great handling, consider them.

 

i had tein flex on my car when i bought it,but i had a brand new set of inverted B'C coilovers that i had bought and never fitted to my old car.so i sold the teins and fitted the B'C,s.for a start the teins were 1kg each lighter,they were much quieter on the road as the B'C,s bang like mad over pot holes one of the rears has started creaking already and they have only done around 2000miles. just by looking at the teins you could tell they were better made.i wish now i had kept the teins on.

 

I know a few people who have teins and love them one has done 40000 miles on them alot better build Quality imo

 

i'll second that.

 

I would consider ftting a set of BC's but can't get the fear of far east material quality out of my mind!

JohnD

 

I think they've been about for a while now, tried and tested on both road and track, teething problems sorted, even now they have re-worked the rear top mounts to a newer style more of a OEM, so future knocking struts should be in the past.

Liking them so far though.

Thanks for everyones comments on this one guys

 

not when the standard units constantly fail as mine have.