First of all, I’m not trying to “own” people in this thread, there’s no maliciousness on my part, so I hope everyone understands that. Not bashing or arguing, just conversing.
No, that comment was made with the intention of saying that you cannot compare a true coilover (spring + shock) with a lowering spring (spring only). It’s an incomplete comparison. It’s like saying that Enkie RPF1’s with RE11’s are better than 949 Racing wheels. You can’t compare a wheel-tire combo with a wheel only. If you’re going to compare a lowering spring to a true coilover then you need to compare that lowering spring paired with a particular shock vs the coilover.
Another comment - not directly aimed at anyone. But I find it funny that you guys are talking about “true” coilovers and sort of shunning the sleeve style coilovers. When in fact, dollar for dollar the sleeve type coilovers with koni yellows are going to be better (from a performance standpoint) than any of the “true” coilovers on the market until you are somewhere in the $1000+ price range. And even then if you’re in the $1000+ price range you’re going to still have a really hard time finding something that’s better than the Koni setup, especially when you factor in the fact that in that price range you can start comparing the Koni RACE shocks.
With that said I fear my viewpoint is that of someone who drives their car on the race track first and on the street second - so I’m probably looking at things from a completely different angle than some of you.
i never compared springs vs coilovers, i made a statement that they were better. they are. theres no doubt about that. im not weighing pros and cons, just making a general statement that they are better.
the sleeve coilovers with struts still lower the car by compressing the strut. “true” coilovers keep the suspension travel so event though the cheap ones usually do suck, i would prefer them over the sleeves because i go low on all my cars. if i wanted a race setup i would probably go with the sleeves/koni setup. performance is usually something i PERSONALLY dont care about but i have had plenty of springs, cheap full coilovers, and nice ones like the pro-c and know that any full coilover setup mashes any lowering spring/strut combo in every way(except money but thats a different conversation).
You do realize that by saying something is better than something else you are making a comparison, right?
I understand what you’re saying, I just don’t necessarily agree. I think as both of us are honest about why we feel the way about each type of setup they should be able to form their own opinion based on where they are with modding their car.
My 91LS has 232k on what I believe to be the factory suspension throughout the car. I need to replace all the bushings, tierod ends and joints, as well as the shocks. So what would you guys suggest for a DD that will never see the track and staying as low as possible on the price scale?
stock springs/shocks from a junkyard would be best. But if you want to lower the car,doing it the right way is going to be pricey as you need the camber kits and shocks made for lowering.
alright, after reading and searching some more I have decided on the Koni yellows. I noticed a couple posts saying that springs dont really need to be expensive brand name types. So my questions are::shrug:
1- Can I use the koni’s with my stock springs and what the ride be like?
2- Are there cheaper, good quality, springs than GC that will work?
3- What else do I need to replace to install the shocks/springs? (ie.-LCA,bushings, etc,)
Any help is greatly appreciated guys, and thanks ahead of time!!:salute:
You know what man? Sorry about that. That ‘owned’ statement was me just totally blown away about the knowledge from buddy. Nicely written btw hehe. I’m doing a suspension overhaul on my DA today and tomorrow with GC and Tokico Illumina’s. It’s a DD and when summer comes around I’ll track her. Oh yeah, there is tots gonna be a lot of racing being done lol. My spring rates are 500/450 and it’s almost as far down as they’ll go. Setting the Illumina’s to 1 (softest setting) and leaving it like that for the fall/winter/spring till I can say to myself, “Okay, so now I feel comfortable pushing it a bit more and seeing what these coilovers/shocks can do, so lets go to a track and see what makes her squeel.”
You can take my setup as an example if you’re curious.
Ground Control/ Tokico Illumina’s
Blox LCA
Front and rear strut bars (no c-pillar bar)
Energy Suspension Master kit (didnt get any rear sway bar bushings though. just the front…?)
OEM front and rear sway bar (ASR subframe brace and 24mm rear sway bar ordered)
Blackworks Racing rear camber kit
Koni’s are probably the best shocks on the market. You get those with GC’s and you’re pretty well riding on a setup that most people dream about lol. However! Koni’s are/can be a bit pricey depending where you buy etc, but you get a lifetime warrenty, like the Tokico’s. So in essence every penny is well spent in my opinion. Tokico’s have a lifetime warrenty and they’re a bit cheaper, so for my budget that was perfect. I got the best of best of both worlds. But Koni’s are ssooo niiiiice! :ohyeah:
K thanks slider. Well I was told earlier that lowering required the camber kit, but I dont really want it lowered. I just want quality and reliability. Which brings me to another question, at what point do I need to worry about the camber kit. Also I still have these questions:
1- Can I use the koni’s with my stock springs and what the ride be like?
2- Are there cheaper, good quality, springs than GC that will work?
Well you’ll need a camber kit if you want to go lower than 2 inches. Otherwise it’s not really needed. I don’t think Koni makes shocks that are available for stock shocks, you would probably have to look that up on their site to be sure or talk to them. If you want to go with another set of springs I would go with Eibach or perhaps H&R Sport Springs. The H&R Race springs will drop your ride lower than the Sports, however Skunk2 make a coilover sleeve that a lot of people like. Depends what you wanna do with your car dude
hell yeah just cut off a few coils
jk
ive got eibach pro sumthin, no camber kit needed on stock shocks with 1.4" lower in front and 1 in back and the wheel wells look even. it “sits” right and its practical can go in the snow, where ever you need to go still is great at autocross with out being a skyscraper.
id personaly wouldnt put after market shocks with out somewhat stiffer springs cause its like you got 75% of the way to a good set up why not go the rest. your going to get way better handling both.
an advantage with springs is you can keep the stock shock shaft protector. few of my friends bought tokico white shocks few years ago and both of them had problems with shocks blowing. prob dude to scratched shock shaft that rips the seals. im sure you could rig a boot i found a good one at work but forgot what it was off of:mad:
