ok so im most likely going to autox my car every once and awhile and take it to the strip as well. im just wondering what the cons are of having coilovers? i was thinking about getting springs since im not going to be doing autox and drag so much, but just wondering if its worth it. thx!

 

define once in a while, casue i would say to blow tons of money on coilovers for a once a year autoxer is a complete waste, maybe once eveyr 2 months or so it would be worth it.

 

Off the top of my head:
1. Cost vs benefit: If you're not going to be doing any sort of HPDE with the car, you (theoretically) will never be anywhere near the limits of your car's handling, or at least near the point where you'd feel the need to step up to coilovers.
2. Risk of getting a set of low quality coilovers. Of course this is entirely up you, but if you do end up with some bad coilovers, it sucks.
3. Stiff ride: Most aftermarket coilovers will be considerably stiffer than stock due to the performance / comfort trade-off they make. Would you be willing to accept all the additional bump and grind in your daily driving for performance benefits that you may never see?
4. Lowering springs will give 95% of the market just what they are looking for out of their suspension (looks, slightly better handling, without sacrificing too much ride quality), while still being relatively affordable.

 

Your primary con is cost.

I have experienced a correctly setup set of Ohlins. They are considerably faster around the track but are actually more compliant than my stock 03 suspension.

Check with Vishnu if you are interested in this setup. The car I drove with the Ohlins was Chronohunter's

 

Springs are very negative, and can be very detrimental to track and autox, sport compact car has an ongoing article about every single part of the suspension geometry and every section leads to the point that lowering springs are just crap

 

This has probably been asked several times already. Heck, I can't remember the last time, so here goes...

in no particular order:

-The ones with the pillow ball upper mount (as opposed to rubber) makes an annoying noise after a while. Sometimes the individual coils knock against one another.

-Harsher ride than stock.

-Some lowers the ride by quite a lot, which might not be practical for you.

-While the height is adjustable don't imagine that you can make it whatever you like. You tend to run out of piston stroke on a lot of them.

-If you get sets with a name like 'Super Racing Ultimate 9000 - for race use only' be prepared to get a hernia if you drive on normal roads.

-If you get ones with adjustable damping, specially if it's both bound and rebound, get expert help tuning it. It's a complicated business and while it won't be dangerous, getting it wrong is wasting money. Getting it right and you'll love it.

-If you're spending a lot of money, get the right springs with your damper setting also.

Bottom line is if you're going to get it, get ones that you can get honest advice and good service. I've seen too many people getting coil-overs and taking them off in a month.

p.s. I assume that by coil-overs you mean the type where the ride height is adjustable. In my personal dictionary, the stock is a coil over. i.e. the coil goes over the damper (well, around actually).

 

Interesting point. I don't get Sports Compact Car myself, but how do lowering springs effect suspension geometry differently to coilovers that lower the ride height?

I can understand that if your spring is REALLY low then it migh not do the stock dampers any good, being near bottom out all the time. Also if the spring is much harder than stock, it might not match the stock dampers. But as for suspension geometry (by which I mean the positions of linkages, toe, camber and so forth) I don't think lowering springs will do anything different to coilovers. Alright there's the adjustable camber with the upper mount on the coilovers, but you can adjust your camber once you install the springs.

I'm not trying to start any arguement here, it's just that I think lowering springs aren't that bad...

 

There is the point of most lowering springs being progressive in nature. Very simply, it will lead to unpredictable cornering behavior. Maybe SCC was getting at that. I'm not sure, I have not read the articles.

 

If you have the power you want and the bucks to spend, like I did (though my wife may not agree on the later) I would absolutely do coilovers even if you don't track or autocross. After all, what was the biggest change Mitsu did with the MR? Changed the struts, I think every thing else is mainly cosmetic.

With cheap springs you get a lower ride height but you loose suspension travel. With much more expensive coilovers you get better ride quality and the ability to adjust ride height down (or up???) if you want with out sacrificing travel. Plus you can adjust spring preload or more importantly, dampening. Don't like how your car rides, adjust it. Life is good. The handling difference is night and day, you will love driving your car even more. Plus, when they wear out (like everything does), you can rebuild them.


It will feel like a vette, but with more body roll.

 

Nope, more like say the rear end, if the rear end is lower, then the up down pivioting would lead to increased travel and toe stuff on one said than another in a turn thus leading to an unpredeictable rear end, stuff like that.

 

Well, if you lower the front a _lot_ more than the rear, then I suppose you get slightly more weight to the front and that's about all.

The pivoting thing you're talking about I think is to do with the actual spring rate (stiffness) between the front and rear not working together properly, along with the dampers.

In anycase, I am talking from a point of view of an MR owner so my suspension is quite sorted from stock so I wouldn't want to change the dampers.

 

There is one thing that I kinda think is a con bout coilovers, its not that much of a con but always over looked.

When you buy springs and the average guy installs them on his car, he gets 100% of the performance that you can achieve with a basic spring setup (as long as a proper alignment is performed). This happens cuz with springs there is bearly any setup.

When you buy coilovers and the average guy installs them, he gets anywhere from 70-95% of the performance that can be achieved with a coilover. To get a 100% out of coilovers, you have to have someone with knowlegde to set them up (corner wieght, performance minded alinment, etc.).

I know springs arn't great (I'm going w/ coilovers), but just thought I bring this up.