Guess you are itching to explore and wondering if there better options, also looks like Sg's road condition and enforcement contributed to the long life of your tein SS.
If you're after daily drive comfort, most of the shops you mentioned can provide some kind of improvement over your aging teins.
My previous experience with custom coilovers are that they don't stay the same for long, as one of the 4 corners would go out of sync and require service from time to time, sometimes earlier than expected. I'm not certain if this is just me and if my needs at the time to run at low ride heights caused it or the custom engineering several years ago isnt as good as now. But the impression at the time is that custom coilovers, while very enjoyable, needed more tlc and I was okay with that.
I don't have conclusive data on this but it seems the well trusted off the shelf brands like ohlins, bilsteins or teins tend to stay fresher for longer, is more widely supported in terms of maintenance.
Have you explored the branded options and how is your mirage in terms of condition? in terms of being able to compliment your new needs in the ride department
Hi Tom. Thanks for writing back. So sorry, didn't realize you replied.
The Mirage has been stripped empty and devoid of any sound proofing. Carpets are gone. The power windows are gone; and so is the radio and speakers. The me 15 years ago was going after a minimalist build; "everything that i need and nothing that i don't"
Even the doors are now RS doors without electric mirrors or power windows.
The 43 year old uncle me now regrets these decisions lol. @ some point the carpets and the heat insulation will go back. i am trying to find the plastic trims that i recklessly threw away all those years ago lol.
Mechanically its fine except for the little rust here and there; nothing abit of TLC and money can't fix.
Having lived in KL for work for a year, i can attest that SG roads are better. I used to think they are crap, but i guess one does not appreciate how good one has it until they have experienced something worse. Having said that, i do appreciate, and miss KL's more robust and dynamic car culture.
To be frank the car was hibernating in a basement car park the past 5 years. or so. recently put it back on the road (Should have done it sooner) to find all 4 dampers leaking. Not sure if its the suddenly use after so long, or they were already leaking before.
My intent is to have the Tein SSs rebuilt anyhow so, i have something to fall back on when new set needs to be rebuilt etc. i would prefer not to go back to the local AD; the last time they did something for me, it left a bad taste in my mouth.
Explored the Titan route as they are cheap; but honestly still skeptical. Wallet says yes, brand-whore in me keeps pulling me back.
Hyped about Ohlins Road & Track, but no application for my car but they do have something for Evo4-9. Evo4-9 fronts will bolt onto my car (albeit with longer stroke) but the rears bottom mounts are different. (I think can be changed but not sure who can help)
I did try to contact Ohlins Asia for custom applications as they have that on their brochure but its.... prohibitively expensive. Lets just say, it cost 8 sets of Titans lol.
Tein has a specialized damper program where they can make u ANYTHING. So i inquired with Tein Japan via email but they pointed me to my local Tein distributor but the quote i got was abit too much than what i was willing to pay. Shame; I was rather keen; the prices on Tein Japan's webpage looked reasonable but the local dealer's quote was significantly more than i anticipated. I know, custom product. supposed to cost more. But off the shelf same range and my quote... quite far wor.
So I thought, maybe prices in Malaysia will be.. better? So i tried to inquire @ N1. Because they are listed as a distributor. The guy kept pushing me away. A whole slew of reasons. Honestly not sure issit I am not local or... he simply isn't interested.
Disappointed lor. Still thinking what to do!
