morris

iTrader: (2)

As I understand it when the discontinued the Tein HA the Tein RA came out as a replacement. I was wondering if anyone has had a chance to try the RA's out. I'm specifically interested in the RA for a GS400 but any insight on any model car would be helpful.

Neo

iTrader: (3)

For some reason, I thought the RAs were discontinued before the HAs. If I'm thinking of the right set, then RMMGS4 is riding on RAs. You might PM him to see. The only thing is that he is not running the RAs with the Tein springs though.

morris

iTrader: (2)

Maybe there is a disconnect somewhere. I am looking at the 2004 catologue and the RA comes as a coilover KIT. So unless he threw away the springs from the kit and put some others on it "not likely" we are talking to different things. ?

redgs4

You are both right. RMMGS4 is running on the old RA coilovers with different springs [tuned be RMM]. These were discontinued before the HA were discontinued. The RA name is born again with Tein's new product line.

Neo

iTrader: (3)

Ah! I did not know that. That is pretty bad marketing. It confuses consumers (like me ). At least RAv2 or RAmkII or something.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

yeah red is right, ra gone, then ha gone, and now ra starts coming up again. the replacement for the ha is either high end flex or the lower end ss, so they have to make something more racing oriented and thus the ra

and yes, rmmgs4 has the ra shocks but he has intrax springs with it, so it's hard to give much feedback. all i can say is the setup is stiff. ra (at least the old one) is even stiffer than the ha

morris

iTrader: (2)

Thanks I was hoping that I didnt have to be the guinea pig with the New RA's, and the literature isnt to helpful in distinguishing between the ride charachteristics of the RA and Flex. The RA wouldnt be bad if the softest setting were soft enough for city driving but without any subjective feedback I guess we are on hour own.

HKGS300

RA is supposed to be significantly stiffer then the HA, since these are so-called racing/N1 types.

morris

iTrader: (2)

Yea I read their literature but it didnt seem that helpful. It said track and aggressive street driving, what does that mean. I guess what I am trying to understaand is compared to a Flex coilover where does it stand. They both have 16 levels of damping, are they the same 16 levels or does lets say level 1 of the RA equate to the same level of damping as level 8 on the flex.. This would in effect give you a much stiifer ride with the RA than the Flex.

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

Morris,

You might want to see if Tein will give you the spring rate for the new RA's. That way you'll have a general benchmark to compare them to at least (see thread below) for stiffness.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...threadid=43181

morris

iTrader: (2)

Here is the RA Spring information

Front 18 Kgf/mm 1010 lbs/inch
Rear 12 Kgf/mm 670 lbs/inch

Flex Spring information

Front 10 kgf/mm 560 lbs/inch
rear 9kgf/mm 500 lbs/inch

So what does this mean? The springs that come on the RA coilovers are much stiffer than the Flex springs?

Does this imply that the dampers are all the same and that all the differences are in the springs?

morris

iTrader: (2)

It also looks like the Flex can lower the car more than the RA if I am reading it correctly. Here is a link to the specs

http://www.tein.com/ti/y98.html

Neo

iTrader: (3)

Yes, by those numbers, the springs on the RAs are stiffer than the Flex (and HAs if I remember the numbers correctly). The dampers, however, are NOT the same for all the coilovers. Although the springs affect more the handling than the ride quality, they do contribute to the ride quality (or lack thereof). It is hard to say how Tein valved the dampers for the RAs but if the spring rates are any indication, this set seems to be geared more towards handling than ride quality.

Be prepared for much improved cornering, even without upgraded sways, but don't expect a smooth comfortable street ride either. Anyway, I'm just going my the numbers and not personal experience with these new RAs.

If you do end up getting these, be sure to let us know how they turn out.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

yup, the front is 80% stiffer and the rear is 33% stiffer, that's ALOT stiffer if you ask me

and nop, the shocks are the same. i am almost sure that the dampers on the RA would be a lot stiffer as well

HKGS300

A guy in Hong Kong used to have the Tein RA, but changed his springs very soon after installation.
The RA were too stiff for him.
The RA will be also much much stiffer than the HA, and that one is already too stiff for a lot of people.

Expect to loose any comfort when you have the RA.

However, if you still want to go for the RA, do it. I would like to hear from others how the ride is.