So I've been tossing the idea of coilovers or springs around for awhile and am leaning towards coilovers. I currently DD my car and run auto x events around once a month. Since reading some of the threads I have a couple of ideas on what brands to buy, but I haven't really done any suspension work before and need to know some questions to ask and things to look out for before buying. Any advice you have would be appreciated.

 

Do lots of research and not just on Evo forums. MotoIQ has some good tech articles about suspensions.

Personally, if you're just DD and doing a monthly autox, I'd save my money and just get a set of good springs and maybe revalve the stock dampers if needed or have extra money to throw around.

It's all personal preference and for what you need, I'd take the most cost effective route.

 

Depends on how serious you are about your auto crossing. Some people say they're active autoxers but only really do it once a blue moon. If you're super serious about autoxing, definitely do coilovers. If not, then springs.

If going the coilover route, some things to consider are: a) how is the car handling now and how do I want it to handle (example: need more oversteer, understeer, less body roll, not rotating enough). b) what spring rates do I need for my setup (example: how much grip do you have, street tires or r-compounds, what surface are you running on), c) single adjustable, double adjustable, triple?

A good thing to always do is look at what successful competitors in your class and car are running and ask them for advice.

 

Thanks for the responses. This is my first season running auto x and I'm pretty hooked. I'm running street tires for now and may switch to R compounds next season. I'm looking for less body roll and more oversteer. I need to do some more research on the spring rates before making a final decision. Like I said, I'm pretty good with mechanics, but haven't dealt too much with suspension setups so I'm trying to absorb some knowledge before pulling the trigger. Thanks again.

 

Im in the same boat your in. Just started autocrossing and love it. DD a lot. Want more oversteer and less roll on the track. Already have eibach pro kit springs and 265 35 street tires on 10..5 rims. Wish I had gone 9.5 but anyways Ive read bad things about buying $1000 coil overs. Its tempting though to pay 1500 for BC, Fortune Auto, Tien's. Wouldnt trust the megan, Ksport and similar priced co's. So is anyone running any of these with good results?

 

Coilovers were one of the best upgrades I ever did. Daily driving was 100 times smoother than the lowering springs. Just my 2 cents

 

Stop over-charging us.

One option for a DD/autocrosser is to keep the springrates reasonable and use adjustable swaybars to set the car up for the two uses. Yes, you will still have a lot of pitch when autocrossing, but that doesn't cost you grip; it's the bodyroll that is the problem and a lot of bar will take care of that. (This is also how you set up a car for DD/rallycrossing.)

 

You have to think, are coilovers what I need or springs. Coilovers give you adjustablility where as springs, you are pretty much set into one height. So if you are looking into just staying in autocross, you might look into getting springs with swaybars (3 way adjustable) and that might tighten everything up how you want it. However, if you start looking to go bigger, like some track events; then coilovers may better suit your needs.

But figure your needs and what you want to accomplish...

 

Ah, yes, height-adjustability ... that fancy attribute that just about nobody ever uses.

People who actually track their cars know that an Evo X does not have close to zero bump-toe and, therefore, do not adjust the height of the car before and after events. The only Evo X owners that actually play with height when they get to events are rallycrossers, who don't give a hoot about a little toe change.

 

Correct. However, the adjustablility is when you first get them and set the coilovers up. When the coilovers settle slightly, the user still has the ability to throw final adjustments in. Now, you are correct in stating that once the coilovers are set, most people make no further adjustments. Preload is also an option with coilovers if needed...

In the end, its a big chioce to figure what you want. The money involved is also a big factor on people as well. Its best to do it only once.

 

Settle? What kind of crappy springs are we talking about? Most of time, what people think is a case of a spring "settling" is really a case of the spring finishing the installation from where the human left off.

As to pre-load, my experience (especially on this site) is that a vast majority of people have no clue what it's for. Most seem to think that it alters the springrate at static ride height, for example.

[Sorry. Grumpy mood. The above needs detoned, but I can't bother.]