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Aftermarket Springs - List and Comparison

223K views 613 replies 222 participants last post by  waughoo 
#1 ·
I notice that a lot of people have springs questions and there isnt a FAQ thread with comparisons of all springs in it. 6tech has one including shocks and coilovers.....

Tanabe 210 NF: Tanabe

6s: Lowers the car roughly 1.5/.7 inches. Evens out the fender gap from front to back. Personally, I think it lowers more in the rear but thats what the website says.
6i: Lowers 1.2 inches
Spring rate: 3.9kg/mm Front & 2.6kg/mm Rear
Springs were designed for the 4cyl and are the same ones used on the 6cyl, hence why there is only one set of spring rates and the drops are drastically different.

Tanabe 210 GF: Tanabe

6s: Rumored to lower the V6 more than the 4cyl.
6i: 1.2 inch front and rear.
Spring Rate: 4.9 kg front and 3.8 kg rear

Racing Beat: Racing Beat

6i: .75/.5 drop 20% spring rate increase
6s: .75/.75 drop 20% spring rate increase

Tein H Tech:
Tein H Tech

6i: 1.7/.8 inch drop, 4.3kg and 2.6kg
6s: 1.5/1 inch, 4.5kg 3.3 kg
S Wagon: 1.8/1.1, 4.3kg and 2.6kg

Tein S Tech: Tein S Tech

6i: 2.3/1.4, with 4.7kg 2.9 kg springs
6s: 2.1/1.6, with 4.9 kg 3.6kg springs
s Wagon: 2.4/1.7 with 4.7kg 2.9kg springs

Espelir ASD:

1.18 inch drop
Spring rate: 20-30% increase over stock, 4.7kg -3.1kg

H&R: HR Springs
1.4/1.3 inch

Eibach: Eibach
Pro Kit: 1.5/1.4 inch
Sportline: 2.0/1.5 inch

Mazdaspeed:
Mazdaspeed
5-Door 2.3L 22mm ft / 22mm rr
5-Door 3.0L 39mm ft / 24mm rr
Wagon 39mm ft / 41mm rr

4-Door 31mm all around

Increases spring rate 30% over stock.


Sprint
: Sprint Springs
1.8/1.8

B&G B&G

1.6/1.6

Also, if anyone wants to posts pics of their spring install feel free. Hopefully we can get a collection of pics with all different springs on so everyone can get a good idea of what the springs look on different models.

Also note: Lowering springs will have a degenerative effect on your stock shocks. The stock setup has 2.5 inches of suspension travel. The amount that you lower your car reduces the amount of suspension travel your car has. Springs are a cheap and easy way to lower your car for looks, and gain performance in handling. If you are worried about shock life, I would suggest not going with a harsh spring. The mildest spring is the Racing Beats which will have the least amount of effect on your shock life, however the drop is very mild and does not even out your fender gap.

When dealing with springs, since you still must work with the stock shocks, its a give and take relationship.

Q: If I put on these springs, will my car rub?
Springs will NOT be the deciding factor if your car will rub or not. Springs will only increase the frequency of rubbing. The specs of your rims and tire size will determine if your car will rub or not. If you are on stock wheels or close to stock specs, putting lowering springs on your car will NOT make your car rub, it however will increase the frequency of your front bumper getting scratched up. :)

Q: How long will my stock shocks last with these springs?
Well that depends on a number of factors. Your driving style, the spring, and how much wear and tear is already on your stock shocks before going to an aftermarket spring. There is no exact science or formula to determine exactly how many miles you can get on your stock shocks that I know of. Just know that ANY aftermarket spring has a degenerative effect on your stock shocks. How strong that degenerative effect is depends on the spring you choose to put on your car and your driving style.

Q: Im confused..... I want to order Mazdaspeed Springs but I dont know what to order?

If you have a 6s V6 engine, sedan OR hatch OR wagon, get the HATCHBACK/5DOOR SPRINGS.
Members have posted pictures of each model with these springs on......... search for them. I even did a huge writeup why and posted pictures to back it.

If you have a 6i I4 engine, sedan get the 4CYL SEDAN SPRINGS.
If you have a 6i hatchback, I slightly recommend the sedan springs, but the hatchback springs are also an OK option.
Members have posted pictures of each model with these springs on......... search for them

Clarification: I have received a plethora of questions on the 6i hatchback so I will clarify on these springs.... there is only one set of springs designed for the hatchback/wagon, and thats designed for the V6 engine. The 4cyl front weighs less than the V6 front (about 200 lbs I believe), so the drop you see on peoples V6 hatchbacks will not be the same if they are put on a 4cyl hatchback. The 4cyl sedan springs have the correctly designed front for the 6i hatchback, but the hatchback rear has a little more weight than the normal sedan rear (about 100 lbs I believe). Because the few cars that I have seen with the 6i sedan springs on them were not saggy in the rear as compared to the saggyness of the V6 sedan springs, I would lean towards putting the 4 cyl sedan springs on the 6i hatchback over the hatchback/wagon springs on the 6i hatchback, although neither is a wrong choice. Its not a perfect or ideal solution, but when choosing between the two, I would lean towards the sedan springs being the lesser imperfection and due to the fact that the hatchback/wagon springs were designed for a V6 engine. Comparing the difference in weights to what the springs were technically designed for, there is a less difference in the rear (100 vs 200 lbs) so I would slightly side with the 6i sedan springs for a hatchback, although neither is ideal and neither is horribly wrong.

Ideally, a 6i hatchback needs the 6i sedan fronts and the hatchback/wagon rears, which is not offered by mazda as an individual set and therefore you would need to purchase 2 sets of springs.

Q: But I still dont get it, I need someone to explain it again..... I have a V6 sedan, why should I order the Mazdaspeed 5door/wagon springs?

When the Mazdaspeed springs were originally designed and came out, the rear spring sagged a lot in the sedan. The springs offered the same drop ALL around and therefore did not even out the fender gap. The drop in the front was good, not too slammed and still gave you a little suspension travel, but the drop in the back sagged and made the car look horrible. Mazda went back and made the hatchback/wagon springs which accounted for a little more in the rear springs. The front springs, IIRC for the Sedan Springs (H14) and the wagon/hatchback springs (H15) are the same exact spring, the difference is in the rear......

I have had these springs on my V6 hatchback the longest and I am very happy with my decision. The fender gap between the front and the rear is dead perfect, they took me a few months to settle but once they did the ride looks great. A bunch of people then jumped on board and bought the Hatchback springs for their Sedan as a recommendation and suggestion by some of us and they found that the difference in weight between the hatchback and the sedan, which is like 100 lbs, didnt really do anything noticeable on the drop and that the drop on the Sedan, after the springs settled, also was almost dead on perfect between the front and back fender gaps.

Here is a picture of SkippyRock's car. He has a V6 Sedan and the Mazdaspeed Sedan springs. Look at the rear.

And here is Philter25s (V6 Hatch) car in when they settled....

And for fun, here is Nashirak's V6 Sedan with the hatchback springs on

4cyl sedan with the 4cyl sedan springs

Mazdaspeed Hatch Springs on 6i hatch
 
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#2 ·
good post definetly a sticky . this should be like the members wheels thread . and just post pics and description of the drop . i wopuld PM DAVECOYNE , and see if he will pin it ,. on the bottom add links to our sponcers that sell these products
 
#4 ·
Tanbe NF on mazda6 5-door , tends to sag more in the rear the Tanabe NF's were made for the 4cyl sedan and being the 5-door is 6cyl and weighs more than either the 4cyl or 6cyl sedan . the springs are soft ride is almost like stock . tanabe says the srings lower to 1.2 on the 4cyl sedan , on the 6 cyl its more like 1.5 in the rear and more for the front .

on stockers :


on 18" kyowa kr206 wheels with 225/40/18 tires :



here is a link of my before and after pics right after i installed the springs . so in the pics they havnt settled yet . they are a little lower now .

before and after shots
 
#5 ·
Originally posted by mmarfan@Sep 14 2005, 07:47 PM
You forgot the Sprints
[snapback]508276[/snapback]​
I couldnt find the springrates for them...... any info with a link?>

Also lefty,
On the tanabe's, I had them on my 2004 also and I agree. I just posted what the website says. Since they were designed for the 4cyl, I dont think the specs are entirely accurate. The front definately drops more than the rear and I think the rear does drop more than .7 inches.

Here is my tanabe 210nf front of my car:
 

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#7 ·
Originally posted by Philter25@Sep 14 2005, 07:54 PM


Also lefty,
On the tanabe's, I had them on my 2004 also and I agree.  I just posted what the website says.  Since they were designed for the 4cyl, I dont think the specs are entirely accurate.  The front definately drops more than the rear and I think the rear does drop more than .7 inches.

Here is my tanabe 210nf front of my car:
[snapback]508280[/snapback]​

well thats because we have the hatch , there is more weight on the rear tires
 
#12 ·
Originally posted by Philter25@Sep 20 2005, 05:49 PM
For anyone thinking about the Mazdaspeed springs for the hatch....... I was unable to get specs after contacting mazda a few times and finishlineperformance.com

All I got was that "it lowers 1.25 inches"

If anyone has any other info it would be greatly appreciated on the SPECS of these springs.
[snapback]513192[/snapback]​

does anyone have these and could they post some pics? how was the install?

so i am newb to springs, but roughly what is the decrease in shock life if i were to get either eibach pro kit or the mazdaspeed springs for my hatch? could someone explain the effect springs have on the shocks? nice write-up btw philter
 
#13 ·
Originally posted by jsherrill28@Sep 22 2005, 04:02 PM
does anyone have these and could they post some pics? how was the install?

so i am newb to springs, but roughly what is the decrease in shock life if i were to get either eibach pro kit or the mazdaspeed springs for my hatch? could someone explain the effect springs have on the shocks? nice write-up btw philter
[snapback]515043[/snapback]​
The only people I know with the springs for the V6 is ShaDrag with his sedan. If you do a search for him, he has them and has posted pictures. Also I think Bfrere and ucleadguitar have them for the 6i. I havent seen any pics on the V6 hatch because MS just came out with these for the 5door/wagon. UCleadguitar has the sedan springs on his hatchback.

The decrease in shock life depends greatly on your driving and the roads you are driving on. Some people experience no problems. Others 10k and they need new shocks. A good rule of thumb is the larger the drop, the more pain you put on your shocks. The larger you drop the car, the more suspension travel you take away from the shocks. Any drop over 1.5 inches IMO is on the high end.

I would reccomend the MS springs over the eibachs because the MS have a less drop than the eibachs so given equal amounts of driving and bumps, you shocks will last longer with the MS's over the eibachs.

The installation is moderately easy but time consuming. You need to take off your wheel, about 4-5 bolts, and then drop your stock shock from your car. You then compress the springs and put the new ones on. There are installation instructions for springs floating around. Also, I would reccomend you have airtools and something to take the top of the shock off. I tried the installation on my last car with my wratchet and some of the bolts were VERY VERY hard to get off and I could not get the top of the one spring off.

Ideally, this is the drop I am looking for however I could never purchase springs without knowing exactly the front and rear drop along with the springrates and no one knows what they are, not even mazda, which really pissed me the fawk off. :yesnod:
 
#19 ·
If you lower the car more than an inch, you'll ride on the bump stops.


All but a handful of the springs listed above ought to be listed as "for show only". Riding on the bump stops creates a terribly unpredictable car. Do not run i4 springs on a V6, or you'll ride on the bump stops. Do not run ANY spring advertising a drop of more than an inch without replacing your shocks. Do not run Eibachs pro-kit springs, as they're designed to work with the bump stops, and that's just silly. Having an unpredictable car is fine for street providing you do not drive hard; in fact you may enjoy the ride quality compromise.

I would recommend Racing Beat or Eibach Sportline springs for V6 owners.

Honestly, custom spring rates with Koni's are a better choice than ANY listed above.

If you have any questions about any of this,
:search:

Rear:
 
#21 ·
Originally posted by Philter25@Sep 26 2005, 08:30 PM
:huh:

I thought the Eibach Sportlines lower the car MORE than the prokit?

Did Stretch finally make a boo-boo?  :slap:
[snapback]518436[/snapback]​

I think you might be right. Sportlines drop more, more of a "show" spring. The RBs are the only ones that have an acceptable drop for the stock shock setup.
 
#22 ·
There's nothing wrong with lowering the car so long as you have sufficient spring rates and shock travel.

Eibach Sportlines ought to be both linear and firm. There's nothing wrong with dropping the car so long as you've got Koni's, which have extra suspension travel. I'm making a blind assumption that Sportlines are the firmest springs you can get for the car, thus I recommend them. They're also one of the very few that are different for the i4 and V6. I will absolutely not recommend an i4 spring on a V6. The weight difference is far too large, and the car will live on the jounce bumpers. Furthermore, the balance would be all wrong.

The pro-kit springs are designed to work with the jounce bumpers, which is a bad idea. I don't like them. Springs ought to be stiff enough to not need to ride on the jounce bumpers 100% of the time. When I removed my pro-kit springs, my jounce bumpers had split open from being abused so hard, and I've got the lightest 4cyl you can get. I ran the springs for less than a year. The car was unpredictable and suffered from massive snap oversteer. Since the car was underdamped, it was near impossible to recover from this.

If you want to challenge me, someone with Tanabe NF springs on a V6 should remove their front bump stops. Totally remove them. I bet the car drops another inch, just about to the point of having zero suspension travel remaining. You'd basically be bottomed out before even hitting a bump.

A good sports car has linear springs. Linear spring rates are impossible if the car is touching the jounce bumpers while cornering. Lowering isn't bad (it's actually good!) if and ONLY IF you run firm enough springs to sustain it. That's why I recommend coilovers or custom spring rates.

The Racing Beat springs seem to be sufficiently stiffer for their drop. They're probably among the firmest springs on that list, yet have the smallest drop. Since they maintain suspension travel on stock shocks, I bet the ride nicely too.

I also suspect Eibach Sportlines are firm enough to cover their drop- but only on aftermarket shocks. They are certainly not for use on stock shocks. Because they're firm, you could (and should) trim the jounce bumpers, as they're not needed to hold the car up (as is with the Pro-Kits).

As I said, a lot of people will avoid this advice and be perfectly happy. They may even claim to have improved handling. I myself though the Eibachs reduced body roll. Then I raced on them. The car was horribly unpredictable. Furthermore, to my surprise, body roll was awful too. The car had a horrible jacking force which contributed to both problems, caused by the progressive spring rate and being generally undersprung.

See for yourself:
http://www.uncontrived.com/images/mazda6/s...104_1_2_040.jpg
http://www.uncontrived.com/images/mazda6/s...104_1_2_041.jpg
http://www.uncontrived.com/images/mazda6/s...104_1_2_081.jpg

Here's a picture of the unpredictabe rear:
http://www.uncontrived.com/images/mazda6/s...104_1_2_109.jpg
 
#24 ·
Coilovers are nothing but matched springs and shocks. You can get aftermarket shocks or springs that are height-adjustable; in fact I'd suggest a member contact Ground Control to see if they'll test fit some stuff on the '6. With custom spring-rate, height adjustable Ground Control springs and Koni shocks, you'd probably do much better than the current crop of sub-$1000 coilovers for less money.

Figure GC springs w/ perches would run $250, and Koni's run $500. That's $750 for a package that would rival high-end coilover sets.

I'd recommend 8kg/mm front, 7kg/mm rear for the 6i for track (8kg/mm rear for autocross). I plan to try 8kg/mm front, 9kg/mm rear next year.

I'd recommend 9kg/mm front, 9kg/mm rear for the 6s. I don't own one, but that's where I'd start.

In regards to the original question-

I'm only saying that most aftermarket springs are pretty poor if you care about handling. In any case, I'd recommend aftermarket shocks. Aftermarket shocks give you the ability to run springs that would actually improve handling.

Lowering springs that are designed for the stock shocks, if there even is such a thing, could not do anything to improve performance. It's impossible. You'd end up on the jounce bumpers, underdamped. If you cut the bump stops, you'd also not have sufficient spring rates to decrease body roll. Remember, lowering the car increases body roll unless you run firmer springs to compensate. This is counter-intuitive.
 
#25 ·
only if you like a really firm ride would I get coilovers.... but if ride quality is not what you are after and you want straight cornering and performance drop some dough on fully adjustable coilovers....

for me i don't think i will do springs on the 6, but if I do it will be something that rides comfortable like Tein High Techs....

i would love to ride in a car with RB springs because they do drop the car perfect if you ask me, and i think for the money they will provide the best performance, but with a lack of spring rates provided by RB and no one in my area with their suspension, i am hesitant to buy...
 
#26 ·
In regards to ride quality-

Ride quality is determined largely by shocks. So is handling. To that extent, you can firm up the springs a bit without harming ride quality much- but you certainly do feel things more. This is why D2 coilovers ride well- they have really firm springs, but shocks made of Jello.

A nicer shock will give you a controlled ride without feeling harsh by having a very digressive curve. It costs a lot to get a shock that does that, but it's rewarding. My own HKS shocks feel great. Koni's are good too, but Tein's fall flat in comparison. D2's (particularly the rear) are a joke and should be replaced with Koni's- at least in the rear.

(More on shock curves.)

I suspect most daily drivers would be best suited by Racing Beat springs and Koni shocks on full-soft. That way you have gobs of suspension travel, and having suspension travel allows the car to soak up huge bumps easily. Those wanting something more aggressive could probably try Sportlines. I'm sure you could adjust the Koni's to get them to ride reasonably well.

Lastly, ditch the low-profile tires. You'll get more reward from running firmer springs than aggressive tires, ride quality being equal. I know, I know, most of you wouldn't dare.

I've got work to do, guys, stop asking questions. Maybe I'll have to compile all this into a bigger FAQ on 6tech. I'd appreciate it if someone in my area bought Sportlines first, though, since I'm making a rather big assumption about them. I also wonder about the Mazdaspeed springs.

In any event, I'd call Ground Control. Once they've taken measurments, they'll let you specify any spring rate you want. Eibach and H&R do this too- just call 'em up. Ground Control has those adjustable perches, though.
 
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