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I'm looking for a set of coilovers and it looks like there are a lot of options in many price ranges. Trying to find something that has track capabilities but still somewhat comfortable on the street. (I have a very short work commute). Here's a list of one's that I've come across while keeping it under $700. Does anyone have an experience with any of these? Thanks in advanced. Function & Form Blox Full Blox Street Series Skunk2 Pro S V2 EK Ultimo Tein Street Advance Tein Street Basis
I'm looking for a set of coilovers and it looks like there are a lot of options in many price ranges. Trying to find something that has track capabilities but still somewhat comfortable on the street. (I have a very short work commute). Here's a list of one's that I've come across while keeping it under $700. Does anyone have an experience with any of these? Thanks in advanced. Function & Form Blox Full Blox Street Series Skunk2 Pro S V2 EK Ultimo Tein Street Advance Tein Street Basis
UNDER $700 for a street/track coilover?!
Surely you jest.
I guess you did say *somewhat* comfortable on the street.
Tein Flex Z maybe. For street comfort, you just need to lower their spring rates a bunch. Springs are cheap...and you can buy them later. For the track, you would probably be fine with their supplied rates.
Tein Street Advance ride great on the street if you leave them up high. But...idk about track use. I've used and installed them on quite a few cars.
Used Koni/GC maybe. Or buy new ones for $800. Buy stiffer springs...and keep the ride height up high.
I guess you did say *somewhat* comfortable on the street.
Tein Flex Z maybe. For street comfort, you just need to lower their spring rates a bunch. Springs are cheap...and you can buy them later. For the track, you would probably be fine with their supplied rates.
Tein Street Advance ride great on the street if you leave them up high. But...idk about track use. I've used and installed them on quite a few cars.
Used Koni/GC maybe. Or buy new ones for $800. Buy stiffer springs...and keep the ride height up high.
I was looking at the Koni Orange with GC coils, but it seems like everyone goes with the more expensive yellows. Either that or the Progress Tech coil kit.
Edit: What if I said throw street comfortability out the window? Best budget track setup? The biggest problem for me is that I've never driven on coils before and I have no experience in the car to base my decision off of.
The thing is that comfort and being fast on a track go hand in hand. Race cars aren't unnecessarily stiff. If they rattled over every bump, they wouldn't grip. And if the driver wasn't comfortable, there's no confidence.
That being said, I've seen some fast cars on Skunk2's. Budget track-only suspensions aren't very sophisticated. Setup is what matters. Buy something that allows for setup possibilities.
Koni/GC is actually pretty nice too. But after a while, you'll probably end up spending a bunch on springs and re-valving, etc. I'd probably choose Koni/GC if I was looking for something under $1K.
Or I'd choose PIC. Customizable...and you can just buy the shocks over valved. That way, you can spring them up...or spring them down (referring to spring rate).
For $1200-1500, AMR or FA make custom built monotubes. I love monotubes for a lot of reasons.
There's no magic wand either. You need to drive the car and figure out what is most advantageous for you. My recommendation is to buy a shock that can handle lots of different spring rates. Track people don't usually "set and forget". Plan on buying springs like a MF.
I'd skip the Koni Oranges, though. They're good shocks...but you'll run out of room to grow fairly fast.
The thing is that comfort and being fast on a track go hand in hand. Race cars aren't unnecessarily stiff. If they rattled over every bump, they wouldn't grip. And if the driver wasn't comfortable, there's no confidence.
That being said, I've seen some fast cars on Skunk2's. Budget track-only suspensions aren't very sophisticated. Setup is what matters. Buy something that allows for setup possibilities.
Koni/GC is actually pretty nice too. But after a while, you'll probably end up spending a bunch on springs and re-valving, etc. I'd probably choose Koni/GC if I was looking for something under $1K.
Or I'd choose PIC. Customizable...and you can just buy the shocks over valved. That way, you can spring them up...or spring them down (referring to spring rate).
For $1200-1500, AMR or FA make custom built monotubes. I love monotubes for a lot of reasons.
There's no magic wand either. You need to drive the car and figure out what is most advantageous for you. My recommendation is to buy a shock that can handle lots of different spring rates. Track people don't usually "set and forget". Plan on buying springs like a MF.
I'd skip the Koni Oranges, though. They're good shocks...but you'll run out of room to grow fairly fast.
Wow, thanks for all the info! Maybe starting with Koni Yellows and lowering springs/coils is the way to go here? I think I can get enough setups out of the yellows to satisfy my needs for the time being.
There aren't any lowering springs that I'd really get excited over.
Ground controls are only about $75-100 more than most lowering springs anyway. Flat bottom setups like GC's will allow you to easily mix/match springs that you want.
Again...don't lower the car more than like 1.38" (~35mm) with Konis. They're not any shorter than stock shocks.
THmotorsports is probably where I'd get them. You can order whatever springs you want, right off the bat.
For reference, on a double wishbone civic/Integra, off the shelf Koni yellows are good for around 500LB front and 250-350LB rear before you start getting into some ride quality issues.
I would still keep an open mind toward PIC, FA, or AMR, though....They dont cost substantially more.
There aren't any lowering springs that I'd really get excited over.
Ground controls are only about $75-100 more than most lowering springs anyway. Flat bottom setups like GC's will allow you to easily mix/match springs that you want.
Again...don't lower the car more than like 1.38" (~35mm) with Konis. They're not any shorter than stock shocks.
THmotorsports is probably where I'd get them. You can order whatever springs you want, right off the bat.
For reference, on a double wishbone civic/Integra, off the shelf Koni yellows are good for around 500LB front and 250-350LB rear before you start getting into some ride quality issues.
I would still keep an open mind toward PIC, FA, or AMR, though....They dont cost substantially more.
Again, thank you for all this. I'm new to all this suspension stuff, why can't you lower the car more than 1.38" with the Koni Yellows? Also, it looks like GC with custom spring rates are $400. This plus the Koni Yellows at $530. When I was looking at regular lowering springs most of them said the expect a drop of 1.5-2".
A 1.5 to 2" drop is massive. Especially with soft springs. None of the 2" drop springs are actually made for driving on actual roads. They usually say somewhere that they are for "show" or "race" use. LOL @ "race" use, BTW. They're useless, bruv.
Koni yellows are the same body and stroke length as stock shocks. Imagine lowering a civic/integra 2" on stock shocks...how badly would it ride?
You run out of travel pretty fast with stock length shocks. Koni recommends a MAX 35mm drop.
Keeping the shocks away from the bumpstop will help with ride and handling.
The bumpstop is meant to be used. But the less you can use it, the more compliance and predictible suspension travel you will have.
With my ITR at this height...there was about 0.75" of shock travel before I touched the shortened bumpstop. And about 1.5" of total shock travel remaining. It worked quite well, actually.
This is really as low as I'd recommend. And at this height, you want at least 400-450LB springs.
I miss my ITR :'(
With the car on flat ground, there was 1.5" of !TOTAL! travel left in the shock. This setup in this picture does not have a bumpstop at all! It was a bad idea type of setup.
A 1.5 to 2" drop is massive. Especially with soft springs. None of the 2" drop springs are actually made for driving on actual roads. They usually say somewhere that they are for "show" or "race" use. LOL @ "race" use, BTW. They're useless, bruv.
Koni yellows are the same body and stroke length as stock shocks. Imagine lowering a civic/integra 2" on stock shocks...how badly would it ride?
You run out of travel pretty fast with stock length shocks. Koni recommends a MAX 35mm drop.
Keeping the shocks away from the bumpstop will help with ride and handling.
The bumpstop is meant to be used. But the less you can use it, the more compliance and predictible suspension travel you will have.
Ahh, this make much more sense now. The pictures also help tremendously. Hopefully someone stumbles along this thread to help them in the future, I know it cleared up a ton of questions I had. Now I can make a much more informed decision. Thanks!
Any experience with these coilovers?
