comfort DD: springs or coilovers
 

Yes i know this topic has probably been beaten to death, and i've done a search and found no straight forward answers.

I just bought my evo and my first mod is suspension and let me be clear:
ALL i am worried about is the looks at the moment. I drive 40 miles to work every day and want as much comfort as possible with the drop. I will not be tracking or beating the car just yet.

Will i have ANY advantage in comfort by going with coilovers? or will it be worse than springs? What's the most comfy setup that i can get? i've seen some people say coilovers are more comfortable while others say go springs.

how much are you looking to spend? Low end coilovers offer good drop at the expense of ride quality usually. most springs start at being a little firmer than the stock gsr. For a set of good coilovers that provide everything your looking for (drop, ride quality, +performance advantage over stock) start at $2400. Also include future plans in all your decisions, do it once and do it right.

just get springs. Eibach Prokit is really comfortable and still fun in the twisties. I drive 100+ miles a day on mine and think they are more comfortable than stock GSR springs.

you wont get a comfortable coil over until you spend good money until then get the eibach

Same here. Eibach Prokits or Swift Sports are both great DD springs.

This would seem to be backed up by the spring-rate chart, which says that these are the two springs that are progressive and have base-rates below stock (and still go higher than stock when compressed, so you won't end up with other problems). However, this makes me wonder the following: the starting rate for the progressives in the chart (see: https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...art-evo-x.html ) ... are those the starting rates for the spring as it is completely uncompressed or are those the starting rates for those springs when already loaded with the weight of the car?

I also have Eibach springs and the ride is incredible. In my prior car I went through two sets of coil-overs and the rides were very rough (handling improved but not worth it for DD unless you plan on racing the car on the weekends).

so, regardless of how much $$ i have to spend, springs are always going to be more comfy the coils?? im totally ignoring all performance aspects right now..

i mean in the long run, the spring setup will probably be about the same cost as a really cheap coilover (replacing shocks/struts early)... but i am ok with that as long as it's more comfy..

You'll be replacing cheap coilovers far more frequently than you will shocks/struts with quality springs, plus cheap "pick your color" coilovers ride like crap.

If you insist on having the absolute best ride quality though, maybe you should trade-in the Evo for something else?

I hate to help people who buy a performance car and specifically use it for the opposite. but basically a coil over like ohlins dfv will cost you 3k+ and ride extremely well (and have awesome performance which you don't care about)

unless your ready to spend that much money on a c/o then stick with springs cause c/o under 2400 will ride worse then comfy springs

don't get me wrong, in the future i plan to make this car into a freakin' monster, but just not now... not until my warranty is up and/or i pay the car off.. who knows where i'll be in 4-5 years.. i might need to sell the car.. or i might keep it.. just stayin safe and letting the car retain its value for now. plus, just bone stock it is already fast and loud as ****..

{offtopic}
i came from a sentra se-r.. so... i am still in shock every time i step on the gas. one day my tolerance for speed will catch up to the evo...

i'm going with the swifts, thanks guys

Some springs suck, some coilovers suck. If your roads are really smooth you'll have less problems. The roads near me are pretty bad so it makes the differences between good and bad much more apparent.

It's true that many of the cheap coilovers are not comfortable, but some of the more expensive ones (when set up correctly for that application) can be more comfortable than stock.

For springs, the very low and soft springs are not good on roads that are not smooth. Cost has little to do with it in this case....it mostly comes down to the drop.

- Andrew

Andrew -

I noticed that the spring-rate chart for Evo Xs lists the Swift Sport Mach, but not the Swift Sport. Until five minutes ago, I assumed that these were the same, but when I clicked on the link to your site and saw the picture of Swift Sports, they are clearly not progressive.

Given that the OP wants a comfy spring for a DD, I assume that he wants the Swift Sport Machs more than he wants the Swift Sports. Maybe you could do something to get that spring-rate chart updated so that the difference between the two is clear.

Or am I completely missing some critical point?

there's more than one swift spring for the X?
the mach u are referring to - is the 1.0 F/ .6 R
and the sport is the one where it's 1.3F / 1.0 R
is that right??
anybody have experience with the two. i've read a lot of posts saying good things about these springs, but dont know which they are referring to...i'm guessing it's the one that has less of a drop