[edmondsti]

Guys, these springs are way too harsh for my daily driven STI. I cant recall how much harsher they are compared to the stockers. My question is, will getting RCE springs help with a softer ride? I dont track the car, strictly dailydriven. Myles tells me RCE springs will be better. I can take the harshness of the stockers, but the GF210's are too much to bear. Any input is appreciated. Cost is a concern, would much rather have stock struts w/ springs than coilovers since the car probably wont see too much track action.

[twiSTies]

go with the RCE.

Tanabes have too much rate for the stock struts, IMO. I say this because of the many complaints of poor ride quality and some cases of stock struts blowing out when they've been on Tanabes.

Keep in mind that springs perfrom 5 critical jobs. first, they keep the chassis and suspension from bottoming out over bumps. second, they control the tires over bumps (too stiff and the ride is horrible and tire contact patch control over bumps deteriorates). third, they control body roll and dive. fourth, they determine the load on the tires during shifts of the chassis during braking, accel, cornering. lastly, ride height.

with these things in mind, and coming from stock springs to swifts and soon going to RCE springs myself--theres no way I'd run Tanabes on my stock struts.

[Gami004pilot]

I had the Tanabe's on my car for quite a while and compared to the RCE's the Tanabe's felt like a Lexus suspension.
The Tanabe's still had alot of body roll compared to the RCE's and I hated it. The RCE's give you AWESOME handling and some serious stiffness it expected with performance springs. I live in Florida, and the roads are not even close to the harshness of New york and Connecticut roads. The Roads in Flroida a very smooth so for me the RCE's are perfect.
Once I did the swap from the Tanabe's to the RCE's I noticed how much more stiffer the springs are and the increase of NVH. Hope this info helps.

RCE's kicks Ass.....

[twiSTies]

Originally Posted by Gami004pilot

I had the Tanabe's on my car for quite a while and compared to the RCE's the Tanabe's felt like a Lexus suspension.
The Tanabe's still had alot of body roll compared to the RCE's and I hated it. The RCE's give you AWESOME handling and some serious stiffness it expected with performance springs. I live in Florida, and the roads are not even close to the harshness of New york and Connecticut roads. The Roads in Flroida a very smooth so for me the RCE's are perfect.
Once I did the swap from the Tanabe's to the RCE's I noticed how much more stiffer the springs are and the increase of NVH. Hope this info helps.

RCE's kicks Ass.....

what year tanabes did you have on your car? the 04 rates are much lower than the 05 rates...

[edmondsti]

i'm trying to stay away from the stiffness of springs, i want a smoother ride, if i can get near stock ride, then i'm ok w/ that. i dont plan to track the car, just daily driver w/ spirited driving, so smoother the better. from what im reading so far, the RCE's arent as smooth as the tanabes, so thats opposite of what im looking for.

[Greg]

Have you considered Prodrive springs?

[LightWerkz]

I did the change from gf210's to RCE for the same reasons....never looked back, I love the RCE's!

[BoostJunkie]

The RCEs are a nice compromise between comfort and performance, although they are definitely more performance-oriented. If comfort is your primary concern, I think Prodrives may be a better choice for you. In my experience, though, the RCEs are not as punishing as the 05 spec GF210s.

[Gami004pilot]

Originally Posted by twiSTies

what year tanabes did you have on your car? the 04 rates are much lower than the 05 rates...

I had the 2005 Springs. WHY?

[Gami004pilot]

From my experiance. The RCE's are more harsh then the GF-210 and I have driven on both sets for a pretty long time to tell difference but when I put on the RCE's I also installed the group-n tops as well so this can be the cause of the extra harshness.
The RCE's are so good that you for get about the harshness and start worring about how fast your taking corners and if cops, people and animals around the corners.

[twiSTies]

Originally Posted by Gami004pilot

I had the 2005 Springs. WHY?

Originally Posted by twiSTies

the 04 rates are much lower than the 05 rates...

thats why. the 04 rates are close to Pinks.

The 05 rates are higher than the RCEs, which is why it doesn't make much sense for the RCEs to be stiffer feeling unless the Tanabes just have a much weaker progression.

[DoctorSTi]

I have a question. So far we have been told that the RCEs are 25% stiffer then the JDM pinks which are 257 224 correct?
Well 25% greater is 321 280. Now the 05 specific GF210s are 324 246 front and rear respectively. So unless I missed something the front rates are identical and the rear rates are greater on the RCE's which is what they advertise "higher rear rate then others" to improve rear end rotation and neutral ride. The RCE's must be slightly more progressive then the GF210s hence their more comfy ride but isn't more progressive not wonderful for predictability on the track? I agree the GF210s are a far cry from stock in stiffness but I thought they were excellent at performance handling in reducing dive and body roll. Anyone have any input on the rate comparison?

[edmondsti]

prodrive might be an option since the consensus isnt out how harsh the RCE's are. thanks for the input guys, keep them coming if possible. i'll look into prodrive springs and see....

[sebtarta]

It all depends what you want from your car. If the car is a daily driver and nothing else, say Track days, Auto-X etc, then Prodrives would be the good choice. The change drastically the ride of the car. But I have not pushed an STi with Prodrives on, I was just a passanger.

As far as the RCE, they are great as the prodrives, but have that extra cent for track or auto-x days. They seem to have a quicker response, and makes the car run totally flat on the ground.

[RaceComp Engineering]

Originally Posted by DoctorSTi

I have a question. So far we have been told that the RCEs are 25% stiffer then the JDM pinks which are 257 224 correct?
Well 25% greater is 321 280. Now the 05 specific GF210s are 324 246 front and rear respectively. So unless I missed something the front rates are identical and the rear rates are greater on the RCE's which is what they advertise "higher rear rate then others" to improve rear end rotation and neutral ride. The RCE's must be slightly more progressive then the GF210s hence their more comfy ride but isn't more progressive not wonderful for predictability on the track? I agree the GF210s are a far cry from stock in stiffness but I thought they were excellent at performance handling in reducing dive and body roll. Anyone have any input on the rate comparison?

The calculation isnt that easy !!!! LOL. I give vague ideas of our spring rates, because we dont post them. THEY ARE NOT what you calculated, in any way at all.

When you (thread starter) read MOST reviews,..everyone says sorta about the same thing......
" smoother on the small bumps and firmer in the corners where you need it.."
This is confusing to the thread starter, because he is getting seemingly conflicting feedback. The fact is, we did things in places where other DIDNT, so you get as much of the best of 2 worlds as we could sacrifice without sacrificing performance. This is why you hear one reviewer say.." its great onb exit ramps and another says.." it soaks up small bumps..."

We looked at and studied WHY , what works for this reason and why BLANK works for this reason . Took our experience and designed our springs to do MORE than one thing in one situation, and better than each in BOTH, as 2 very popular brands do. MEANING,.....win/win,.meaning the kind of reviews you see and hear. Confused?...well, keep reading the reviews. Actually, call us and we can find someone in your area to ride with. Simple.

888-730-7223.