OmniPower or Tein?

[Kane666]

I'm at a loss as to what I should get for my 98 Civic LX. The Tein Super Street Damper seems great for what I'd be using it for but does anyone know how well the OmniPower full coilover kit is? They're systems seem the same but I haven't heard much about Omni until my recent searches for a suspension and brake kit. If anyone knows how they rate please let me know.

[Greenblurr93]

OmniPower is having some problems now with their products failing.... Keep that in mind.

[SilverY2KCivic]

Originally Posted by Greenblurr93

OmniPower is having some problems now with their products failing.... Keep that in mind.

Wow, was totally unaware of that... I just got some Omni RLCAs about a month ago, the new design and all...

As for which coilovers, I've had Tein SS for over 3 years now on my Civic, and not a single complaint about them yet to date. Which Omnis were you looking at, and what do you plan on doing with the coilovers in terms of driving style? Iff it's just for the street and an occasional mountain or similar drive, I wouldn't get anything more than the Tein Basics or lowest end Omnis since you won't need the dampening adjustment, that's only for track racing purposes, you WON'T notice the differance on the street, guaranteed!

[BullShifter]

Omni non-adjustable dampening
Tein adjustable dampening

That's an easy decision for me.

Originally Posted by SilverY2KCivic

I wouldn't get anything more than the Tein Basics or lowest end Omnis since you won't need the dampening adjustment, that's only for track racing purposes, you WON'T notice the differance on the street, guaranteed!

I disagree. Both adjustable ride height and dampening are really for racing. Will you feel a balanced car on the street? NO Will you feel the difference between struts on their softest to hardest setting? YES

[SilverY2KCivic]

If you use the dampening adustment to adjust the ride from soft to stiff, it's deafing the purpose of what it's there for.

[BullShifter]

Originally Posted by SilverY2KCivic

If you use the dampening adustment to adjust the ride from soft to stiff, it's deafing the purpose of what it's there for.

Please explain the purpose then

[snowman2005]

shocks arent made to stiffen the suspension, thats what the spring is for the shocks only stop the spring from constantly compressing and decompressing(bouncing). right?

[BullShifter]

Some what true, I'll wait for SilverY2K's response before I add my point.

[snowman2005]

lol

[SilverY2KCivic]

Originally Posted by jackasssi

Please explain the purpose then

It's for fine tune adjustment when road racing or auto-X. Some shocks have seperate dampening and rebound control. If a course is bumpy, you want to keep the rebound more responsive (quicker?) to keep the tire contact patch on the ground as much as ossible instead of bouncing around. You also may want to adjust the dampening accordingly to any dips or humps in on the track again to keep the tires planted and handling optimum. Of course these adjustments will soften up or stiffen the ride as it ajusts the valing inside of the shock to allow for more or less transfering of the shock oil. In fact most may not know, but shock valving is adjusted by adding to taking away shims from abour the piston rod. I can't remember the whole process of how it works, but I have it in some Sport Compact Car issue here where they featured the Tein vehicles and toured the Tein factory in Japan.

But the gist here is that it wasn't created or developed for street car accomidations to stiffen or soften the ride. Companies just happen to incorporate the features into shocks for street cars, but it's still meant for racing purposes. I'm at the point these days that sometimes at the track I won't even adjust the dampening unless the car isn't feeling balanced (too much understeer or too much rear rotation) and then 2-3 click adjustments and problem is solved.

[BullShifter]

Originally Posted by SilverY2KCivic

Of course these adjustments will soften up or stiffen the ride

Exactly what I said, nothing about suspension setup. Changing the dampening directly affects how the car feels and if you have adjustments why not use them? Soft for the street & stiff for racing. Wow no that's a concept I bet the companies never thought of . . . . Ever see Koni's advertisement with the little quotes about the settings? I guess not.

[SilverY2KCivic]

Can't say I have, but the adjustments don't really change it that much in the comfort dept. Point being, unless it's needed on the car, it's a good waste of $200 - $300... =\ Plus since most people on here seem to look for the cheapest at least reliable option, and lowering entailes a stiffer ride, trying to get it so you can make it softer defeats the purpose esp. if you just want a lowered look. If you really want a softer ride and the lowered look the most logical option here is Tein Basics with custom ordered -2kg softer springs. If a shop orders directly from Tein that way, then there should be no additional cost as they just mate them with softer springs and keep the standard rate springs. I'll try to stir up some more knowledgeable heads to get a good argument going to why dampening adjustment is just dumb on a lowered street setup.

[BullShifter]

Originally Posted by SilverY2KCivic

I'll try to stir up some more knowledgeable heads to get a good argument going to why dampening adjustment is just dumb on a lowered street setup.

mmmmkay.

You'll find more cars from the factory with electronically adjusted dampening than you will find adjustable ride height. Point being many people don't want to drive a car the feels like a ton of bricks going down the road all the time but still want good handling. With a push of a button the driver can stiffen the suspension for "sport" driving. If it's such a dumb idea why is it being found on more and more road cars?

With my AGX's i rarley have them higher than "2" on the street because anything higher is UNCOMFORTABLE. Street=comfort Race=who cares how hard it is, it should be hard. If I had fully adjustable coilovers the collars would be rusted because the height & weight would be set one time, but the dampening adjustments on the struts would get moved frequently. My struts only have 4 adjustment level and there is huge difference in ride quality between the 4.

You said most people are looking for the cheap way, then why would you want adjustable springs? It costs money every time you adjust the height, unless you have access to an alignment rack & scales like I do and I still wouldn't get them unless I had a purpose built race car. If you don't need the adjsutable height stick with normal lowering springs.

I guess instead of starting this bs we should have asked him why he wants the car lowered and what its use is. If the main purpose is handling, like it should be, then why sacrifice handling with softer springs when you don't have to? If all he cares about is how "cool" it looks then the cheapest & softest option should be used and in that case I would rec. leave the suspension stock or use a softer lowering springs with non-adjustable struts, my rec. there are Bilsteins which are internally adjusted so I guess they're still adjustable. If your changing struts & springs I always rec. the best adjustable struts you can afford or Bilsteins if you can't afford true coilovers w/ setups. I've lowered over 100 cars(all makes) and never had one complaint when my was used for which products were installed.

It's all about what you wan't out of it and how much you can afford. People who are cheap deserve a crap ass ride with poor handling.

[SilverY2KCivic]

People are trendy and like to get what's "in" but don't want to pay for it, that's why many people get them, or at least so seems the case more and more lately.

For cars like BMW that have adjustable shocks, do they actually stiffen or soften the ride, or do they just alter how the shock performs? I doubt the actual comfort of them is much noticeable from the soft to sport setting. It's a BMW after all and luxory does still come first.

With shocks like the AGX with 3 settings, or Yellows with 5 settings, of course it'll be more noticeable click to click than Teins with their 16 settings or D2's with 36 settings! But it'll always be to the ratio of the spring rates. Me having stiffer springs than normal on my Teins, maybe that's part of why I notice the dampening adjustment less... But that still doesn't ignore the fact that the adjustment is not there for street driving nor was ever intended for it. Even the electronic setting in BMWs isn't meant for the street, but rather the track or windy roads where you'll need different shock performance. Actually I'm pretty certain the adjestment in BMWs you won't FEEL in ride comfort, because it's all relative to vehicle speed, yaw ratio and lateral-G acceleration. So if you're going in a straight line, they shocks are not going to react in a "sport" fashion like they will going down a mountain road at say 45mph or faster. Think back to the Lincoln Mark VIII. It had a full gas charged suspension that lowered the car an inch once the car hit 60mph for added aerodynamics and to lessen drag. Below 60 the need for being lower wasn't necessary. That's the same of how the BMW adjustable suspension works. It'll only stiffen up the ride feel when the right variables of speed and yaw are present. Gotta love the beauty of a fully electronically controlled car and system. The beuaty of our suspensions is no worry of electronics failing or malfunctioning. The downside it you'll feel that lessened ride comfort 24/7...

[BullShifter]

It's not just BMW's, in BMW's case it changes the ride and how the strut performs just like ANY adjustable strut. Changing how the damper performs directly affects ride quality. Adjustable dampers were developed for F1 racing evloved to the street, just like adjustable height was created for racing.

I convert many Lincoln junk air rides to conventional struts/springs(f) & shocks/springs(r) once they have problems due to the ridiculous replacement part cost. There was and never will be anything special about it. My sisters Range Rover also lowers automatically with highway speeds, same deal.

The downside it you'll feel that lessened ride comfort 24/7...

Not if you use modern technology and common sense.

Do some research on BOSE suspension, yes that's BOSE the audio equipment, see what you find out about their concept to replace struts.

I agree about the trendy part, it's 75% of the tuner market. Unedumacated people buying stuff they don't undertstand.

Your commenting on a high spring rate setup on what, one car? I'm commenting from many cars & 10yrs exp. in the field.