TEIN setup on a 91 Legacy L?

Cobalt · Post by **Cobalt** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 8:54 am

I'd like to install a TEIN SuperStreet or a TEIN Type Flex kit for my 1991 Subaru Legacy L AWD Non-Turbo.
But one is not specifically made for my car does anyone know which one made for an Impreza would fit my Legacy?
I may lean toward the SuperStreet Type because of the price, but one is not listed on the TEIN site.
Also if anyone out there knows another brand/type that is good or better please post. I just prefer TEIN because of their history, quality, and ISO 9001 certification.

93forestpearl · Post by **93forestpearl** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 9:09 pm

http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets6.html

Cobalt · Post by **Cobalt** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 2:22 am

Thank You bery much for the reply. That's all and great. But I need coilovers, not shocks. Bigger and wider wheels and tires are needed for time attacking. Plus the link didn't tell me which ones fit.

SubaruNation · Post by **SubaruNation** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 5:12 am

ok uh, you're doing time attacks in a legacy L?
with what else?

Cobalt wrote:Thank You bery much for the reply. That's all and great. But I need coilovers, not shocks. Bigger and wider wheels and tires are needed for time attacking. Plus the link didn't tell me which ones fit.

the link was supposed to tell you that coilovers are over-rated unless you are doing something extreme...

plus, i didn't see TEIN on that list at all....

and searching is your friend.

Adam West · Post by **Adam West** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 5:25 am

Impreza stuff should fit your car. Good luck with the build and please post details of how it turns out and how you do with it in competition. Cheers,

AW

jamal · Post by **jamal** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 6:54 am

anything that fits a 93-01 impreza will bolt right up to your car.

The point of the article is that tein is crap and there are much better options out there if you really want to be fast a track.

Zzyzx makes koni-based coilovers and the turn in concepts AST coilovers are also very good.

Adam West · Post by **Adam West** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 7:24 am

http://zzyzxmotorsports.com/products/coilovers/emsport

Cobalt · Post by **Cobalt** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 9:30 am

Looks like I'm going woth TEIN because of their setups and price. I looked at CUSCO, ZERO/SPORTS, HKS, GReddy, BLITZ, JIC Magic, and KW. It's either the Super Street with pillowball upper mounts or the Type Flex Twin Tube.

93forestpearl · Post by **93forestpearl** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 6:05 pm

I'm using H&R coilovers and they work very well, which were for a 1st gen Impreza. They utilize Bilstein dampeners. If you want to be serious about time attack, figure out what kind of spring rates you are going to use(based on a number of things, namely what tires you plan on using), then have dampeners valved for the natural frequency of the car. Don't just buy some coilovers with shiny knobs that say they are adjustable, because more often than not, the adjustments are garbage. Did you read the article?

greg donovan · Post by **greg donovan** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 9:53 pm

i know you seem to be set on Teins btu you should really look at all your options.

i have heard and seen very good things about Hotbits.

http://www.davenportracingusa.com/

Doug Davenport is mainly a rally shop but he is a authorized Hotbits retailer/service shop and he can hook you up with a good set for tarmac.

when you look at his site for some odd reason it only lists neons in the applications listings. however, i know you can get them for subarus and other cars.

Adam West · Post by **Adam West** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 10:35 pm

http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=138647

Cobalt · Post by **Cobalt** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 2:36 am

93forestpearl wrote:I'm using H&R coilovers and they work very well, which were for a 1st gen Impreza. They utilize Bilstein dampeners. If you want to be serious about time attack, figure out what kind of spring rates you are going to use(based on a number of things, namely what tires you plan on using), then have dampeners valved for the natural frequency of the car. Don't just buy some coilovers with shiny knobs that say they are adjustable, because more often than not, the adjustments are garbage. Did you read the article?

Yes I did read the article, I do understand that just because it's shiny that's not a reason to buy it. I need a setup for street comfort and performance and time attack performance.Although the latter will be occasional. (Closest track is about 40 miles away.) As well as being able to protect a set of new wheels and TOYO T1-R tires from being eaten. I mainly don't want to mix brands. I just feel iffy about a setup made up of 10 different names that may ask why you's mix this with that. Puls more tuner cars, that are doing what I'm doing use a TEIN setup. Then there's price I only have just $2000 to use. And TEINs are under that. The hotbits looked very good, then again I can't spend as much as their asking. I wish I could though. And another brand has popped in my head. Has anyone heard anything good or bad about Endura Tech.
Is it true that parts from a 93-01 Impreza can fit IS THAT CORRECT? Also is there any difficulty with fitting parts from those years to my Legacy. I don't want to have too much BS to deal with.

jamal · Post by **jamal** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 10:13 am

Cobalt wrote:
Yes I did read the article, I do understand that just because it's shiny that's not a reason to buy it. I need a setup for street comfort and performance and time attack performance .Although the latter will be occasional. (Closest track is about 40 miles away.) As well as being able to protect a set of new wheels and TOYO T1-R tires from being eaten. I mainly don't want to mix brands. I just feel iffy about a setup made up of 10 different names that may ask why you's mix this with that. Puls more tuner cars, that are doing what I'm doing use a TEIN setup. Then there's price I only have just $2000 to use. And TEINs are under that. The hotbits looked very good, then again I can't spend as much as their asking. I wish I could though. And another brand has popped in my head. Has anyone heard anything good or bad about Endura Tech.
Is it true that parts from a 93-01 Impreza can fit IS THAT CORRECT? Also is there any difficulty with fitting parts from those years to my Legacy. I don't want to have too much BS to deal with.

Those parts in bold.... just, no.

My big problem with Tein is that there is NO information out there about them. You can't find a dyno sweep of a set of four. You have no idea what kind of crosstalk the adjusters do or if they do what they're supposed to do or if a given set off the shelf will even match. If you really want to do time attack, you need to worry about that stuff. Tein is just a name and it doesn't impress me. They do, after all, make the worst springs in the history of the universe. They also have no travel and the ride is terrible (which tends to indicate the damping is terrible).

The coilovers I listed in my suspension thread are all under $2000.

TiC AST
Zzyzx EM
RCE T2
KW Variant 3

and they all have great technical support and are easily rebuildable. At least a few of those are availble for the 1st gen impreza, which is essentially identical to our Legacys.

Adam West · Post by **Adam West** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 5:12 pm

I think he has $2k to spend on everything - coilovers, tires and getting to the track, entry fees, and eating at micky D's...

Sounds like my budget! Seriously if you have no budget forgo getting coilovers at all over getting crap one that will die on you or ride like heck. That's just throwing away $$...

AGX 8 way adjustable struts and HR sport springs $600

AGX 8 way adjustable stuts and GC coilover inserts $800

The second is nice b/c you have control over spring rates and you dial in ride height AND they make a set just for our cars...

http://www.ground-control-store.com/pro ... .php/CA=25
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthr ... ?t=1262596

Guys this is a great thread that I've learned a few things on. But I wonder sometimes why people post Q's when they already have their minds made up???

Just an observation. We are working hard to give this guy great advise and what's the saying? "You can lead a horse to water..."

AW

SubaruNation · Post by **SubaruNation** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 11:31 pm

exactly AW

Cobalt · Post by **Cobalt** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 12:48 am

Woah there. (accidental humor) Now I haven't completely made up my mind on which coilover kit I want to get. I have still yet to hear back from TEIN on a set of Control Type Twin Tube coilovers (sent an email Friday night after work) if anything from them would even fit my car. So I'm still up to suggestions. Now I do have 2K budgeted for everything. Not including wheels or tires, just the coilovers. If I can make installation fees fit in there that'd be great. But if not; not a huge loss. I am looking at KW right now and am about to look at EnduraTech. So far the race goes TEIN, Zzyzx EM, and KW. Mainly by price at the moment. The conversion kit was a great idea. Thanks, but I need to get rid of the stock spring mount. I was able to get 16" WRX wheels on, but it had it's difficulty.

SubaruNation · Post by **SubaruNation** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 1:24 am

you should install them yourself, why wouldn't you?

greg donovan · Post by **greg donovan** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 7:32 pm

SubaruNation wrote:you should install them yourself, why wouldn't you?

yeah, struts are a pretty easy install and there are multiple threads here that outline the process.

and if you dont have the tools i suggest using the money you would spend on labor to buy some tools.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 7:51 pm

You can rent spring compressors from Auto Zone for free with a deposit.

93forestpearl · Post by **93forestpearl** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 3:33 pm

Last time I checked, my H&R coilovers were not made by 10 different manufacturers. H&R has a very good reputation with springs, and obviously Bilstein's name precedes themselves. I only paid $1380 for my H&R's, but that was two years ago. The beauty of them is that they are cheap to rebuild/revalve. $65 for a rebuild and parts for them are cheap. The shaft is only $10. The only reason I suggest giving them a look is due to Bilstein's track record and the availibility and economy of revalving.

Once a dampener is set for a certain spring on your car there is no need to mess with it. The car is not going to ride any better or worse by playing with the adjustments, granted the dampener is well matched. The largest mistake people make is trying to make up for a lack of spring rate by cranking up the compression dampening for an event. The car may feel more stable, but its slower in the end.

Arctic Assassian · Post by **Arctic Assassian** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 4:40 am

for comparison, tein rebuilds are at about 100 dollars, and you can request dyno charts for 25 dollars for any model.
Jamal, they make a grp.N coilover that is very competetive. How could they do that while everything you said be true? Could you be exaggerating just a little?

Cobalt · Post by **Cobalt** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 8:01 am

Well no word back from TEIN yet, but I have planty of time as other things have taken my coilover fund at the moment. But otherwise a set of TEIN TYPE FLEX Twin Tube types are going to be my decision. I even tried a look at DG-5, but that's for drift. Not saying that I'd convert my AWD to FR, but I have considered it more than once. EnduraTech looked good on paper before I looked at the price per strut. Just wow was the only thought. I've seen the background of Swift springs. They look good, and have what would fit the TEIN setup. I clicked on a page about helper and assist springs. Does anyone have info about those two?

Cobalt · Post by **Cobalt** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 7:38 am

Well TEIN finally got back to me and said that IF I installed one of their coilovers on my car; I'd void the warranty. Well, back to the drawing board. But back to looking at the following:
TiC AST
Zzyzx EM
RCE T2
KW Variant 3
I have time though. Coilover fund was raided to be used for body repairs. Seriously I have to replace a door now, but never the less thanks to all who contributed to make this thread great. But keep posting too.
P.S. It was a hit and run.

greg donovan · Post by **greg donovan** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 6:35 am

i really think you should look at the KYB AGX/ground control combo.

they have been used with pretty good success by many people.

mike wray had very good results in his PGT legacy SS rally car with them.

did tein say wahy it would void the struts warranty?

93forestpearl · Post by **93forestpearl** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 9:01 am

That's what Mike was using? He seam welded that car too.

His rally car lives on. I have his old Magnecore wires, w00t.

Lately he's been rocking his LGT wagon. He flew to Memphis for it.

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TEIN setup on a 91 Legacy L?

TEIN setup on a 91 Legacy L?