im shopping around for some new coilovers and i cant really decide what i want. i want something mostly for autoX racing but still some street driving.

but is there really that big of a diference between brands like tein and k sport as long as you stay in the same LEVEL or TYPE of coilover?

thanks, Doug

 

as the saying goes, you get what you pay for.... and what you get is this...

cheap coilovers tend to....
not have correct spring rates
generic ones are usually 450f/350r or something close to that
they sag
sleeves split (sometimes)
double locking perches lower themselves over time


higher end coilovers....
springs don't sag easily
single locking perch is more effective
GC coilovers are customizable

anyone else wanna add to this?

 

I'll add.

Springs are simply a mechanism to get the desired height, and stiffness. As long as the spring is actually the advertised rate, brand doesn't matter (sadly, brand does influence how close to the advertised rate they truly are).

Shocks are the huge difference between brands. Linear, digressive, where the knee is on a digressive shock, rebound adjustment vs. bump and rebound combined adjustment, etc...

 

thanks guys

 

I would have to agree with everything those two said... But also what excatly have you been looking at? You have posted what you are looking to get out of a suspension set up, so why not post a price range so we can help you a little more.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TunerN00b &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> I'll add.

Springs are simply a mechanism to get the desired height, and stiffness. As long as the spring is actually the advertised rate, brand doesn't matter (sadly, brand does influence how close to the advertised rate they truly are).</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'll add:
I agree, but there is another difference and that is the longevity of the spring, i.e. good quality springs will last a lot longer than poor quality springs before sagging appreciably.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TunerN00b &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Shocks are the huge difference between brands. Linear, digressive, where the knee is on a digressive shock, rebound adjustment vs. bump and rebound combined adjustment, etc... </TD></TR></TABLE>

Agreed. Dampers are the most important part of the spring / damper unit, and the component that you'll pay the most for but where the most corners will be cut with cheaper products.

Don't assume that a damper with more individual adjustments is a better damper than one with less, usually it isn't (despite how pretty and well made it may appear on the outside). Bilsteins are about as good as it gets short of Penskes (or similar specialised racing dampers), but offer no adjustment at all other than changing the valves for alternative valves with different rates. Konis only offer rebound adjustment (stock, bump adjusters can be added for additional $), but the range of rebound adjustment is huge (rebound is more influential on handling than bump).

Other brands may also offer rebound adjustment, but the actual range of adjustability will probably be much less than the Koni range, despite having a huge number of adjustment 'clicks' (i.e. the difference between each click is very small).

Most bump adjusters (in other than very high end racing dampers such as Penske) have a very limited range of stiffness adjustment, so little in most cases it's not worth having (or paying for, especially considering that the added cost of the more complex valve will most likely be at the expense of the general quality of the damper).

In relatively affordable products, the dampers used in most 'coil-overs' (i.e. springs / dampers sold as a set) won't be nearly as good as Bilstein or Koni dampers, so IMO you're better off using these dampers and matching them with appropriately rated springs sourced seperately. Or, a spring / damper combination that uses either Koni or Bilstein dampers such as the 'Nuespeed Pro Cup Kit' (which uses Koni dampers rated specifically for the Nuespeed springs).

However, my understanding is that the Nuespeed PCK is more or less a racing set up and may be a bit harsh for a road car(?). I don't know of any spring / damper pairings (sold as a set) that use the Bilstein dampers, though if you find any it would be a good choice so long as it suits the application. Both Bilstein and Konis are made to a very high standard and thus will tend to last a very long time compared to almost any other dampers, which is at least one reason why they aren't as cheap as most of their competition, but well worth the extra $.



Modified by johnlear at 11:43 PM 7/23/2008