Should I repair my Teins or replace them with a Strut Spring Combo?

Hi guys,
 
Last year (about 50,000km's ago), I replaced my old worn 95 Bathurst springs and struts with some Tein SS coilovers, put in the Two's R Us Bush kit and some Heavy duty Adjustable Whiteline sway bars with the intention of taking the car on the track, but that never happened, I just simply don't have the time these days. Now I hate the ride of the Teins, I think they are completely useless on the road, the car crashes over bumps, floats over bumps if your going more that 90km/h, it understeers, it's all just buggered up, I pretty much hate the ride to be honest.
 
Now I've blown a seal on my passenger side rear coil over. So I'm thinking of going back to springs and struts, but I don't want to change the ride height of the car too much, and I don't want to go back to standard suspension because it looks stupid. What is the standard ride height of an 95 Bathurst? Maybe I'll compare that with the current ride height with stock wheels, then I could order some springs that are similar, any other ideas?
 
What I need is a strut spring combo that is compliant and absorbs bumps and pot holes on an average public road, because honestly I believe the biggest issue with the coilovers is the spring rate is so high that they just can't absorb the bumps on the road, so the car skips across them and probably has less traction than it did when standard. 
 
 
What springs do you guys recommend based on all that or can I change my coilover spring rates when they go in for repair?
 
 
Thanks guys,
 
Matty
 
 

The Twin SS is one of the most comfortable coilover if not lowered excessively. Pretty sure the spring rates are 3kg front and 5kg rear.

I love my Tien SSs, I actually had the first set in AU.  I've left them the height they came as that was supposed to be the best height for handling/comfort.  I too have full urethane bushes (superpro) and sway bars.  My set up definitely does not crash over bumps nor does it understeer.
 
Did you buy them used? How low have you got them set up? Have you played with the dampening adjustments?  I would also question your alignment setup as this could have an impact on understeer amongst other things.

Pm'ed

 
I'd def recommend getting someone to properly set them up for you. are you sure all the ride heights and damper settings are right for you? 
 
I'd also run the Tein SS before and they were perfect for daily city driving. they chewed up the bumps quite well. I have a feeling its your settings. 1.5" lower than the standard is the lowest setting, which makes it feel floaty.
 
vs the cusco i'm running now though, its a billion times better in terms of comfort.

That doesn't seem too bad height wise.  Mine is about the same in the back but maybe 1/2" higher in the front.  So height shouldn't be an issue.
 
You've said you got them new so, have they been this bad the entire time?
  Soft settings IMO are too soft, they're softer than the 94 Bathurst I sometimes drive which has stock suspension in it.  Its almost like bumps are in slow mo.  So I'm no convinced a softer spring rate is the answer for you.  Plenty of people have run these and the only general compliant is "they're too soft".  I imagine something else would be at fault.
 
Maybe an odd question but where are you?  I'd be more than happy to take you for a cruise in mine to compare seeing as our set ups are so similar to see what you think.

I agree with getting it professionally setup before spending $$ changing to new parts. If you wanna change the spring rates it's best to re-valve the shock to suit as well. What is your current wheel alignment specs as well as tyre widths?
 
Based off months of research, I decided on getting the RSR Race springs with Koni Yellows for road/track, 85:15. I believed this was the ultimate budget spring strut combo for road/track short of custom springs and comparable maybe only to H&R springs. Total spent was $1100 on parts, new strut inserts but 2nd hand springs (rare).
Reason I decided for springs/strut over coilovers: It was either this, HSDs or KW V3s. I didn't want too many adjusters probably because I suck at it lol (plus too focused on learning to drive haha) and I didn't have 2.5k.
 
On the road, my car is fantastic, a bit on the stiffer side of things but thanks to Koni's, my ride did not increase too much in harshness compared to stock spring/strut (late model springs, new KYB stock inserts). If only I could show you tomorrow at the VIC cruise (in 6 hours, I should be sleeping hehe). It eliminated a decent amount of roll but the most significant improvement I liked was, with lack of techy lingo, "faster rebound". Stock struts would wander a bit over high speed bumps on the sweepers *cough* freeway ramp *cough* but the koni/rsr reaction time made me more confident driving. Only compliant, lack of bump adjustment, but I'm still learning.
 
Quick track review:
Short story: The car was still quite balanced vs stock, more so thanks to stiffer rear spring rate bias dialling out the understeer. It still understeers to my dismay but much less than before and I can actually power oversteer on exit. Body roll has significantly improved but still too much for my liking. I guess there's only so far spring/struts can take you and no thanks to limited MR2 aftermarket selection.
Shorter story: Should've gotten coilovers for the grip levels of A048s and my driving style.
 
For getting rid of understeer, I was thinking of removing my front sway bar next track day.
 
Just my 20c, finding the best setup is hard because we all have different driving styles...

Could be a difference here as well between Jap spec or the Aussie spec ones. AFAIK, set aussie ones up differently.