Coilover make and setting comparable to stock
 

Looking to get some coils but want to keep the ride similar to stock.

what coils/ spring combo and setting should I be looking at.

thanks.

KW V3 and look up Race Comp Engineering's recommended settings. Mine rides near stock. Very comfortable.

KW v3, 6 clicks off full stiff all around. That's my daily configuration. True stock stiffness may be closer to 8 clicks, but the KWs can feel more firm and solid than stock while being more comfortable. I'm sure there's a scientific way of quantifying what I'm talking about using shock dynos and derivations to discuss acceleration rates, but I don't got it.

is there a more budget friendly coilover such as the HSD, D2, BC, Megan, fortune auto, ISC ect. which is similar to stock»?

What's your goal? I'm assuming you just want to lower the car. If that's the case, just buy some lowering springs. I wouldn't suggest buying budget coilover kits.

Your best bet will be will be with Konis and a good spring (Eibach? Swift?).

yes goal is to just lower the car. I`m not looking to slam it but even with the sportlines I`d like a bit more low...

Did you wait for the springs to settle? The Sportlines are pretty low already.

If you want it even lower, then you're looking at aftermarket dampers. Unfortunately, there's no such thing as quality budget dampers, especially when you lower it that much.

There are plenty of budget coilovers that will give you the ability to lower the car more than 2" but don't expect them to ride that well.

Anything under 2k is taboo on these forums. Everyone will tell you to go KW's or springs.

There's a reason for that. There's a lot of garbage being peddled on the market, and despite the economic reasons for there being more people chiming in regarding the lower priced offerings, it seems that the most vocally pleased customers are those in the higher market segments.

you have to also understand that most of the people on these forums either track or auto-x their car. This forum is a great place for those people, but for daily drivers not so much. Some people just daily drive their car and dont track so whats the point? Im not pushing my car to the limit nor am i going to do anything extreme. Everyone on these forums thinks that whatever we do, we have to have the best performance, even if we're daily driving.

I think the reason is because a lot of parts will actually ruin the car's handling characteristics. For example, lowering the car too much will completely change the suspension geometry, and as a result, the handling will get worse. Many people just want a simple answer without fully understanding what they're actually doing. Unfortunately, modifying a car isn't that simple, especially suspension components.

I DD and if I wanted coilovers I'd be throwing down for Bilsteins, Ohlins, or the like. Why? Valving, quality, name. You can lower your car without making it handle like shit.

Understandable. Some people prefer quality so they'll pay the more.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and ill leave it at that.

Yes we are. Good chat, God bless.

Springs are typically less than 2k...

OP was asking about budget coilovers, so i was responding to that.

or RaceCompEnginering ...

Speaking of Bilsteins, they should have a set for sale soon.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11527

I have curb my spending now or I'll blow another 5k on the car...honestly with the AP Racing brakes I'm probably over 5K I just don't want to admit it.

I have the ground control full kit on my car and it is great. Runs right around the same price as the kW v3. You can do just the coilover kit for about 1300. Just look up ground control. They consist of konis and eibach sportline springs. Great kit. I will have some pics up later this week once I get my wheels on.

Here is a great link for GC. A big step higher then most entry level coils.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...t=22752&page=1

Now if they made coilovers for DD's which never needed rebuilding (just replaced every 5yrs) Could handle the salt and crap spread on the roads up here, and kept the cost around $1500...

agreed. ^^

I'm not going to track my car. I was just hoping to lower it around 2-2.5 inches without destroying the handling.

the KW v3's are out of my price range...

REDFRS got it bang on.. wish more people with experience with budget end coils would chime in and either say they are good and can compare to oem at xyz settings or they plain suck and dont waste your money.

Its a freakin econo box car, daily driving it and spending 3 grand on suspension is nutts if you ask me.

the oem suspension cant be so incredibly amazing that nothing above 2k can compare?

its not even like the evos which come with the bilstin struts stock..

Yeah, because the Taiwanese and Chinese factories that thread different strut mounts onto the same damper for every car and sell them through a bazillion different companies know better than the engineers that designed one specific car from the ground up.

You need to understand that lowering the car has negative side effects if not done properly. Try and follow this.

You buy shorter springs to lower the car.
The shocks have has travel now.
When you hit a big bump, the shock will bottom out (fully compress), and your handling just got worse.

Also, suspension geometry will be completely changed if you lower a significant amount, and you'll need to fix it, which means more money.

It's not that the OEM suspension is far superior than anything else in the market, it's that the fact that the suspension can be made worse a lot easier than making it better.

There are a lot of people here who put function over form, and that's why you're getting all these suggestions to pay for nicer components. There just isn't a cheap way (sub 1k) to lower your car 2.5" or more without sacrificing handling.

I spent 2.5K on brakes so I'm not sure what you're talking about.

By virtue of how much you want to lower the car you ARE destroying the handling. Going that low your roll centers will be all out of whack...completely mess up the geometry. Keeping the stock handling would require lots of fixing with roll correction kits, different length/adjustable arms etc.. You're talking about thousands in suspension work. Just admit you want to dump the car and retaining handling isn't a priority because it requires expensive and thought out design.

I can understand what Venom is saying with wanting to lower the car without sacrificing ride comfort and characteristics but I also agree with everyone else that it will not come cheap. I also want some coilovers but waiting a while since it is a big investment and I am still on the fence about all the inner workings of a coilover system and just the whole suspension process in general. I want to be educated enough to make a decision first before I go throwing money away..no matter how big or small.

Any reputable vendor that wants your money should be willing to educate you a bit on suspension; I do however suggest reading up on things like http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets6.html which explains the structure of a shock.

this thread restored my faith in humanity. :happy0180:

i got RS*R and they ride just like stock.

and they're just under 2k

i dont think its that the oem is so amazing but really think about it. who has more money or time to spend on the frs/brz than toyota/subaru? its not an econocar. if you wanted to go from a to b, spend 2000 on a used civic. instead think of it as a budget sports car. if another 3 or 4k can give you borderline supercar handling and you still come in at under 30k, how is that nuts? if you ask me, spending 25k and then calling 3k cheap is nuts.

my advice would be to be honest with yourself and expectations. a 2-3" drop is going to cause something to compromise. you need to pay for a)the quality of the product and b)the components required to fix the things that youre ruining by dropping that low.

I am right on with you. If I didnt go with ground control I would have most likely went with kw. I can honestly say that if i hopped in a friends frs right now I would not be happy at all with the handling. spend the money get the look better handling and be happy with your investment. Here is a pick of how Im sitting now. I would go lower on the back but not until I figure out what Im going to do with my exhaust I have a mean little downward bulge where it connect to the mid pipe.

Attachment 26893

Attachment 26894

^^^are those 18" 40 on the tire hight? looks good man. more on the ride/handling

Glad to see you are happy with the GC's!!! I hope i can get them or the Eibachs pretty soon but financially it doesn't look good.

For that amount of lowering you need decent spring rates and decent valving if you want stock ride quality. Cheap valving and the spring rate isn't controlled very well, low spring rates and you bottom out. 2k dampers aren't even on the high side, hell many would consider them budget dampers.

The budget dampers simply take what they've already used a million times and make it fit the car. That's the end of the R&D process. Well besides the marketing to determine which other brand names and colors they should sell the part under.

The OEM suspension likely has thousands of hours in development and testing time during this cars long development cycle and it surprises you that 2 hours of fitment development on poorly valved, occasionally misconstructed, not at all matched budget threaded body coilovers could make it worse?

Having said that, do whatever you want to do with your car. Lower it a bunch on the cheaper stuff. Turn up the dampers a bit for that sporty ride, or turn them down for that softer bouncy ride. :happy0180: Honestly these budget threaded body coilovers work for most people as it performs exactly like what most people think they should feel like.

Yes 40 tire height. The handling is amazing on this setup. The car dives into corners and sticks even better. I am still adjusting and haven't got my alignment done yet and it still feels great. I'm not sure how much I'm lowered right now but I would guess between 1.5-2 inches.

thanks everyone for scaring me away from coil overs! lol. i wanted to lower my car but i cant afford great coil overs and was looking at the megan ez street ones tonight. but most of you made some pretty good points so ill just keep the suspension stock