[Nikhilb2008]

Lots to say!

1. 195 section tyres are a little skinny to take on track but when I did go for a serious trackday, I used 40k kms run 205/55-15 Neovas in the front.

2. The stance hasnt changed too much but the driving dynamics is quite different!

I went for a P&P at the MMST on June 2nd. My best time was a 2:19 something timed unofficially using hand held phones. More than that, what was amazing was the amount of stability I had going into every corner. I was oversteering because I had extremely sticky tyres in the front (205/55-15 AD07s) and 195/65-15 PLCs at the rear. In any case, it was just amazing fun. Throwing the car into a corner and seeing it corner flat (well, somewhat! It's not an NSX!) was amazing.

More than that, I am very happy with the day to day usability of this car. In the city, the ride is a little firm but very stable and planted. Ground clearance is awesome and I have got over my fear of scraping speed bumps!

On highway trips though the car is just mindblowing. It is so planted it has to be seen to be believed. Our highways are never flat and earlier the Civic would keep rocking and bouncing. Even many other cars still bounce. A Rapid I was following was not as planted as my car over some nice curving roads.

If anyone wants to use their car mainly for highway driving, this sort of a suspension upgrade would make a huge amount of sense! Recently, I was on a TBHP drive to Ooty and one of the guys following me was quite impressed. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/team-b...ml#post3173551

The car doesnt miss a beat in any situation. Driving along a 2-lane highway at high speed and there is a curve ahead of you with a crest at the top? No worries! I am not what you would call a courageous or brave soul but I do not brake as much as I used to!

If I continue, I am only going to continue singing praises of my car and the Tein suspension.

I will stop myself. I should stop posting and just go for a drive!

I love my car. Now all it needs is some more power and some tuning to get some of the torque lower down the power band.

[Nikhilb2008]

Since the last update, a lot has happened.

Have driven close to 20,000 kms in the last 6 months. One major roadtrip from Bangalore to Delhi (temporary relocation) and then subsequent travelling in North India. Multiple trips to Punjab, one trip to Agra, one very long trip to Rajasthan and so on.

During my cross country drive, a friend and I loaded up the car with luggage and everything else that could fit and started. The suspension was not even on the stiffest setting but with all that luggage and 2 people on board, it didnt scrape a single speedbreaker or pothole. Of course, the roads we took were also fantastic but still, I was impressed.

With such a heavy load, I had expected the handling of the car to be a bit off and initially in the drive, I was taking it easy but I didnt find any difference. The car was as planted and stable as earlier.

My friend who accompanied me on this trip was blown away with the handling of the car on some of the twistier bits of tarmac.

Even after that epic road trip, I've been driving around a lot and am very happy to report that there are no issues.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I can continue singing praises about this setup. I dont think I could have got a better suspension for my car. I am very glad I went for the EDFC as it makes changing the damping force a real breeze.

Im still waiting for the long awaited power upgrade though. Hopefully I should be driving back to Bangalore with a nice exhaust.

[sudeepg]

I am contemplating getting these for my city. Suspension is the only problem I have today and adding the coil spring adjusters have done it some good. The cost though is not in my favour today, but I will be watching this thread to see how you are doing.

[pixantz]

I'm looking for rear suspension for my Santro Xing to cater to the added load of the CNG cylinder I'm about to fit. Any suggestions in Mumbai, people?

[sudeepg]

Any further updates, Nikhil? How is the car doing with Teins? Do you know if these can be fixed on the city? I guess RRP will have the answers.

[Sunsh!nes]

HI Nikhil,

I am planning for a suspension upgrade for my Baleno VXI 2007 and would like to know whether we get Tein's or Koni's even now for Baleno? appreciate if you can provide the contact for sourcing them if you can.

Any advise or suggestions for suspension upgrade for my car from Nikhil or fellow Bhpians is very much appreciated.

Thanks

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by sudeepg

Any further updates, Nikhil? How is the car doing with Teins? Do you know if these can be fixed on the city? I guess RRP will have the answers.

They have solutions for the Dolphin type City as well as the next one. Maybe not the latest.

Originally Posted by Sunsh!nes

HI Nikhil,

I am planning for a suspension upgrade for my Baleno VXI 2007 and would like to know whether we get Tein's or Koni's even now for Baleno? appreciate if you can provide the contact for sourcing them if you can.

Any advise or suggestions for suspension upgrade for my car from Nikhil or fellow Bhpians is very much appreciated.

Thanks

I am not sure if you get Teins for the Baleno. Better check with Red Rooster Performance. Call them and speak to Koman. Very knowledgeable guy.



Further updates regarding my car:

It has been close to 3 years and the car has run about 70,000 kms since the suspension upgrade. The suspension is absolutely phenomenal. I upgraded the rims to 16" and 205/55-16 Continental MC5 and the car feels stupendous. Totally European. Planted, stable and firm ride. Not too soft but this is just the way I like it.

The EDFC hasnt given my any problems and I am super happy. If I had to, I will spend the entire money yet again!

Oh wait!!

I just did! I upgraded my car to the newest Tein Super Street with EDFC Active and my suspension will be overhauled and do duty on my dad's Civic!

A detailed report will be up in a couple of days.

[Sunsh!nes]

[quote=Nikhilb2008;3750662]They have solutions for the Dolphin type City as well as the next one. Maybe not the latest.



I am not sure if you get Teins for the Baleno. Better check with Red Rooster Performance. Call them and speak to Koman. Very knowledgeable guy.

Thanks Nikhil

[Nikhilb2008]

I now have the Tein Super Street with EDFC Active on my car. My old struts and springs have been overhauled and are now doing duty on my dad's Civic.

the EDFC Active has one main advantage. It can change the stiffness of the front and the rear based on the G Force it senses (during acceleration and braking) and speed. It has a GPS unit which measures speed and stiffens up the suspension automatically at higher speeds.

Or you can leave it in manual mode and use it like the old EDFC.

The EDFC display unit also comes with a gyroscope which measures your G Forces. Lateral and radial(???? Correct terms??)

So, it is very easy to have a massive accident when you are pushing the car to get maximum sideways G Forces!

I took my car, my Civic, to Leh in September and the Teins were on the stiffest setting as soon as we set off from Bangalore and not once did I bother changing it anywhere. The beauty of such a lovely suspension setup was felt when the roads disappeared. I could comfortable do speeds of 25-30kmph without being too uncomfortable. The other ANHC was bouncing all over the place and could barely keep up a speed of 15 kmph.

[Nikhilb2008]

Now that my car is turbocharged and makes a lot more power, the true value of these Tein suspension is being showcased. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...-3-turbos.html

At no point does the car scare you. Tight corners, fast, gentle sweeping corners, fast turns, anything you throw at it and the car remains planted. To be very honest, it is 90% of the stuff you can expect from a Merc or Beemer. The only difference is that those cars manage to absorb some of the harsh city roads better slow speeds.

But at speed, my car is just wonderful.

With 5 people in the car, fully loaded and the suspension on the stiffest setting, the ride quality is sublime. It's perfectly European. But with just 1 or 2 people, on the stiffest setting, the ride is a bit harsh. Need to soften it to make it comfortable on broken potholed Bangalore roads.

[Nikhilb2008]

A long overdue update to this thread.

The original Teins after an overhaul continue to do fantastic duty on my dad's car.

The new Teins with EDFC Active work brilliantly on my car. At high speeds, taking corners is a piece of cake.

Today marks exactly 4 years of me using Teins and I still stand by my decision. This has been the best, most reliable investment I've made on my car.

[Nikhilb2008]

A full report on my experience with Red Rooster Performance, now known as Arka Motorsports.

Today, there is some attempt to demarcate different businesses of Red Rooster. Their motorsports and tuning business is being rebranded Arka Motorsports. Red Rooster will continue as the brand under which the trading will happen for their products. The day we were there was pretty much the beginning of Arka Motorsports.

I had bought the Teins from RRP in 2015. 10th July to be precise. Odo reading was around 1,16,000 kms. This was my second set. My full thread can be accessed here:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...nda-civic.html

Anyway, after 2 years and more than 60,000 kms, it was time for a suspension overhaul. I felt that the suspension had become a bit soft. This was especially evident on my last trackday in June. Read here: https://goo.gl/k1afcW


I spoke to Thambu of Red Rooster and he said I can come in whenever I want with some prior notice. I had some work in Coimbatore in August, so I fixed up a time with Thambu and landed up straight at RRP Coimbatore on Monday, the 7th of August. I drove directly from Bangalore and handed over the car. My colleague picked me up from there and we continued on our work.

Dropping it off itself was so much fun. Thambu wasn’t there, but Jawad had been briefed and immediately ensured the basics were taken care of. Met Karna Kadur also and had a chat with him. Jawad was very attentive and asked me if I had any specific issues they had to look into. I told him I had no issues apart from the rear sagging too much. This is something I’ve always felt for a very long time, ever since I got my second set of Teins.

I explained to Jawad that I am very attached to my car and asked him to take good care of it. They worked on it on Monday and Tuesday and maybe a bit on Wednesday. I went on Wednesday afternoon and met Leela Sir. Had a long chat with him and really enjoyed it! He’s a guy who has lived through dozens of stories you may have read about in car magazines!

Then Thambu and I went for a quick drive to ensure everything was working well. I had interacted a lot with Thambu earlier on the phone/whatsapp. But this was the first time I was meeting him. Like everyone at RRP, he was very sweet and nice to talk to. I don’t know why, but generally everyone I’ve interacted with at RRP have been very nice! Even the guys who are no longer there like Niraj, Jinosh, Joe, Koman, etc.

Point to note is that RRP while

Once I was satisfied that the car was working fine, I dropped Thambu back at the workshop, said my goodbyes to everyone and left to my hotel.

Once I reached the hotel, I realized I had a coolant leak. IT seemed minor, so my tuners, Joe and Venkat decided to proceed with their Coimbatore travel plans. We had planned to go back to RRP the next day and dyno the car.

We went to RRP the next day and I requested them to give us a lift for a few minutes so we could find and if possible seal the coolant leak. Frankly, RRP needn’t have. Or at the very least, they could have charged me. But they didn’t complain, grumble or moan. They just made some space (not an easy task if you see how busy they are) and allowed us to lift the car and go under and check for leaks.

Once we identified the leak, we realized we couldn’t do much so we got the car down and proceeded to dyno the car.

We finished the dyno session and left. We realized we had forgotten my toolbox at RRP and so we returned and by that time the coolant leak had gotten worse.

Karna and Leela Sir very kindly helped us out with a 20 litre can of water.

This is a small thing. 20 litres of water may cost 200 rupees, the can may cost a few hundred bucks. But this small act of Karna and Leela Sir saved our asses that day. If we had known how valuable this simple act would have been, we would have gladly handed over all our worldly possessions to them to get that can of water. We were extremely grateful to them for their willingness to help us out of a tough spot. Being in the tuning business themselves, they know and understand these sort of situations very well!

Anyway, coming back to the suspension itself, we learnt a few things while speaking to Leela Sir.

The suspension sold in India is not the same as sold by Tein in other countries. Not even Thailand or Malaysia. The Indian suspension kit has a totally different part number and the differences are due to different springs, different mapping of the damper etc. All of these have been tweaked by Red Rooster in India to ensure that the suspension works well in India.

I believe the Indian kit also has taller dampers and springs to retain the stock ground clearance.

A 0-0 setting on the EDFC controller means the suspension is on the stiffest possible setting. Thambu made an offer to me this time that he can make it even stiffer! So, I immediately accepted.

When I got the car back, Thambu told me they have stiffened up by 4 clicks. So, the new 16-16(softest) is equivalent to the old 12-12. The new 4-4 is the old 0-0. So, now, at 0-0, the suspension is 4 clicks stiffer than earlier.

As soon as we hit the highway to Bangalore, we could feel a marked difference. Even at 16-16 or 8-8, the car feels so much tighter and agile. Lane changes are far more fun than they should be! The car feels like a go kart!

Even at higher speeds, the car is supremely planted, more so than earlier! Lane changes are just a piece of cake. Swerving suddenly at 100-120kmph while slamming on the brakes (thanks to a dog or a cow) is so undramatic, it is unreal.

The icing on the cake?

The car absorbs bad roads, expansion joints, rough patches, even better! I do not think I am exaggerating in saying that the car rides almost like a European car now.

This is what I would like to conclude.

There are many tuning houses. Red Rooster is run by professionals. That is one major difference. I have always had a great interaction with them. Prompt replies, professional service. Full bills and receipts. Professional setup and very professional workforce.

It’s no surprise today that they are ruling the race tracks and the rally scene.

I always leave Red Rooster with a smile. I hope it continues in the future as well. What makes it better is the near orgasmic feeling I get while driving the car with the rejuvenated Teins!

[smasher]

Nikhil,

Reviving an old thread. Reson, I found out that I have Tein EDFC active installed in my recent acquisition (Crysta 2.8Z).

Do I need to manually adjust the damping or it is better to let the instrument to take care about the suspension settings? Please pardon if my question is too lame.

Thanks in advance.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by smasher

Do I need to manually adjust the damping or it is better to let the instrument to take care about the suspension settings? Please pardon if my question is too lame.

Default values are not vehicle specific, if you need Innova specific (Speed Vs Damping data) ones you need to get in touch with Tein installers who has access to the data which will give you better performance. Congratulations and that goody is worth about 2 lakhs you got there in the car.