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hi all,
asking this on behalf of a mate as like me he's had no experience of the coilover yet. ;D
he wants some advice on the ridability of fitting coilovers, he still wants the realitive comfort of factory springs but keeps hearing advice to get coilies rather than lowering springs but isnt getting much in the way of why?? other than the adjustability
i said i'd post on here and ask as you're a helpful bunch......
in a nutshell he wants to lower his car a little but not compromise the comfort he has with factory fit suspension
any advice ??
thanks
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CIH
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,466
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Depends on the dampening and spring rates. Cheap coilovers will have so-so spring rates but shocking dampening. The more expensive the more R&D has gone into them. TBH if it's just a simple lowering job they're probably overkill. If they're for a pukka tuned driver's car just make sure they have adjustable dampening and you'll probably be ok.
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The obvious positive is that you can go up and down to the nearest milimetre so your lowering can be precise, and can change with some spannering.
Spring rates and damping are up to you to choose. It took me 10 minutes to change the rear springs on my coilovers the other day. Damping is adjustable on decent ones.
They are quite cheap second hand and if your spring rates are too stiff you can find replacements on the Bay and swap em.
I use a set of Gaz Gold on a Sierra Cosworth race car. They cost me around £600 but I reckon I could find a used set for £300ish.
They are no better in performance than good springs and dampers but when you add the ease of changing springs, changing heights and the decent damping adjustment they are good to have.
What car are they going on?
Charlie
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Last Edit: Nov 2, 2010 22:39:02 GMT by charlie
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,201
Club RR Member Number: 170
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coilovers - advice pleaseChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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Coilovers are also great for corner weighting (adjusting spring pan heights). Great for if you want the utmost in handling.
As above, go with a name you can trust and preferably with newish low mileage units or new. Dampers tend to degrade more than people like to think. IME, Eibach, Koni (for dampers anyway), Gaz, Sachs (OE manufacturer) and Bilstein are pretty decent. Spax are fine but I am not too thrilled with their build quality TBH.
On the Ka the G Max kit on stock dampers was wallowy. On a full G Max kit it was IMO a bit too firm. On the Ford Racing Kit (Sachs dampers and Eibach springs) it captured the best of most worlds).
On the 205 the Bilstein setup is superb. Firmer but in a good way and not crashy at all. They tend to test out spring rates that suit the car mind you and are non adjustable (sometimes that can be a good thing).
The question is, what car do you own?
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What is he putting them on? I got cheap ones for my daily Arosa and i got what I paid for! If he goes for coilovers my best advice is to research them well and get the best he can afford
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Club Retro Rides Member
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sorry for delay guys - having to use the work comp as mines crashed.
its a vw bora, he's got 18" holstens on it and wants it lowered to sit nicely in the arch, but keeps hearing good and bad about coilies and normal spring set ups ??
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You can't say one set up with give a better ride than the other. The only difference is that on one you can change the ride height and the other you cant. Its still a spring and a damper afterall...
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1997 TVR Chimaera
2009 Westfield Megabusa
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bryn
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,913
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Some generalisations based on personal experience that hopefully will help  Chopped springs, can work well. Just expect a harsh and compromised ride on some makes, Mercedes respond very well to some choppage. Lowering springs should be stiffer than the standard springs, but working with the original shocks will often give you the desired stance but too much travel when you hit a bump or get airborne. Lowered springs and matched shocks work well, but are fixed at a certain height. So although the suspension will be stiffer and handle better than standard, it still might not give you the desired ride height. Plus for the sort of money they'll cost you, a set of coilovers can be bought for a VW. I run a set of secondhand Raceland coilovers on a Passat B4, they're compliant enough to give a good, smooth ride and stiff enough to throw it about and not worry. I've covered 10K on them now and have no complaints. I would recommend them if the budget allows. Just to say, I drove to Paris and back at the weekend with my girlfriends elderly parents in the car... Not once did they mention the ride being harsh etc |
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Volvo, Buggy, Discovery and an old tractor.
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md
Part of things
Posts: 839
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well it doesnt sound like hei'll be driving it too hard if his main concern is comfort... id be tempted to sat ditch the coilover idea, get some good gas dampers and some lowering springs from someone like H&R which are relatively soft compared to spax/tein etc and he'll find the ride is still pretty good even though its lowered...
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bryn & md, thanks for the updates, i'll show him the thread later and let him decide, cheers guys
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I would have thought that 18" Rims on a Bora would upset the ride more than an average set of Coilovers?
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