Um This is kinda stupid question but ah could anyone tell me what are the differences between Coil Cover and Springs. Which one is better. Do I need those if i plan to put rims (17x7) in my Accord ?
Thankx

 

i'm not an expert on the subject, but from what i know, CoilOvers are the set of shocks and springs together. They're more specifically for lowering cars. There are some great coilovers out there, but they cost alot of money. The cheaper ones usually go for $200-300, they do give your car a lowered look, but performance wise are alot poorer than stock shocks and springs. I've even heard of coilovers snapping or car bottoming out during turns or big bumps. I have eibach springs and tokiko shocks, and I'd personally prefer springs & shocks over coilovers..

EDIT: 4got to add, most coilovers are height adjustable, as to shocks and springs you're stuck with what you got. And yeah, if you plan to put on big rims, lowering would make your car look a lot nicer.


[Modified by Stony TSi, 10:31 PM 1/8/2002]

 

Well some people put on springs or coilovers for a couple different reasons: Some for performance reasons, some for looks (eliminates wheel gap-good idea if you get larger rims)

I have Neuspeed Sports springs, they aren't installed yet but my friends have them on a couple of their preludes, and the ride is quite superb. Of course when you go lower, you sacrifice some of the ride quality. They do however have the progressive spring rate which helps a tid bit, definitely helps the response from driver to the road.

I have heard (please correct me if I'm mistaken) but if you go with coil-overs, you may actually sacrifice some of the ride quality, moreso than with springs. Coil-overs have a feature that the springs don't, you can adjust them to whichever height you wish. Most allow you to go 0-4 inches. With springs, your stuck with whatever ones you get, mine 1.7 in the front, 1.5 in the rear.

Many say to upgrade the shocks and struts along with your springs/coil-overs, not a bad idea if you have the cash, but I don't beleive it's necessary.

A really good idea if your springs drop your ride rather severe, probably over 1.75 inches, then you should look into getting a camber correction kit. Eibach makes some, Ingalls probably makes the best, and Progressive/Progress makes the least expensive of the three. With improper camber settings, you will have uneven tire wear, usually from the inside out. If you plan on upgrading the rims/tires then chances are you will want to get the most out of them since they are so freaking expensive. So just be sure and get the car aligned after you do the springs or coil-overs, and do the camber kit (spend the extra money, it'll save you tons later) and you should be fine.

I hope I helped, anyone else feel free to add on.

Take care.

 

i have Ground Control coilovers on my 97 accord sedan, and the ride quality is read bad. its bumpy as hell, and the camber is off. keep in mind that i have it dropped 3.5"-4" though, thats why

anyway, you can get just a coilover, which is a spring sitting on an adjustable perch that you can adjust to go up or down, which makes your ride height higher or lower. you can get a coilover setup, which is a combination of the coilovers and struts. if you do decide on coilovers, i would strongly suggest that you get the coilover setup, the coilover and the struts in one.

the main advantage of coilovers is being able to adjust your ride height whenever you want to. but think about it.. are you really going to? it does have worse ride quality than springs, because there isnt as much spring there to give travel. okay here i go trying to explain.. let me post my ghetto *** picture i just made for you lol



see.. with springs, its all spring there, and with a coilover, part of where a spring could be, giving you travel, theres the coilover sleeve, so you dont have as much spring, so not as much smoothness to the ride.

if i were you, id go with springs. get maybe a 2" drop and like ForcedAccord said, youll probably need camber kits to fix your camber, so that your wheels dont look like this from behind: /----\ instead of the normal |----|


[Modified by munk, 9:53 PM 1/9/2002]

 

I've got Vspec coilovers on my Accord, and like munk said, the ride quality is kinda poor. The ride for me is kinda bouncy, but it's definitely nothing that can't be tolerated. The reason for getting coilovers for me was so that I could adjust the height whenever I want to, because sometimes I like having it lower, and somtimes I like driving with my Accord higher. It's good because I can adjust it as my mood changes, but like I said before, the ride quality is not very good. I think I'd prefer Eibach Sportlines.

 

i have truechoice coilovers on my 94 with set spring rates,
coilovers are for adjustability and mainly used by racers ot adjust for different tracks and such