Do any coilovers improve ride quality over the standard VIII suspension? I would imagine the ride would be harsher with coilovers.

I really depends on what you consider improvement.

I prefer to have a harsh ride and feel the road. When I have the EDFC at 16(the softest setting) I don't like the feel of the car for daily driving as when I have it on 8(the middle setting) Then on the track I have it almost full stiff.

99.9% of coilovers will have stiffer spring rates then stock and stiffer dampening. The ride will be bumpyer and might spill a open cup of coffee in the cup holder. I would not recommend coilovers if you are worried about this.

I would recommend finding comeone with a EVO with coilovers in your area and taking a ride in their car. If you are in UT feel free to come by the shop.

Hope this helpped you out.

Ben

If you want performance get coilovers, is not stay stock, or get springs.

I agree with Rallysport!

A good quality coilover will allow you to run much higher rates in the street than stock, with similar ride quality. There will be more road noise, spring noise, etc. due to metal perches and topmounts. By being able to adjust the damping, you can fine tune the ride for your particular road conditions. You can also drop the ride height without giving up suspension travel, as is the case with lowering springs.

There is already a coilover out there that provides stock ride quality - they called Stock Coilovers. The very basic definition of Coilover = spring over damper, which is what your stockers are. Now, most people upgrade to performance coilovers for performance benefits, not ride quality. In which case, a real high quality performance coilover will not offer similar-to-stock ride quality, but will offer much better performance.
As in most cases, performance and comfort are on opposite ends of the spectrum, and so more of one requires a sacrifice in the other; there is no "best of both worlds". But just as there are extremes, there are compromises. IMO Compromise is what most people are looking for out of their coilovers, but the compromise should be something like
"I want performance, so I am willing to sacrifice some ride quality",
and not
"I want ride quality, so I am willing to sacrifice some performance",
in which case they should have stuck with stock in the first place.
In the end, ride harshness is a subjective term, and I can tell you from much personal experience that tastes vary widely from person to person with regards to what is "too stiff" and "just right". But there is no denying that the most cushy and comfortable ride is going to be with softer springs and lower damping rates; there is nothing subjective about what makes a ride comfy.

That being said, because the stock KYB's are stiff and lowering springs don't help, I have read numerous threads that claim they like the ride better with the coilovers. Not cushier but smoother riding. Believe me I am curious. I have the stock kyb's with the hotchkis and although it does not ride bad all things considered it is not satisfactory. The Bilsteins found on the MR model have 30% less damping force (not sure about spring rates) and people claim they ride WAY better. How do the Pic's ride at full soft/ full hard and medium. Stay tuned........

KYBs have to much high speed compression dampening in most applications from what I have seen. A coilover setup could have high springs rates and still ride the same or better than stock with KYBs over small bumps, expansion cracks on the freeways, etc...

My HKS Hipermax RS coilovers do ride smoother than stock to answer your question.

I have Ohlins on my Evo. This may sound corny but I do believe the ride is "improved" for daily driving. I wouldn't exactly call it "less hard" than stock... less "rocky" maybe? The damping abilities of the Ohlins are better than the stockers, IMHO.

I've ridden on an Aragosta-equipped Evo too, same as above. Supple ride, but I wouldn't say "normal like any other saloon" by any standards.

If you are looking at coilovers PURELY to improve ride, you may be disappointed though considering that they cost quite a bit of money.

i have cusco zero-2s with the electronic control and think its a better ride just a little more bounce! doesnt feel as harsh as stock to me!

My Tein SS coilovers rides great on the streets....smoother than stock during normal driving...but stiffer when pushed during spirited driving ...... Plus being 16 way adjustable, you can really fine tune the ride quality to your liking.....I dont regret purchasing the Tein SS coilovers one bit!