Lowering w/ ETS?
 

So I've been wanting to lower my 89 supra it has the factory ETS system fully functional, would it be worth the time and money to convert to coilovers? I know the look adds a lot to the appearance to stance that's one positive thing about it but does any one know how much difference this will give me compaired to the factory suspesion? I do a lot of driving in the mountains but this is also my DD so I just want lower the center of gravity a little to get a better hug in the curves and eliminate some body roll. I was thinking of dropping it about 1" in the front and 3/4" in the back I have subwoofers in the back so it already sits a little lower in the back. I don't want to do any of that tire tuck crap though it looks tacky to me. What brands are gonna have the best durability? I was looking at some K Sport Pro's on horsepowerfreaks.com are these decent?

If u want u can get the tokico illumina white shocks which work with the tems system and get lowering springs I have H&R springs drops the front 1.6" and rear 1" looks mean

There are no electronically modulated coil over systems which work with the TEMS system. It would require an intermediary controller to be engineered and actuators meant for the new system... At which point it's not worth it. The system which comes with newer coilovers is more advanced and programmable in most cases and the cost will be comparable.

As for body roll, lower the car will help only if the current suspension is soft (which, granted, it probably is). Beefier swap bars and replacing worn out suspension bushing is probably going to make bigger difference. Just come food for thought.

So older TEMS cars had different suspension to later ones? My '89 JDM has working TEMS and the suspension appears to be coilover (IIRC, not looked for a while!) with blue springs approx. 2 1/2" internal dia.

What's programmable & how?

There may have been JDM coilovers available but nothing that I've ever heard of for the North American nor European markets. I think it's more likely that they're sleeves over regular TEMS compatible dampers.

There were some adjustable and preset after market controllers for the TEMS system, including more commonly known HKS unit. These units offered nothing more than threshold adjustment and more 'mode' options.

The adjustable coilover systems now available offer a HUGE amount of control... Some systems offer individual damper adjustment, smart dampening adjustment based on G sensor input (automatically stiffening outer wheels more when cornering and such). Some do a lot and really shame the TCCS into looking more like a retarded cousin who lives under the stairs... And some don't do much more than the stock TEMS system. Regional availability and affordability are often the kicker. Tein makes (or at least they did) a nice, affordable package. It doesn't have a million bells and whistles but it's not bad. If you go with coil overs and want computer controlled dampening but it's not in your budget you may want to look into getting coilovers which have the controller system available and just add that later.

Do NOT confuse coilovers with air bag suspension, the ride height on all coilover systems is still manually adjusted.

Cool looks like I might have a sweet JDM upgrade :D

I know what you mean by the HKS controller now, not got that & like you alluded to, there's not a whole lot of point in having it. I think TEMS does a pretty good job of things as it is, normal is a bit less harsh than sport & didn't get used much anyway as I always drove the car hard :rofl:

Modern coilovers are the way to go for ultimate adjustability, just have to stop & adjust manually. For the money that's the best option IMO, and either disconnect the TEMS or fit some kind of emulator to keep the lights working if you want them to remain as some sort of "talking point"

I'm pretty sure you don't have to fit any sort of emulator to keep the TEMS 'light show'. The TEMS controller receives no feedback from the actuators and doesn't know if they've been removed.

Even better then :D

I thought I read somewhere that the TEMS light flashed, or threw a code or something but that may have been with seized actuators now I think of it.

If you're not using TEMS it's a waste of space, IMO. I'd sooner put in a digital volt meter/AFR display/Oil temp display in the space. If you want a light show for the sake of a light show put in a LED bar and wire it up to show your throttle percentage.... Otherwise it's like shoving crazy, old grandpa in the back seat and giving him a steering wheel and letting him shout "BEEP, BEEP" once in a while just because you hadn't the heart to leave him at home when running to the store. :naughty:

Yeah, but you tried taking it out of a JDM digital dash? :eek2: no thanks lol

Anyway I like the light show, the tach may be useless for seeing what RPM's are being pulled but its so nice & glowy n bright lol