I'm thinking about going the route of coilovers, however it's winter 8 months of the year where I am and there is plenty of snow/salt/sand during those times. From what I've seen and heard, coilovers will seize and you'll be stuck at a fixed height.

So what is everyone's experience with having coilovers and running them during the winter months?

Have they seized? What brand are you using? And how long or how many winters have they seen? Regret it? Would you have rathered go the route of a sport shock with lowering spring?

 

8 month winter a year, stay stock suspension. For you will be a good set up some kind of rally set up which is not cheap. Besides you need soft spring so you really won't gain anything.

 

Just get springs.

 

Coilovers are going to be your best bet if you plan on driving thru the winter. So long as you regularly clean your suspension you should be fine. Someone on here posted a old Tein post on cleaning http://teinusa-blog.com/tein-damper-maintainence/

If you are using it as a daily driver car then you could get away with Tein Super streets, but I would going one step fruther and getting Tein Flex, the Electronic dampening controller is a blessing There is no shortage of coilovers out there but I would stick with those that your local guys are using. From there you will be able to tell which ones can handle the -40'C cold on a regular basis.

Springs are ok, but if you know that car is going to be on the road with snow on the ground 24/7, I wouldnt do springs. cause your going to encounter something that your car can't clear.

 

I posted that tein link, and it's tough because coil overs make noise and ride rough if you don't do your research. Here are some things that no one ever told me, you have to clean them like at least every two years. Other then that, I've had mine in with virtually no maintenance for almost two years and I've had no problem except a creaky noise that turned out to be my spherical bearing inside my pillow ball mount which ALL coil overs with pillow ball mounts make this noise at some point unless you clean them and use lithium grease on them.

 

I like the Idea of coil-overs for winter b/c you can totally crank up the car and put some phatter rubber on. when i say Phatter i mean Narrower taller and crap loads of spikes!

http://www.fourstarmotorsports.com/P...0/Default.aspx

Sadly when i found out we couldn't go to 15,16 or even 17" rallye tyre/wheel configurations i was saddened!! Sadly Blizzac's will have to due... I can't wait for my first Rallye drive up to Fernie for a snow boarding/Skiing weekend! heck or even down a logging road for a back country ski/soak in the hot springs.

wayyy too much fun! Damn i need a 3" coil over lift! Sick SOOOO SICK!!! Don't for get the Rallye Armor Mud Flaps!!!


PS !! Dont forget to CLICK CLICK CLICK TO the SNOW setting!!! YeeeeeHawwww!

 

I have seen a lot of very, very rusty coilovers, even some that have been "cleaned" early and often. These are 2 that we have removed in the past.





KW's do well in salty environments but I'll always be wary of recommending coilovers for a snow (and especially salt) heavy environment.

On top of the rust issue, you usually can't raise ride height up to stock levels if ground clearance is a problem. Another problem is what Robevo mentioned. The higher spring rates that coilovers come with are not good for driving on snow....too stiff, weight transfers too quickly, lack of grip. A good rally designed coilover (RS&SP) would be awesome, but costs a lot of money.

- Andrew

 

Lift kit for the Evo! We can all be fourwheellin then.

 

dang ole dang ole... whatch-U Talkin about son... (spits) I"m 4 wheelin all the time !

 

Well, I've already got a set of Eibachs installed on the Evo, and the struts have to be replaced now cause they're shot. So I was thinking about doing coil overs.

What are my other options? I could just replace the shocks and struts, but I don't want OEM, cause I'll end up replacing those in a couple years again. Is there any company that makes a sport shock/strut for the Evo so I can use my Eibach springs?

I'm not looking to dump a whole lot of money into coil overs either, so i'm really looking at a low-mid level price point. I've also considered switching back to the stock springs and going OEM shocks and struts, however, i really like the lowered look.

BTW, thanks for all the replies, it's all been very helpful so far.

GTWORX: The coil overs you've pulled off there... are those seized? They don't work at all? How are the shocks/struts?

 

I don't remember if they were completely seized, but they both made a lot of noise and made the customers very nervous. The green ones especially had some drivability issues.

You can revalve/rebuild OEM bilsteins to better match your springs.

We have a set of lightly used OEM Bilsteins with new GTWORX Tarmac springs available....

- Andrew

 

I have had a set of KWs for 3 winters and they have held up very well. Only issues are a couple of the springs have areas where the yellow paint has come off and they have some rust but those should be easy to replace at some point.

The struts themselves look pretty much new once I rinse them off. No issues so far with noise or performance. Not sure but some of the other European brands may have similar coatings for protection.

I do change raise and lower in the winter and summer mos (alignment is only $70 and I wait until the have a discount).

 

bump for this.. i've been thinking about this lately.. good idea to run through a touchless wash in this case?

i've been thinking about that, or throwing some distilled water or vinegar + water mix on the coilovers.. thoughts?

 

I've been pondering the same thing. I ran JIC'S on my STI and the rusted to hell. I want to go better quality this time, was thinking Ohlins. Are these capable of withstanding the winter long salt fest on full soft? What if I sprayed them with Krown anti-rust formula? Or would I need to take them off every fall, and throw the stock struts back on?

Does the 2 year warranty on Ohlins cover rust?

Anyone know where I can get a deal on them?