Coilovers vs Good Quality Sports Dampers & Springs

i'm running ebay specials wound most of the way down. yeah, the ride is what some people would call horrendous (i call it "involving"). i wouldnt say the handling has been ruined, infact on a decent surface i'd say its alot better, but it can't deal with any kind of bad surface. if you have more money to spend on some, then do your research first, some higher priced ones can be just as harsh, wearas some can be pretty plush in comparison.

I've got a set of TA Technix coilovers (£169 a set from ebay!) and they're pretty cool. The ride is better than I'm used to in lowered cars (although I am serial spring-chopper) and I really like the adjustability.

Does your SAAB share a platform with another car (GM?), it might mean a set of coilovers are available at a favourable price.

eBay specials = cheap, often sub £200, coilovers with height adjustment only. Usually with a brand name you've never heard of Hot Tuning, Raceland or TA Technix (as Rmads are), don't get me wrong for the money you can't go wrong. I've driven a couple of very low E36s with these kits are the ride quality and handling is surprisingly good. However finding them for a Saab 9000 probably isn't going to be an option.

As for decent springs and dampers vs. decent coilovers, unless your looking to get the car setup with corner weights ect for track use or want it totally slammed, there is often little point. You're going to struggle to get better dampers than Bilsteins and better quality springs than Eibachs in any sub £1000 coilovers.

Having said that I had £600 Gaz coilovers on my old Sierra, the handling and ride was excellent, even though I literally just set it up by eye and feel.

You'll struggle to get off the shelf Coilovers for a 9000 for reasonable (sub £600), Gaz might be your best bet.

I think Robin has hit the nail on the head. You have to ask why going for coilovers?

If you're into motorsport (race, rally, even regular track days) then good quality, brand name (=expensive) coil overs give you lots of adjustment points (ride height and various damping options - compression, unloading (reverse compression) and rebound). They make it easier to change spring 'profiles' (free length and rate) and there are a lot more options available as the spring diameter is common irrespective of the car they are being fitted to. Also being smaller overall diameter than conventional springs the individual springs tend to be cheaper and the whole kit reduces unsprung weight, which in turn improves handling.

Another option to possibly consider if you've already got decent dampers is an 'add on' kit (I think Rallyart do one) that is basically a threaded tube that converts a Macpherson strut to give an adjustable spring platform and use coil over springs. I've no idea if they're any good - I bought a set to use on my rally rover 200, then swapped it for the metro which uses hydrolastic!

Thanks guys! That's a lot more info/advice than I've had from anybody else

I've just been given the details of the guy who sells these coilovers, looks like he's a one man outfit that sells the usual Saab performance parts in Sweden but also does the odd custom bit of kit. Email on route to him later!!

My biggest concern really is selling this set up which is probably as good as it gets for thw usual lowered set up and get these coilovers but end up dissapointed The biggest bonus is I had the billies for miles less than the price that they usually sell for (£170 compared to £480+!!...for the full set!!) So if I do sell them I'll easily get my money back. Should sell the Eibachs easily enough too for a small profit...a bit gutted about that as it took me close to a year to organise a massive Eibach group buy!!

That kit mentioned to convert my b6 into coilovers was interesting though Never thought of that.

The reasons for looking into coilovers are the price on these seem very cheap compared to others I've seen, plus I'm stripping around another 50-60kgs out the car next year by swapping the seats for buckets & binning the sun roof etc....and am a bit worried if it will effect the ride height even more? Where the coilovers should let me get the ride height nice & low.