Curious... Neone with Spring to Coilover Opinions?

[Thrwnsprkz]

I know, I NEED coilovers...but since buying weels I just wanna drop my car 2"does anyone have any opinions on the differences between the performace of springs to coilovers?

I want coilevers bad, but the $ is just outragous...whould lowering springs weaken my suspetions capibilitys at all? Improve it dramatically? do anything at all, but lower the center of gravity?Im not familiar with them... also whould hard driving (autoX/Drifting) do damage to the springs or cause problems?

Or... should i just wait and get coilovers next year? (realistically)

Thanks for your opinions: Jon

[Thrwnsprkz]

sooo... noone wants to help me out???Is my question really that bad?

I just dont wanna buy springs and have them bottom out all the time... could that be a problem?

[Toddles82]

Lowering your car with anice setup (KYB AGX's and Pro Kits) not only enhances the looks, but also the performance. They won't bottom out unless you drive the piss out of your car. I saw that, b\c at least on my 240, I'll smash the stock lip on things before I actually hit anything else.

[rico05]

You don't NEED coilovers. Do you drive your car everyday? Do you drive it hard at the track every weekend? Do you do several different types of competetive driving (autox and drift and drag)? If you answered "Yes" (and is being honest) to all of those: You need coilovers. If not, jsut get springs and shoks and be happy with how pretty your car looks. Also, if you do want performance, don't slam the damn thing on weak shocks and drop springs. Bouncing off the bump stops at every turn will not make you any faster. Remember: suspension travel is your friend.

[Q45tech]

Oem springs are coilovers, they fit over and are held in place by metal ring attached to oem shock/strut.

Assume you meant to say adjustable height coil overs vs fixed height oem springs [coil overs] vs reduced height aftermarket coilovers [springs].

Ride height or spring stiffness cannot affect REAL handling that much...........surely not more than 3% no matter what spring rate you use...........springs shocks, roll bars all together cannot change things 5%..............tires and the weight on tires is 95% of the equation.

They [springs [roll couple stiffness]] change the feel at the steering wheel but not what actually goes on at the tires.........assuming you are controlling tire camber correctly.

[Thrwnsprkz]

ok, thanks for clairifying that

I do drive it hard at least once a week, AutoX and Drift... I have 18" wheels, barely clears stock settings, I dont think lowering it will affect the clearance of the wheels, but if it travels the same distance I'm bacically concerened about rubbing at full lock

Plus I live in PA (with all the hills) Im not THAT concerned about ground clearance, (my friend has a Talon an inch and a half off the ground) but i guess it is an issue...

Finally since it says at the top of this page not to ask "whats the best spring"

theirs those nice offers on 2" Drop Zone springs and those Tein Coils in "FS"... any feed back on them? good price? ect

&'s tight... otherwise I'd have a set of Silk Roads

Thanks guys: Jon

[hamsterball]

If you are into coilovers, there are a few options besides $1600+ coilover systems.

Since you say you Auto-X every week and drive it hard you might want a coilover set up.

Tanabe has some nice setups available.Especially the SUSTEC SS line up (the SO-C line up is good too, but no dampening adjustability so you're stuck with what you got when you get it).

I know a guy from Honda-Tech (he drives an s13 with Tanabe DD coilovers), LSiTurbo, and he is a sponsor on that forum. He is having a sale on Tanabe coilover systems,$760 (i think that was the price) shipped for Tanabe SUSTEC SO-C Type II for S13, and $1,079 SHIPPED for Tanabe SUSTEC SS Type II coilovers.

SS Type II Coilovers are the dampening adjustable trim. 4-settings for front 8-settings for rear I think..and they have a nice spring rate (8kg F 6kg R).

I plan on getting them from him when I'm ready to buy coilovers. You should check out that option.

Otherwise, there is nothing wrong with a spring/shock set up as well.

Good luck with your research.