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The Tein Flex full coilover system is designed as a high performance autocross and track suspension that is still capable of providing a comfortable street ride.
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Adjustments
It's full-length adjustment system keep ride height and preload adjustments separate by having easily adjustable length shock bodies. This feature allows you to make quick setup changes with the included forged spanner and also allows corner weighting without affecting spring preload. The 16 position damping force adjuster is an easily reached knob on top oh each shock. Typically you can run 1-8 (stiff) damper settings for track use with race tires then in seconds adjust to 10-16 (softer) for the ride home from the track. No need to crawl under the car or take the shock apart!
Tuning
The standard Flex spring rates are 7/6kg, equivalent to 396 in/lbs front, 340 in/lbs rear. In comparison, the original equipment spring rates on the 90-05 Miata are around 155in/lbs front, 110 in/lbs rear. The OE Miata suspension is designed to compress fully onto the elastomer bumpstops in hard cornering. Mazda did this to give a very soft straight line ride considering the weight of the car. The problem with this approach, as you already know, is huge body lean angles in hard cornering, excessive nose dive under braking and much slowed transitional behavior. The other problem with the soft OE spring is that if you lower the car much more than 1" you are really compressing the bumpstops and you get some inconsistent handling balance, poor ride quality and very "twitchy" behavior cornering on bumpy pavement. Even with aftermarket springs and separate coilovers that are between 175# and 350# rates you're still on the bumpstops when it's parked, which is not ideal. The effective spring rates in the Flex are actually a little lower than the effective spring rate of a compressed stock Miata suspension if you take into account the stiffness of the OE bumpstop under hard cornering on smooth pavement. This is how the Flex can handle really bad pavement and still keep the tire glued to the road.
For a daily driver and occasional drifting, autocross or track days, the standard Flex 7/6kg springs are great. For a more competition oriented setup with wider race tires I recommend increasing the front spring rate between 9kg-12kg/504-672# and rear spring between 7-8kg/392-448# ($40 per spring). Custom valving available for $130 per shock.
Tein officially quotes about a -1.5" ride height adjustment range but we have track tested up to -2.2" drop sucessfully. For a no fuss installation, set them up exactly how the included instructions show and you'll have an awesome street/track high performance suspension.
Construction and features
The included upper mounts are CNC aluminum plates, hard anodized with spherical "pillow ball" bearings. Real race car stuff that add a degree of precision to the damping, no rubber mounts to squish and wear out. For the dollar, there is no other off the shelf, non-custom spring and shock system that can match the performance of the Flex. I've tried them all, and only sell these, for a reason.
- Full length adjustment
- Spring Preload adjustment
- 16 way damping adjustment, rebound and compression together
- Teflon coating for rust prevention
- Special spring seat and spring seat lock for easy height adjusting
- Easily overhauled or custom valved at Tein's US facility in California (we drive there once or twice a week to pick up stuff)
Contents of damper kit
4x Adjustable shock absorber
4x Main spring
4x Lower spring seat
12x Spring Seat lock
4x Bump rubber
4x Dust cover, boot
2x Hook spanner
Instruction manual
| 90-98 RIDE HEIGHT 949Racing |
| FRONT |
| Approx. |
Height Adjust Range |
| mm |
inch |
Max/Min(mm/inch) |
| -10
|
-0.39
|
+48.0 / +1.89 to -39.0 / -1.54
|
|
|
| REAR |
| Approx. |
Height Adjust Range |
| mm |
inch |
Max/Min(mm/inch) |
| -19
|
-0.75
|
+2.0 / +0.08 to -33.0 / -1.3
|
|
|
| 99-05 RIDE HEIGHT 949Racing |
| FRONT |
| Approx. |
Height Adjust Range |
| mm |
inch |
Max/Min(mm/inch) |
| -7
|
-0.28
|
+50.0 / +1.97 to -36.0 / -1.42
|
|
|
| REAR |
| Approx. |
Height Adjust Range |
| mm |
inch |
Max/Min(mm/inch) |
| -29
|
-1.14
|
-8.0 / -0.31 to -43.0 / -1.69
|
|
|
|
| SPRING |
| FRONT |
| SPRING RATE / PART No. |
Replacement Availability |
| kgf/mm |
lbs/in |
Part # |
Max/Min(kgf/mm-lbs/in) |
| 7
|
390
|
SW070-01175
|
+2.0 / +110.0 to -2.0 / -110.0
|
|
|
| REAR |
| SPRING RATE / PART No. |
Replacement Availability |
| kgf/mm |
lbs/in |
Part # |
Max/Min(kgf/mm-lbs/in) |
| 6
|
340
|
SA060-01150
|
+2.0 / +110.0 to -2.0 / -110.0
|
|
|
|
Additional Information
Tein tech page