Springs or Coilovers?

[moose]

I did my searching and I have found that Tein has the best coilovers, but what about us guys that aren't made of money? Is there one step cheaper that still gives quality ride smoothness and good handling?
I live in Canada so I want to be able to lower it in the summer and raise it in the winter. I figure coilovers are the best bet, but not anything too expensive.


What do you think??

[Bbandit]

try kyb agx + ground control coilover combo...
www.ground-control.com
they sell those combo for $800ish i believe

[moose]

I forget to mention that this a daily driver and not a race car.

[Bbandit]

yea well those setup i gave you is very streetable...
or you can just get some cheap regular springs with shocks combo...
whats your budget?

[moose]

My limit is 15 g's (canadian dollars) for the car and the mods. I was thinking I could run Eibach lowering springs in the spring/summer/fall and then switch back to my factory springs for the winter. What do you think, I think it would work.

[AKADriver]

Tein doesn't make the best 'full coilover' setup.. in fact they're basically entry-level.

Ground Controls will be perfectly streetable if they're installed properly. Make sure to use something between the body of the strut and the threaded collar to take up the gap to prevent noise.

[bbp]

If you want adjustable shocks:

Koni's are great, also tokico makes a nice affordable shock.

Just remember that single adjustables adjust REBOUND, not compression, the terms soft and hard are commonly misused. they dont necessarily adjust the firmness, the adjust the rate that the shock rebounds after it has been compressed


Non Adjustable:

Bilsteins are excellent.

If this is a street car that is a daily driver and you are doing the suspension purely for athstetics, look into basic lowering springs and a maybe some Bilsteins. It will ride nice and look good. Putting coilovers on a car that does street duty (esp snow...dangerous) 100% of the time is, IMO, a waste of money.

[SaintlyCharBoy]

i was in a similar boat not too long ago, but as i drive my car in the winter (her in NH they salt the hell outta the roads) i was warned against using alluminum bodied height adjustable coilovers. the salt on the roads supposedly pitts the alluminum and kills any adjustability

i ended up with tein springs and love them

[019]

i have the sportlines with tokico blues on my s14 and with the few snowstorms we've been getting here in virginia, i've been running fine in the snow. i guess it would depend on how much snow we're talking about, especially since you're in canada.

[RBSileighty]

Originally posted by AKADriver
Tein doesn't make the best 'full coilover' setup.. in fact they're basically entry-level.

Ground Controls will be perfectly streetable if they're installed properly. Make sure to use something between the body of the strut and the threaded collar to take up the gap to prevent noise. You must be talking about the HE's or something... the RS kit is super adjustable and very track worthy. I would go with springs if I were you. It would be a lot easier to swap in and out during the year. Don't forget this is going to make you have to get an alignment every time you do this... Good luck!

[240fluke]

Actually, I wouldn't bother switching the springs in and out of your car (it is rather a hassle to do, but if you do it, I am sure you will get pretty fast at doing it). For basic height adjustment the Eibach Ground Controls are supposed to be pretty good when mated to a good shock.

As for the best coilover out there, I think that is really preference and dependent upon the model. For our cars BASIC coilovers will run you around $1k, whlie good ones run around $1.5K and super adjustable track ready, yada yada, will run you $2k+. It really comes down to preference though. I think a good majority of people would probably agree or at least have to say that JIC's and Zeal's are probably some of the best coilovers available, but once again that is preference.

You might even want to consider just getting a lowering spring that doesn't drastically drop the car, but does improve performance. I run Eibach Pro-Kit and GAB Super HP's and the ride is awesome. Since I lowered it, I actually seem to have an EASIER time getting over speed bumps and such. I still think I would of liked to have gone with the H&R sport's, but I am very pleased with my setup and highly recommend it.

Tim '95 SE

[moose]

hey thanks, um I'm really not made of money, and I have to think about university, but does anybody know what your car is like lowered in snow? Does it make a big deal at all?

[SaintlyCharBoy]

well, i currently have over 2 feet of snow on the ground right now
in the early morning sometimes i plow the snow, but not usually - and stock height does that anyway

the suspension differences only matter when you hit frost heaves

as far as i am concerned - it didn't matter

[moose]

So if I buy eibach springs and I lower the car 1.5" then that should be enough ground clearance for winter and summer, depending on roads? Cause I definetly want to get of that wheel gap!

[1 Dirty Truck]

Tein HA goes for like 1k and they are great. Save up for them if you have the time.

Oh yeah I have seen them on like three cars and they are beginners but good for the money.

[YellwMonky]

from what i've heard, neither prokit nor sportlines will get rid of the ugly gap. The sportlines may help, but not much.

[tnord]

haven't seen much have you?

see sig for reference.

[019]

with my sportlines, i get great clearance. i just have the stock bumper though, no lip or anything. but yeah, i'd say both sportlines and prokit will give you great clearance as well as get rid of the wheel gap, so you can't really go wrong on that matter.

[YellwMonky]

My friend had a 93 hatchback with eibach sportlines and stock rims. It did NOT look dropped. If the pro-kit does even less than that, it must not do much.

[Dousan_PG]

tein does make high end coilovres you jsut dotn see them stateside.

coilovers:

good if you like to:
lie on your back.
scratch your head.
use tape measures a lot
enjoy fine tuning
enjoy paying out for corner balance (if your serious about coilovers)
enjoy getting out of the car for damper setup
enjoy changing it for events or types of setups


coilovers arent made for people who like to lower their car to a ok height and never adjust them. its a waste of money. buy shocks and springs if your going to do that.

shock spring:
once on its set.
damper adj shock makes changes quick and easy.
camber plates can be added to add more adj.

that's just my thoughts on it.

i have coilovers. going to readjust them again this week to perfection..well, as perfect as i an before i get it corner balanced in the coming month (get it set to hieght i want it at and make sure everything is lined up perfectly) heh..

[RBSileighty]

Originally posted by dousan36
tein does make high end coilovres you jsut dotn see them stateside.

coilovers:

good if you like to:
lie on your back.
scratch your head.
use tape measures a lot
enjoy fine tuning
enjoy paying out for corner balance (if your serious about coilovers)
enjoy getting out of the car for damper setup
enjoy changing it for events or types of setups


coilovers arent made for people who like to lower their car to a ok height and never adjust them. its a waste of money. buy shocks and springs if your going to do that.

shock spring:
once on its set.
damper adj shock makes changes quick and easy.
camber plates can be added to add more adj.

that's just my thoughts on it.

i have coilovers. going to readjust them again this week to perfection..well, as perfect as i an before i get it corner balanced in the coming month (get it set to hieght i want it at and make sure everything is lined up perfectly) heh..
I couldn't have said it better myself.

[019]

Originally posted by YellwMonky
My friend had a 93 hatchback with eibach sportlines and stock rims. It did NOT look dropped. If the pro-kit does even less than that, it must not do much.

i can't really say much for s13's. but my sportlines did drop my s14 a good 2 inches. yes, it is not a really obvious drop if you've never seen the car at stock height, but that's probably because the stock height is too high... i feel that my car looks the way it should've stock. and judging from tnord's pic of his s14, the wheel gap is pretty much gone. looks great. i don't mean to be an ass or whatever, but if you would've checked moose's profile, you would've seen that he owns a 95, therefore an s14.

[240Dori]

on the topic of coilovers...i have been wondering if anyone has bought used coilovers...if so how much were they and how much rebiulding did you have to do...i ask this because i know that you can get used coilovers imported from japan from junkyard sharks or classifieds and was thinking about maybe doing this myself...just wondering if anyone has done this.