Coil overs?

[heavy1metal]

This winter I plan to upgrade my suspension. New to the whole thing, tried a few searchs on some brands etc... But, something came to my attention. Coil overs are exspensive as hell but look the same as if I bought a new pair of struts like agx and a good pair of springs like Whiteline or Eibach. What makes coil overs,,, coil overs? If it's that dramatic of a difference, I think i'll chip in the money and go for the whiteline set.

I was reading about the whiteline coil overs, just says they're super adjustable, but aren't AGXs?

[Red coupe]

it some what is the same, and technicaly the term coil over simply referse to a coil over shock design...but most the time when people say coilover they are refering to a shock/spring/uppermount setup. Coilovers mainly offer stiffer spring rates, and the comfort of knowing that some one alot smarter then you (or me) selected the dampeners specifictly for that spring...Another added bonus is the price also includes camber plates and better(stiffer) strut bearing with most coilovers..check out KTS for a little over 1k is pretty good and free shipping save quite a bit..

[Dattebayo]

I would say a practical answer to your question would be that:

Coilovers come in one piece out of the box from the manufacturer.

Spring/Shock combos come in pieces and you have to assemble the spring over the shock using a spring compressor to use them.

Im sure there are exceptions, but its an easy way to define 90% of the stuff you can buy.

[nismofly]

its like what red coupe said

they basically are much stiffer than a spring/shock combo, and have the damping to compensate for it

[rico05]

Coilovers generally have a linear spring mated to a properly valved shock with adjustible spring pearches top and bottom. The sleeved shock allows for height adjustment, while many high end coilovers allow for compression and rebound fine tuning. A spring shock combo can be linear or progressive (I prefer a progressive spring myself) and the height is generally not adjustible.

When someone says they have "coilvers" 99% of the time they are referring to a sleeved shock that allows height adjustment. Setups like Tein Basics allow for height adjustment, but not and bound/rebound or compression adjustment. Nor do the basics include a rigid, ball bearing top mount that allows for camber (and sometimes caster) adjustment.

Myself, I say if you need the adjustibility that a coilover provides, look into that. You can go all the way up to 3 way adjustible Moton shocks and Eibach RPS racing springs, but that is just silly. 75%-80% of the folks out there would do just fine with a properly mated shock/spring combo that is suited to their needs. Who needs adjustiblity if you have no clue how to adjust it or if you never use them enough to warrant their high market price.

Companies from KTS to Eibach, HKS to Aragosta all make coilovers, so do your research, figure out what you need your car to do, then make an educated decesion!

[heavy1metal]

Woah, thanks for all the quick replies. I think I'll end up just getting a good pair of struts and springs. I already know i'll end up setting the stiffness and leaving it that way lol. Thanks for all the great advice.

[Red coupe]

you may be better off with the springs/shocks coilovers are borderline to stiff for good grip, almost all the roads in my city are well paved and near smooth(buy coil over and you will understand a truly smooth road doesn't seem to exist anywhere in public) Just tonight I was in a neighboring town on some back roads, and the cracks and bumps really hurt grip when you just skip over them Race tracks and my home town however