Which Coil overs to choose?

[the head]

I like the Tanabe SS 2s (model with helper springs) on my car they ride firm but my car is all heim joints and urethane so I guess it will always be harsh no matter what coilovers I use

[ZK]

It all depends what you want to do with the car... For street use, street suspension is best, it will absorb the bumps and allow you to maintain control.

You start sticking race/drift suspension on street cars and you end up with a very rough ride and it doesn't handle well on anything that isn't smooth.

I like my Tein Type Flex - good ride quality, adjustable ride height, travel, dampening and you can stiffen up decent for track use. If I was going all out track I'd get something more aggressive but for daily driver purposes and weekend track it is awesome.

I've driven Tein HAs and HEs. The HA is rougher riding than the Flex and less adjustability, the HE is too stiff for daily commuting and problems with blown shocks.

[MikeFD3S]

make an educated decision on what you need and why you need it. A lot of people want so many adjustments, but they really have no idea what the true use is, or how to properly set it. Do you know how to properly set preload? Adjust stroke and shock travel? Let alone, properly corner weight a car?

Probably not. Adjustable coilovers are very good for those who properly use them and set them up, but if set incorrectly, you car will probably handle and ride a bit worse than before.

A good suspension will handle nice AND ride well. It's a matter of the internal valving and quality of the shock. Don't look at the number of dampening adjustments which is very misleading...many times something that says "36-way adjustable" has 36 increments over only a very small true dampening force range.

You might actually get more dampening force adjustment out of a shock with 4 clicks than you would with one with 16. It's all marketing hype.

Just because it rides stiff doesn't mean that your car is actually handling any better...it usually just means you have a cheaply made shock.

[Phil St John]

Another thing to keep in mind is most coilovers are made in japan. Japan has much better tracks and roads than we do and in keeping with that the spring rates on their coilovers are usually a bit much for a commute across the land of potholes. White Line is an Aussi company and they have roads that suck ass. I cant remember the spring rate but its twice that of stock and far less than other companies. On the other hand you might like a firm ride and you can more often then not order a specific spring rate from the other guys. Remember if you go with a stiff ride your car might not like it either, chassis fles on old cars is common and is greatly increased with a stiff suspention, be ready to brace your car up, wheeeeeeeeeeeee

Also I forgot to mention that there are only a few companies that sell and adjustable height damper, witch may not sound like much but if you dump you car with out that capabilaty you lose much ot your stroke lenth from your shock/strut somtimes to only an inch of travel, not much fun to ride on your bump stops. Its a wondefull thing to have the correct amount of travel in your chit.

[nightwalker]

most people are so caught up in just following what the next guy thinks is cool or what everyone is doing and they forget that they are buying a coilover because "you gotta have the uber tightness to fit in".

Not two years ago, people wouldn't bat an eye at a 1k coilover set. Now everyone wants one. But why? Do you know how to poperly setup the coilover? Are you using the full capabilities of them? preload? corner weighing? front/rear biasing? It's like buying a T.V. and watching one channel.

I see a lot of people with coilovers that don't have them properly installed. Let's not even talk about proper adjustment. A lot of these people would be way better off with a custom eibach spring and Konis with pillowball mounts.

But if you already have your coilovers, hope you have them properly adjusted because the guy with the Koni/Eibach setup is going to blow you away.

[c0ldasice]

Originally Posted by nightwalker

A lot of these people would be way better off with a custom eibach spring and Konis with pillowball mounts.

Wouldn't custom Koni Shocks on Eibach springs cost more than some entry level coilovers like SPL KTS'?

[Var]

gc = 400

koni=550 of the shelf + 450 for revalve.(or 800 off the shelf for their new "race" shocks") You're looking at a set of GP-sport GR6 or Tein HE for that price. Whiteline makes coilovers with soft rates so that would be easier.

[AutoRnD]

zeal also makes street rates.. as well as hard rates..
they also make street specific / comfort coils as well a full on double adjustable remote reservoir race coils...
and hey.. why buy fro a company that makes tons of shit when u can buy from a company that specializes in it

[Var]

Josh! everyone would love to have a set of Zeals. I'll take a set on the house

[ZK]

Originally Posted by Phil St John

Another thing to keep in mind is most coilovers are made in japan. Japan has much better tracks and roads than we do and in keeping with that the spring rates on their coilovers are usually a bit much for a commute across the land of potholes.

Japan has some pretty jacked up roads actually. The highways are smooth but besides that it's pretty messed up. I think they just put up with the rough ride with suspension. And just like in the US 99% of cars are bone stock and people just drive them around town. But unlike the US, not very many people drive - its too inconvenient and expensive.