I recently got a set of s14 coilovers from SPLParts and switched them for my old tein HEs, i thought you guys might like a little compare and contrast.
Both coilovers have 8/6 springs front and rear. Pillowball mounts all around with front camber adjustment. Dual height adjustable. for reference, D2 coilovers also can be had with these same features. The main difference, on paper, is that the SPL coilovers feature an inverted shock design in the front, which is desireable for its increased durability and longevity. SPL has 15 way adjustability, Tein has 16 way, and D2 has 32 way.
here is a picture of the front assemblies side by side.
If you look closley, you will notice a few key differences. From left to right -
- SPL unit has thicker mounting plate, and more "beef" around the heim joint.
- The SPL spring is longer than the tein spring. this probably makes no difference in performance, but it is worth noting. conversley, the shorter spring on the tein unit might allow for more agressive lowering while still maintaining 0 spring preload. Both units go plenty low enough for me, and my car is quite close to the ground, so this shouldnt be of any concern unless you are making a show car really.
- The SPL spring perches are thicker and cut sharper. The tein perches are more rounded. While i suppose the roundy-ness would help you avoid getting scrapes and such, i prefer the notchy cut perches because the spanner wrenches hook more easily to this kind.
- The SPL mounting bracket does not have a brake line bracket, or that little thing with the screw thread in it. I personally would have liked to see a brake line bracket, although it dosent really bother me. It could be noted that high end JIC units do not come with brake line brackets either.
- The SPL unit includes a spring perch at the bottom of the mounting bracket which could theoretically keep the mounting bracket from backing itself off. although i never had a problem with my teins doing anything like this.
- The SPL unit adjusts from the bottom of the shock. this is necessary with an inverted shock design. the knobs are large enough that they can be manipulated by hand, no allen wrench tool is required for adjustment. Some people like to be able to adjust under the hood, but with this design you can change the front dampening without opening the hood at all (although you have to get on the ground). some may view this as a plus.
Moving to the rear, a side by side picture of the rear struts.
Again, some of the differences -
- The same trend of nicer spring perches and mounting plates holds true in the rear.
- The SPL unit does not include a rear dust boot. This is another small detail that i would have liked to see, but it shouldnt really affect much of anything. It could be noted that topline aragosta coilovers do not come with dust boots on either the front or the rear.
- The SPL unit has a shorter spring in the rear than the tein. again i have no idea what difference this makes. in this case, there is no way it could cause any conflict with lowering the car, as the bottom mount on each piece would bottom out far before they reached the bottom spring perch.
- Both the tein HE and the SPL coilovers adjust from the top in the rear. the stroke of the rear shock is such that it would be very difficult to invert the unit; this is the norm for all rear s chassis suspension that i have seen anyhow.
- The same knobs are found in the rear as in the front, no additional tools are needed to adjust the SPL units.
A close up of the rear pillowball assembly-
- On the SPL unit, there is a tapered edge surrounding the heim joint. This could serve to keep dust out, or protect the joint, or it could very well just be an unrelated design difference. Either way, note that it is different from the tein top mount.
- Not very well illustrated by my photo, but still worth mentioning is that on the SPL unit, the adjustment knob comes up higher than the knob on the tein unit. This makes adjusting easier, although it prohibits the use of the stock rubber foam rear strut covers. the rear speaker lid will still go on with no problems.
Finally, a picture of the bottom of the rear mounting brackets.
I dont really have any commentary for this one, but i noticed the difference and thought some might like to see a picture.
extra information -
The SPL coilovers seem to have a much wider damping range than the HEs, based on my limited use of the SPLs so far. They can be set to give a rather soft ride, although they can easily be stiffer than the HEs.
The spanner wrenches included with the coilovers are made out of thick gauge steel. It would be EXTREMLY difficult to damage the spanner wrenches included with the SPL product trying to take off suspension perches. FYI, I have bent tein spanner wrenches before.
Other little things, such as maybe a splparts decal, a manual, breif insallation instructions, etc etc. would have been nice. Maybe a set of OEM bolts for the struts could be included, or offered for a little extra? or somthing. just throwing out ideas.
Extra pictures-
Here are some other photos i took.
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In summation, i would suggest these coilovers to anyone looking for a wonderful setup for a wonderful price. Priced FRIGHTENINGLY competitivley at $1040 shipped, there is really no reason to short change yourself and your car with an inferior shock and spring setup or D2/ksport coilover setup. 15 way adjustability is plenty of adjustment, but not overkill. The damping range is extremly impressive and can adapt to basically whatever road surface you are on. (if i had to pick somthing i was most impressed with, it would have to be the damping range). Adjustment is a breeze with the knobs being firm and easy to click with no tools, and lowering is easy due to the large, crisply cut spring perches and heavy duty wrenches.
If you are shopping for suspension in the 700-1400$ range or so, i strongly reccomend you give these coilovers a good long look.