jdub24

iTrader: (8)

Forgive me for how dumb I may sound, but I need some help/opinions on coilovers. Since I've never bothered with ride height in my last couple cars, I really know nothing about lowering a car. I am pretty sure however, that when I do lower my car, I'll want to do full coilovers instead of springs only.

Here's my question. Are coilovers a DIY "plug and play" project, or does the car need to be professionally aligned and tuned after they're put on?

I've grown tired of the fender gap, and I think I want to lower the car 1 - 1.5" or so. I'm leaning towards Cusco or Tein coilovers, but I have NO clue as to which product to get. I'm not a track attacking weekend warrior, but I don't want a pillow-soft Lexus ride either. I will occasionally take the car to a track, but I doubt they'll ever know me by name there. Basically, I want a set of quality coilovers that will be a substantial improvement over stock, that will be great for "spirited" city driving, and that will lower the car 1 - 1.5". Oh yeah, I'd like to keep it under $1800.

Feel free to share advice, opinions, coilover stories, pictures, whatever......

Thanks for the help in advance!

negativeB

iTrader: (1)

with coilovers you can adjust the height however you want.

whitet777

iTrader: (6)

Installing the coilovers should be easy. You will need an alignment however after you have dialed in the ride height you would like. Setting up the compression/rebound settings, if your coilovers have it, is the art. You can always set the coilovers on the middle setting as a good start.

Should be fun.

jdub24

iTrader: (8)

Thanks for the quick responses, guys!

No doubt it will be fun. I love installing everything myself. I was wondering if I'd need to have it aligned afterwards. Thanks for answering that ? for me.

Now, what's everyone's opinions on Cusco or TEIN coilovers under $1800? Are Cusco Zero-1 coilovers garbage since they're so cheap? What about TEIN's basic, at $800, are they suitable for what I'm looking for, or are they just like stock with a name brand on it?

Price really isn't that big of a factor, since I'm willing to go up to $1800($2000 if I had to in order to get what I wanted) range. I'm just trying to get some feedback on specific products since I don't know ANYTHING about coilovers. Refer back to post #1 for what I'm looking for in a coilover setup.

Thanks again!

siantjab

iTrader: (2)

You could really get what you're looking for out of a set of springs; rather than spending a ton on coilovers. If you were tracking the car regularly I would say go for it. But just to change ride hight it will be way to complex. There are a lot of adjustments to be made with coilovers and any incorrect combination will absolutely ruin your ride.

Not trying to discourage; just offering alternate suggestions. Good luck! BTW, I've ridden in evos with both Tien and Tanabe lowering springs and neither felt much different than stock. Just lower.

jdub24

iTrader: (8)

Great! Now, I'm even more confused! Hmmmmmm.....brain is burning right now....I guess I'll have to research springs more. I was under the assumption that springs only would cause more of a problem with the suspension than coilovers.....Won't I have to cut stuff to install springs by themselves, and what about sagging? I see what you're saying for simplicity's sake though, it definitely makes more sense for me to just lower it with springs.

VTECH8TR

iTrader: (70)

Well i can give you experience with what i have on my car. I have the Tein SS setup with pillowball mounts and the EDFC, i also had the Tein S techs and IMO they suck and kill your hadnling capabilities. The Tein SS coiover system is WAY better. It was easy to setup and get all corners even. The Tein EDFC is pretty slick which lets you change your ride from soft to stiff in seconds. The Handling is better than stock as well, because my neighbor autocrosses every weekend and has driven my car plenty of times before and after.

siantjab

iTrader: (2)

No, you don't have to cut anything. You simply pull the struts out, clamp the stock springs with a spring clamp (can rent or buy cheap), remove the spring, remove clamp, clamp new spring, install in strut, replace strut in car. Once all are done get an alignment. You shouldn't have any issues with sag or performance. Both the evos I've been in were lowered quite some time ago and the ride hight is perfect.

russjnco

iTrader: (36)

I'm pretty much in the same boat that you are, trying to decide which coilover setup to go with. I've ruled out buying lowering springs because after reading what different people have to say on this board and talking to some folks outside of here they are really just a bandaid for the problem. Not to say that everyone has had the same problems but the possibility exists that you can wear out the stock struts in a short amount of time, not achieve what you're looking for handling wise or bad install stories. They make car look great so I can't argue with that rationale. On coilovers though, I've narrowed down my choice to Tein SS, Tanabe Sustec Pro SS II, JIC FLT A2 or Cusco Zero 2. All of which I think would fit your criteria.

VTECH8TR

iTrader: (70)

I LOVE my Tein SS setup. I am glad i didn't go with the Tein Flex as they are TO stiff for daily driving. When setup with the EDFC the Tein SS are even better .

Whoosh

iTrader: (19)

I went with JIC FLTA 2 coilovers. The body is approx 1.5" shorter than stock so you can lower the car and not effect suspension travel. There are several manufacturers with this type, Hypermax II etc. You will deffinately need to have the car aligned after installation. I also had my car corner balanced which helps considerably in how the car handles. There are many different alignment specs and set ups (street, track, street/track) so find someone who has more than just a rack. Good luck.

jdub24

iTrader: (8)

I'm giving this a bump for more responses.....I've got money to burn and it's killing me.

I'm so confused right now. I always thought that lowering the car with springs only would be bad for the car in the long run. Like, it will cause the car to sag and struts will give out in like a year or so with lowering springs only installed. I've always thought that full coilovers was the way to go if you wanted to lower the car. Then, someone here mentions that springs are OK for what I'm looking for since I'm not wanting an all-out track monster. He makes a valid point that coilovers are unnecessarily expensive and complicated for my desires.

To further complicate things, some of my friends around here are telling me to go with TEIN Basics or Omnipower Coilovers. They're all telling me that I won't need to spend that much money on them since I'm not looking to make the car a track beast, and I'm not really concerned with having 9,000 stiffness/softness settings. All I really want to do is lower the car and have it retain at the least, the stock handling capabilities.

Does anyone have thoughts or comments on this? What's the opinions on TEIN Basics or on Omnipower Coilovers? What are pillow ball mounts? Are they necessary? Told you guys I'm dumb in this area.....

Again, thanks for any help in advance.

GTWORX.com

iTrader: (35)

You may want to look into Cusco Zero 1 coilovers. Well within your price range and very high quality units. The only thing missing is the abiltiy to adjust dampening, which you don't seem interested in messing around with anyway. And if you do decide to get a little more hardcore....they can be upgraded to the Zero 2 later if you want the dampening adjustabilty.



You won't have to worry about if your buying "el-cheapo" coilovers either...these are proven stuff.

Let us know if you have any questions.

xepyt

iTrader: (3)

I think you should get ohlins coilovers their supposedly a great street/track comprimise. One thing people don't take in mind is that these japanese brand coilovers were made in japan, specifically for japanese roads. Taking that in mind you should know that japanese roads are meticulously smooth as oppposed to our american roads. Put two and two together and you get a seriously bumpy, but good handling capable, coilovers. This is one of the reasons why HKS introduced their Hipermax rs coilovers which they say were designed for american roads, but i've only heard bad reviews on those.

whitet777

iTrader: (6)

IMHO, the best bang for the buck to enhance the Evo's handling would be an adjustable rear sway bar. Not to complicate matters even more, but this will make the car turn in faster and reduce understeer more than any coilover setup. Hotchkis makes a great bar for under $200 and it's a piece of cake to install.

If I had $2000 tops and wanted something that was comfortable on the street but could still handle on the track, I would look into the Ominpower coilovers ($700ish), Hotchkis rear sway ($200). Coming way short of budget, I would put the rest in a turboback ($1000) and have one hell of a car. Although, it looks like you have already done the turboback to the car. Well, then a nice set of R-compound tires would be nice to have for that $1000 too. Toyo makes a good set for the street that is very capable on the track.

I would look more into the Ominpowers. There haven't been any real reviews on them yet.

Just my 2cents