suspension upgrade for a daily driver

[offtheline]

Hello everyone... I am new to the board as I am eagerly awaiting the purchase of a 1995 240sx... I have been doing some research on suspension upgrades for the 240sx and also read the faq which was enlightening. But I have a few questions, for you specialists out there.

First, what is the difference between a coilover kit and just a set of lowering springs? Is it that the springs will basically just use the stock dampers... while coilovers come with upgraded ones?

Also, I will mostly be using the car as a daily driver. Possibly at scca events (but not too competetively) and also possibly for learning the art of drifting in a safe environment. So my question is what type of suspension upgrade would most of you reccommend as the first for someone who wants better handling but not too stiff as would be used for the race driver, and also to facilitate drifting? Also, adjustable height is important. Thanks for your expertise.

[Stee Flo]

springs are just springs, so you will have to get some aftermarket struts or stick with the stock ones. Coilovers are a shock and spring together that are usually height and dampening adjustable. People that track thier car alot prefer coilovers. If you just want something stiffer for daily use and some track, alot of people recommend kyb adjustable gas shocks and some springs. You can drift with those fine; a lsd is more important for drifting i hear.

[240_Keyy]

SteeFlo is partially right.

However, with any kind of lowering, you need to get aftermarket struts or else your ride quality will suck. Furthermore, not all coilovers come with dampers. For instance, ground controls for our cars need to be mated with some dampers because they do not come with any. In order to get any kind of adjustable ride, you have to go with some type of coilover setup. Ground Control CO's are good, but are a bit expensive ($400ish-maybe cheaper) while a set of true coilovers (spring/perches/dampers) will set you back at least $1000. True coilover prices range between $1000 and $3000 per set.

that is all for now...

[Stee Flo]

Yeah i was reffering to a true coilover setup. Ground controls are just sleeves.

[Structure240sx]

if your mainly just using the car for daily drving go with a spring and strut setup. i'd suggest eibach prokit or sportline because, i cant think of the word, the springs arent linear so over bumps and rough road its not as harsh and kyb agx's wish i went with them instead of the gr-2's

[offtheline]

So if i were to go with something like the apexi t-max strut and the eibach prokit springs... would that be a decent combination?

[Kinesthesia]

I've been thinking Tein S-Tech and KYB AGX shocks... but I'm not 100% sure yet.

[AJ-SPEC]

I'm in the same dilema, I competed in autox, and I like roadracing, and some drifting. to compensate for all of these, coilovers would prob. be the best. you will lose some ride quality, but you'll get more feedback and better handling. I need something stiffer than what springs can offer, but not as stiff as apex or zeal. I decided to do JIC flt-a2's or tein ha's with nismo bushings. it will be stiff, but not tooth rattling, and I won't have to worry about being to soft.

[tupac03602]

i dont know too much right now but i do have some experiance in this. i live in new hampshire and where i live is full of sudden inclines, declines as well as turns and of course a mixture of inclines/declines with turns. it sounds fun but then u got tha frost heaves and tha pot holes and everything else so i went and i got dyb gr2's all around with eibach pro kit springs. i wanted semi stiff suspension that has good handling. i did get good handling, not great but decent but what i didnt get is semi stiff. it is stiffer then stock (obviously) but i do wish i went with tha kyb agx's. i use my car for a daily driver, very little street i hope that helps somehow

[clearview]

i've got a 95 se. i 've installed front tc bushings,. sway bars,rear sub frame bushings and rear whiteline camber kits from PDM. i also added tokico blue struts with ebach proline springs. i had jic flt-a2s for a week. the roads in dallas suck and they are not daily driver coil overs.