Many company brands don't want to spend the money and extra effort in a "lower-end" product ie: lowering springs. Some products may be great from that same company, but personally, I'd go with something that's been proven and known to work well. In this case, the Swifts springs are awesome! I have them on mine and you just gotta love em! I believe one of the mods here used to run the Bilstein+Swift setup before going to some Ohlins or something. He can help you if you may have any questions for a new setup.

 

I'm looking into the D2's they are priced at $1000 for a daily driver

 

I have been researching this for 4 days now (I'm kind of obsessed). I'm not an expert by far. So with that said, I would like proof that coilovers from apexi, d2, stance (which by the way has a very nice and helpful website) and so on... aren't any good for a DD, random strip, and occasionallyl spirited driven evo.

 

why not listen to the 400 people who have told you to revalve your bilsteins, get swifts/gtworx springs.

 

i dont know about 400. I'm not saying that these people arent right but is swift+bilsteins the only expierence they have had. I would like some people who have above mentioned coilovers to add help with my decision.

 

Of course there are exceptions. HKS seem to be very good, and in my experience, lower end (under $2K) Teins suck. The problem is, JDM coilovers do not have the road/track split personality mastered quite a well as the Germans. Most of the good stuff tends to be track only, and it doesn't always outperform the more streetable coilovers on the track.

Amuse makes fast cars, and uses revalved Bilsteins. ASM uses Sachs.

 

get the PSS9 if you want coilovers, make sure you get ralliart group-n top mounts or at least new OEM top mounts, and you will never look back. From my personal experience, the best DD coilovers out there, I went to the track for the first time yesterday, set them at 1 all around and had the best time of my life, bilstein was put in the MR by mitsu for a reason

 

I'm going to clarify this a little. My issue is that down time isn't an option as far as getting my bilsteins revalved. A stiffer ride is more my preference (if I wanted something that rode like a caddy; I would have bought a caddy) so I think thats why I would prefer coilovers. In the last 10 years I've owned plenty of hondas and 2 of which my EK and DC2 I swapped all the bushings out for urithane. I really enjoy the feel of the road but swapping out the stock bushings on my evo isn't something that I'm ready to tackle just yet (if it's not broke don't fix it). I just find it hard to believe that apexi, hks, D2, Stance so on... don't make decent CO's. Also I find it hard to believe that out of all the members of evom nobody is running any of these CO's. I do appreciate everyone's comments but please dont treat me like a kid that doesnt know sh..t about working on cars. Thanks

 

I agree that the lower end suspension products from japanese companies (i.e. tein s-techs) don't perform as well as other suspension products. For some reason, jdm companies put a stiffer spring rate up front than in the rear...What this transposed to on my tein flex w/ edfc was significant understeer in the turn-in; HOWEVER, this did not mean that the car was not streetable nor able to perform well during spirited driving/occasional track use. The coilovers made the car feel much more planted, stable, and the edfc could turn my my suspension from stock like rebound to full track stiffness within a second! the fun factor on this setup was definitely there.

Be that as it may, I've switched to a bilstein/swift combo; Come spring time I will make a thread comparing the two.

OP, I think that if you buy coilovers you should spend the money on a setup that has been proven to perform; I like Tein, but you should look into changing up the springrates to my the car handle a little more neutral. pm if you have any questions about them

 

What does one have to do with the other? Yes, Mitsubishi is a Japanese company that makes a desirable product. So, by extension, all Japanese companies must make desirable products? A dog has 4 legs and a cow has 4 legs, therefore a dog is a cow. Doesn't make much sense, does it?

Again, I don't understand the question. Have they been in the business long enough to make a decent product? Sure. Do they? Depends. Does a firm that's been in business for a while always make a desirable product for a specific application? Not hardly.

No. There no bargains to be had with suspension components, outside of revalving to factory Bilsteins.

All this was said, including the advice posted by other members, using handling prowess as the yardstick. If all you want is a coilover and a low car, buy whatever you want. It's not like it matters. Good luck.

 

Not trying to start an argument, but there is one thing I wanted to add. People commonly have the misconception that stiffer = better handling. This is not always the case, and is certainly not the case on less than perfect roads. My favorite thing about my Bilsteins is how they absorb the little irregularities in the road, which is not only more comfortable, but MAKE THE CAR HANDLE BETTER.

Other sets of coilovers in my S2000 would bounce around going over bumps, and would skip a bit when braking hard. Basically, there are diminishing returns in regards to stiffness. That's why Ferraris come with Bilsteins, AMG Black series come with KW.

 

Soo funny new signature for me!

On a side note i am also currently looking for a new suspension, i have a set of the original bilsteins on the car atm with the oe springs, I am looking to lower the car for the summer season aswell and was looking into the megan street coils for the lower stance and occasional strip/spirited driving.

but after looking over this thread it looks as though the bilsteins and swift springs is the way to go. i guess more research is needed for me.

 

a good coilover for the money you may want to look into is the Fortune Auto 500 series coilover with or without the Swift spring upgrade. I had those on my IX MR with 10k/12k rates, had the setup corner balanced, and loved it. the car handled great, and the ride was good as well. They are very well made, and the customer support was excellent.

as for JDM's being crap, bull****. I ran a set of buddy club racing spec coilovers for YEARS on my IX MR, they took everything I could throw at them on the street, track, and autocross, and the only issue I ever had was an occasional clunking noise from the top hats. no leaks, no bouncing after all that time. they were seriously great coilovers. at the time that I bought them, MSRP was about $1800 or so, and I got them for $1400. well below the $3000 people say you MUST spend to get a good coilover. bull****. do some research, ask around, and try to find people who have actually had real experience with the coilovers they are bashing.

 

I find Andrew and the people at gtworx.com to be very helpful. They put the time in to give you straight answers about what works. If you use the search you will find a very long thread about 'choosing the right coil overs'.

Personally I would love to have CO's: at the track and autox there is a marked difference in performance for cars that are running coil overs versus spring/strut combos. I just don't have the budget for what I want. Nor the expertise to properly dial them in. Which puts me into the KISS category.

After years of sitting on the fence this is a maxim that I hold true:

If you buy a cheap coil over you would have been better off with the best spring/strut combo (which is the bilstiens + gtworx/swift springs).

Here is why: cheap will strip, corrode, and is not valved properly so is normally overly harsh. Shaft sizes are smaller and prown to damage.

Buying used usually means a deal and some effort required.

IMO Ohlins flags are the best coil over for the under 5K choices. k/w v3 for the under 2500 bracket. AST is a rising star that you may want to consider as well.

As for Stance - they had a quite a buzz about 2 years ago, but I have not personally spoke with anyone who has raced them - could be just me.

If I were going to take a risk and had a good relationship with my chiro and dentist I think the skunk2's are built well but are very stiff for a dd. They are only 1600 bucks tho. But a quick search will yeild a bunch of non racer honda guys to review them. Not very many evom people if any.

You can also reach out to Robispec. These are experts on suspension. Good luck. Let us know where you land.