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TEIN SS-P Review: My feels and opinions!

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Old Apr 10, 2005
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TEIN SS-P Review: My feels and opinions!

Hey guys,
I'm in the break-in period for my new TEIN SS-P coilover system, so I decided to write up a short review of how I feel 'bout these guys.

First impression: The cool looks, see for yourself:



The installation process: This was a breeze. I originally had hayame's on my car so all i had to do was unbolt, and bolt on the teins. I did run into a problem of closing the thread on the tie rod end screw thingie, and had to buy a new tie rod end from majestichonda.com and put that on as well. While the tie rod end was comming in the mail, i decided to invest in a tie rod puller (instead of using the 'ol hammer, which is what caused the screw up in the first place - damn cheap asians ;-P - I learned the hard way again)

The specifications: The TEIN SS-P's are height adjustable, and 16-way damper adjustable. Currently, I have it on the softest setting for the fronts, and the rears are on 4th to the softest setting. I have a 2 finger drop all around, but I'm hesistant to post pics cause I have a nasty gash along the side of my car from a hit and run long time ago which I haven't fixed (waiting for b-day money ... lol)

The golden pillowball upper mounts are good lookin. I stare at it evertime I pop the hood, and since I can't see the ones in the rear, I just smile knowing they are there...lol

The fronts have camber plates, which I haven't touched (I let the alignment shop mess with that) but it sure looks awesome!

The design is spectacular, looks very durable, and long lasting. The constructions is by far better than the Hayames were, but I paid $400 more for these than the Hayames, so I'd better expect as much.

The driving experience: Took the car out for a spin after the alignment was done, and started off slow, then pushed the suspension a little. It handles like glue, even on the SOFT settings. Being stiff as they are, the Hayames handled surprisingly well, but DAYAM, these TEINS feel just as good, but with 16 times more potential.

Also, I'm a big fan of the "stock feel" cause you never know when u have one of those days where you just want to have a really nice and smooth comfortable ride driving home from work, and i say wow, this is as friggin close to stock as I'll ever get with an aftermarket true coilover system. I was very impressed by the soft and smooth feel of the ride. Still, one could tell if they were to sit in the car, that the suspension was modified, 'cause its still got that aftermarket stiffness to it. Since the springs are still new, I'm hoping they will soften up a bit more once they are broken in. I haven't tested the quality of the ride at stiffer rates, but I'm assuming they'll just feel like hardcore track compatible quality.

Final words: Not much to say here, except I was pretty much blown away by the looks, and performance of these coilovers, and definitely the best $$ I've spend on my civic in a long time.

On a side note: I got these coilovers from www.heeltoeauto.com if any of you were interested. They are located in So. Cal, and Marcus, the guy that's usually in charge is a SUPER nice guy. The deal that I got for the teins was $1175 picked up. TEIN SS's usually go for $1000, and if you're lucky, u can find them for a little less, and upper mounts are $200-$400 for a set of front and back, with the TEIN SS-P, u get both front, and rear upper mounts (gold plated too - BLING BLING!) for a much lower price than if you purchased them seperately.

I hope this review was useful for you guys, I'll try to get pics up of the side without the nasty scratch. Keep you guys posted.
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Old Apr 12, 2005
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great to hear you love them man...I just ordered them myselves for $1170 shipped and can't wait to put them in....

I remember finding them on that comparison site TunerMarket.com.....

http://www.tunermarket.com/Search_De...ProductID=6755
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Old Apr 12, 2005
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cool site...i'll bookmark that one! ^_^
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Old Apr 12, 2005
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I have the regular SS. and they are amazing. my next car will get tein ss too. I have it set to a 2 finger gap all around too, but i might bring the rear up a notch to compensate for my heavy *** subs and misc. ****. Setting ride height was a PITA at first, but once you get everything pretty much right, it's just a matter of minor adjustments here and there. The ride is far more comfortable than my neuspeed sports springs and koni shocks ever were. My gf will vouch for this, since she used to hate riding in my car because it felt like a brick on solid axles. And like chocobo said, the install couldnt be any easier, very comprehensive and very well designed kit.
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Old Apr 13, 2005
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i'm getting some squeeking/clicking sounds in my suspension in the rear after i installed the teins, and i'm hoping it'll go away they break in. I dont know what the sounds are comming from, but they only appear when i'm driving. I got out of the car, and bounced the rear of the car violently, and it was dead quiet, but when i drive, even if i hit a pebble, the rear will click and sometimes squeek.

can anyone confirm what this is from? is this typical of teins in the beginning and will disappear later? or should i recheck all the bolts n nuts and grease everything up?
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Old Apr 13, 2005
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i had that too, worried me at first. You have to trim your rear oem dust boots about 1/2 inch. If you jack up your car, you can see where they are hitting the spring. Just jack up your car and take a razor blade to them...worked for me like a charm.
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Old Apr 13, 2005
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awesome, thanks...i'll give that a shot
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Old Apr 26, 2005
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i just ordered these, how are they performing still? any problems with pillow-ball mounts? Did you get rid of the squeaks in the back and are there any other noises you've heard?
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Old Apr 26, 2005
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Originally Posted by chocobo15_2000
...

The specifications: The TEIN SS-P's are height adjustable, and 16-way damper adjustable. Currently, I have it on the softest setting for the fronts, and the rears are on 4th to the softest setting. ...

Your not supposed to ride them on the extreme soft or extreme hard setting EVER.

Just as an FYI Choco.
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Old Apr 26, 2005
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Originally Posted by dezod
Your not supposed to ride them on the extreme soft or extreme hard setting EVER.

Just as an FYI Choco.

Is that for any shock that is adjustable?
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Old Apr 27, 2005
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you can only adjust that on a adjustable shock. so why are you not supposed to ride them on the extreme sides of the adjustment?
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Old Apr 27, 2005
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Originally Posted by dezod
Your not supposed to ride them on the extreme soft or extreme hard setting EVER.

Just as an FYI Choco.

thanks for heads up paul...i made some adjustments...running on setting 8 on both sides, right smack in the middle...feels great!
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Old Apr 27, 2005
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Originally Posted by civicly
you can only adjust that on a adjustable shock. so why are you not supposed to ride them on the extreme sides of the adjustment?
i'm sure u can, it'll just wear your strut down much faster than if you put it in a non extreme setting. going to either extremity increases your risk of breaking so its up to you in the end
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Old Apr 27, 2005
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Does the SS have a Warranty? If so how long?
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Old Apr 27, 2005
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i think tein offer life time warrantee on the struts...i dunno bout the springs nor the body.
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Old Apr 27, 2005
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Ic, So, theres some used teins that a guy is selling on 7thgen. I have 04, so what is it that is wrong with the 04s?I called tein, and they said somthing, but i really couldent understand. Theres only one version of the SS for the civic 01-05 right? Besides that that comes with the pillowmounts.
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Old Apr 27, 2005
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Sorry for my n00bness, but whats the difference between the tein ss and tein ss-p
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Old Apr 27, 2005
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I know one difference is camber plates but there could be more.
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Old Apr 27, 2005
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Originally Posted by chocobo15_2000
i think tein offer life time warrantee on the struts...i dunno bout the springs nor the body.
just wondering, can you double check that?
'cause Tein only offers 1-year warranty on S.Tech springs, but didn't mention warranty for any other parts.

while other company offers a lot longer warranty like Eibach offers 10-years for springs, and Koni offers lifetime...

Last edited by wonderz; Apr 27, 2005 at 07:24 PM.
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Old Apr 27, 2005
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Yea if u buy new, u get 1 year, thast it. I called tein.
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Old Apr 29, 2005
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I called heeltoe... getting mine soon!
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Old Apr 29, 2005
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so wait do the ss-p have upper mounts or are those extra?
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Old Apr 29, 2005
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they come with upper-mounts, they're the pillow ball mounts
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Old Apr 29, 2005
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SS-P comes with GOLD UPPER PILLOW BALL MOUNTS!!! SS's DONT!! SS-P springs are tappered at the top (so the coils are like equidistant from each other) while the SS's are not (the coils distance is longer at the bottom, and gets shorted up top) ... don't know if that makes any sense, but tappered springs are offered on more "hardcore" coilover system, but non-tappered springs are much more comfortable, but don't perform as well. Please, correct me if i'm wrong, this is what TEIN told me, so I hope the guy I talked to knew wtf he was talking about...i'm just relaying the msg.

everything else should be the same, height adjustment, damper adjustment, etc, etc.
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Old Apr 30, 2005
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you need to update your sig.
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Old May 1, 2005
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the noise is from pillowball mounts i have flex w/ same noise

riley
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Old May 2, 2005
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thnx riley...i was gonna get it checked out, but now i guess i'll just leave it...i hope the noise will go away after everything settles in...

i will update my sig as wel...lol
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Old May 4, 2005
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how many coils do you have left? can you drop the front anymore, or is it about as low as it goes?
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Old May 6, 2005
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Just got my SS-P's put on, love them compared to the Konis I had, much nicer ride. I'll post pics later, don't have a camera available
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Old May 11, 2005
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Got mine put on already. Feels good, now I gotta wait for the springs to break in. How's yours doing Choco?
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