Suspension upgrades, need help, confused

[wesley40336]

Ok, so I guess this is pretty much a formal introduction/plea for help all rolled into one.

I have a 2008 Sentra 2.0, and I want to do some suspension upgrades. Naturally, I want the car lower, but NOT slammed. I'd like to accomplish this while keeping the ride quality the best it can possibly be. I know with a lower vehicle the ride quality is going to diminish exponentially, but I'd prefer the BEST ride I can have. I've read reviews, other forums, and I'm confused to say the least. Some reccomend going with a set of lowering springs with or without upgraded shocks/struts, and some say go for full coilovers all the way around. Then, there comes the "brand" of coilover into the picture and it makes choosing what I need essentially an algebra equation with so many variables.

What I do know, is this- D2 and KSport coilovers are essentially the same thing, just a different color, and apparently, Megan Racing, KSport and D2 are all the same thing, made in the same factory with different colors and different stickers on them. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong in this aspect.

So please, for the record, someone, anyone, please set this straight, and make a solid reccomendation to me. I know Tein's are better, and there are MANY better options out there for coilovers, but that isn't the topic here. So please, don't jump in here and bash everything I've listed and tell me that I need to go dump $2000 on a suspension. Yes, it would probably be better, but I don't have $2000 to spend on springs. Sorry. Right now my options are Eibach Sportlines, or a mid-grade coilover of some type such as KSport or Megan Racing. Like I mentioned, I have no interest at all in performance, I only want a lower stance, without absolutely killing the ride quality. I'd also like to accomplish this as cost effective as possible.

I'd really rather spend $200 on Eibach Sportline springs and have the car lower, but if I'm going to have to spend another $600 in the future to replace struts/shocks due to a high spring rate, I'd rather go ahead and invest in coilovers providing coilovers would be the best choice. If Sportline springs aren't as bad on shocks/struts as I've read (again, correct me if I'm wrong), would those be the best choice?

Also, from my understanding you can adjust alignment with coilovers, so would I be able to have an alignment shop tune out the rear negative camber issue of the B16 Sentra's with the rear coilovers if they were on the car?

Go!

[RED_DET]

The sport-line springs are going to lower the car quite more than the eibach pro kits, so you may want to take that into consideration. When lowering any car and not upgrading the shocks/struts you are going to diminish the life of those oem shocks/struts. As you said the lowering springs are going to decrease the "luxury" of the ride, but I don't think it is going to be as bad as you have set yourself up for. Could a lowered car ride better than stock, yes, but you are going to have to spend some money in order to accomplish that task. Yes the Ksport/megans/d2's are pretty much all the same. From first hand knowledge they all ride the same as well and harsh comes to mind.

If you are going to do this, do it right from the beginning and A) Get lowering springs and a good set of shocks B) Buy a good set of coilovers. I am pushing more towards the coils as that is what I have recently order for my car. Not that had a cheap setup, because it was over 1k in shocks/springs, but there is no adjustment. So I have decided to go with the BC Racing coilovers. I have sold (2) sets to friends with totally different cars, a SS camaro and a S14. They both love them and when set on the softest settings, ride like stock, but they are lowered quite a bit. The camaro was lowered another .25" over the hotchkis springs he had on the stock shocks and the s14 is slammed.

The other plus with coils is the alignment factor. There are camber plates for the front on your applicaiton which allows for correction and in the back it should have enough adjustment with stock arms to correct the camber issues. With coilovers the car can also be corner balanced. There are definitely more cons to coilovers, a good set mind you, than just springs/shocks. Question is do you want to spend a little bit more to get those cons.