Street Basis for the Honda Element

We recently went forward with testing of the Street Basis coilover which will replace the Basic. The Basic kit had some consumer concerns when it came down to the kits valving and also spring rates. Many consumers sent in the dampers to have the rears revalved to both a more aggressive spring rate and valving to match the spring rates. This time around further testing had been made to find the optimal ride quality for this kit, and being that another TEIN Staff member (Andres) and I already had the vehicles with an excessive modification to the dampers and the other in its stock form, we had a chance to throw in our own 2 cents.

The initial valving of the Basic was softer than expected for the rear. We both felt that the spring rate and valving should be changed to be more aggressive possible matching our past experiences. The first new spec was not to most of our expectations, not just coming from me but other staff who had a change to test drive the vehicle. They changed it many more times even asking to use my vehicle for the testing as it differed in ride feel from the SC models. Finally they came to a damping spec which, to my surprise, was extremely smooth and balanced for the spring rates used. Let’s just put it this way, the rear would actually still be carrying the same spring rate as the Basic but the fronts were change.

The Street Basis is expected to be released around mid to late February and would be priced around $900.00 MSRP but not confirmed yet. For future updates on the kits release date and pricing, please check back with us on the TEIN websites “New Applications” tab or follow us on Facebook.