GS400kid

Bilstein PSS coilover vs Tein HA coilover
i cam get both of them for $1100 installed, which one do u guys think is better?
which one last longer?

GS4Will

both are great units..

not sure about the teins, but the PSS offer lifetime warranty , and they are slightly softer

GS400kid

so have u ride on Bilstein PSS before?
i really wanna know which is better, since they both have same price and bilstein have lifetime warrenty, i dont know what to choose....

rominl

iTrader: (4)

actually i was thinking, bilestin offers stiffness adjustment?

GS400kid

nope
thats y its pretty hard for me to choose...
both have its own advantage

Manaray

Both are great choice...and IMO, the "adjustable stiffness" isn't a "do or die" necessity. I have adjust dampenind/rebound and honestly, I've fiddled with it and it all feels nearly the same...if I didn't have the feature, I wouldn't miss it. I know that for sure because when I had my H&R coilovers, I didn't have that adjustment and I was just fine...

TTurboPimp

iTrader: (12)

It also depends on how low you want to drop the car. I was looking at the PSS also, but 1.8" drop all around isnt nearly enough for me. Im not sure, but I think the HA's go much lower also.

GS4Will

i thought the PSS is slightly cheaper(at least that is what i found)

rominl

iTrader: (4)

wait, the PSS only has 1.8" max drop? that's no where close to enough.... my GS is dropped by at least 3" on HA

GS400kid

yeah unfortunately Bilstein only can drop 45mm...
also i have another question, how long does u guy's HA last?
1 year? 2 year?

rominl

iTrader: (4)

damn, no way i will just get 45mm drop, that's not even close to a good drop. that's just the same as getting springs and shocks to me. still tons of gaps left.

i have had the HA for 9 months, but i am sure the shocks on the HA can at least last for 60k miles unless you abuse it. that's the normal lifespan of shocks

bravo261

iTrader: (1)

put it like that, and coilovers become a spendy consumable

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

Only 60K with normal driving? Guess that's where the Bilstein lifetime warranty would come into play maybe...

I'm making the same coilover decision focused right now on the same two coilovers (Tein HA and Bilstein). This post and discussion is very timely!

The Bilstein drop if it's 1.8 " will probably be fine with me, I think that's a little lower than my Eibach/Bilstein combo (if I remember correctly that's about 1.2 or 1.4?). I'm not a big fan of slamming my GS, I'd be worried about ripping the front lip off yet again.

Questions I've got (I may post a sep thread)

- Are there any other coilovers I should be considering in this same range of stiffness or slightly stiffer?

I want my ride to be fairly stiff, but not still not lose fillings out of my teeth. I now have an LS400 for the comfy family ride, so I want the GS to max out on suspension upgrades and the coilovers are pretty much the last thing I can do (that I know of for now ). Tein Flex look a bit too soft on the list Manaray posted, so I'm focusing on the middle to aggressive group. Only want quality stuff, would prefer NOT to be the first to try them.

- With dropped GS (say 2.5"), and any nonstock bodywork (lips, etc) do you encounter significant issues? Even on my lightly lowered GS I run into driveways and stuff with my TTE. The Greddy was history.

- Do you adjust the ride height often? When you do adjust it, do you do anything to have your suspension re-aligned? Seems like making that kind of change would totally thow off the geometry of the original alignment and cause problems.

- For those with Tein EFDC, do you use it often? Is it a 'must have' extra in your opinion? It only adjusts ride stiffness, not height, correct?

TIA

GS4Will

hey Dave,

on the amt of drop, the #s posted are "maximum" drop, you can certainly tailor to your need upto say, 40 or 45mm, depends on your choice...imho, those two are good chocies for what you are looking for, esp the valyue of PSS..another one that i can think of is from japan, made by Bridgestone(yes, the same co that makes tyres), called NPG sport, they are ~$1000 too, and the unit is also one of my choices as the unit comes with upper mount with no extra charge

rominl

iTrader: (4)

- to me the tein HA is the best bang for the bucks. it's very good quality and stiff, but since that's what you looking for, why not. JIC is another one i would consider, but i heard it's going to be a bit more expensive

- i have 3" drops on my gs, no body kits, but i never scrap anything. went through couple driveways but still plenty of spacing. if you don't look for the 1 finger gap, i think you are fine.

- i adjusted my height often in the first 2 months, now i am good witht he drop and i never touch it anymore. i will probably turn the settings a bit once or twice a yr to make sure the threads are still working. i would do alignment after i get what i want. supposedly you need to do alignment every time you touch the coilover, but in my case it's ok. even after i did alignment, i changed height by another 1/2" and everything still in spec (yeah i wasted another 50 bucks to prove that....) but if you do another 2 inches drop after alignment, of course it's another visit to the shop

- yes edfc only adjusts stiffness, to me it's not that useful at all. i mean, how often would you go and adjust your stiffness like 3 times a day? i don't, get a setting you like and you are good for most condition, unless you know you going to the track that day so you can crank it up. that's why i didn't bother and just get the trd stb.

about the 60k, i want to clarify a bit. most stock shocks, from what i read, with normal to aggressive driving, would still last for like 80k miles. heck the shocks on my camry is still ok now at 160k miles for whatever reason.

60k miles is a VERY conservative number, NOT official or anything. i am just saying it should last AT LEAST 60k miles unless you go up the rocky mountain every day. personally i don't have any doubt my tein HA should last 5 or 6 yrs. even if they go out, it's just like replacing new shocks (tein is rebuildable), so it's not another grand throwing out. of course the bilestin is nice on the lifetime warranty, but the drop is just way way too mild for my taste. i never imagined myself dropping the car that much as well, but once i got the tein, it just became natural that the car should be dropped by this much. i would like to have the extra headroom so in case i want more drop, it's there.