Springs or coilovers.
 

Hey guys!
The wheel spacing is pissing me off so I'm givin into lowering the car. I'm just not sure to go with springs or coils. Of course I'm on a budget depending which one go with. I don't plan to track it anytime soon or at all. This is my daily and only car. I want to lower it about 1.4 inches or so.

For springs, I plan on going with the eibach sportline.

And for coils, I'm not sure which one i want to get. I don really know the difference between each one so if people can give me some input and information on the difference, that would be awesome.

I was wondering if I can get a quote on the eibach sportlines and what's the lowest price for a decent, inexpensive coilovers. All help is appreciated.

Raymond

Best price I seen for sportlines was from crossoverauto.com they are a vendor here.

I went with bc br coils, i went with fbauto, also a vendor on here, he had 2 sets of bc's ready to go at a great price. I believe there is one set left up for grabs.

Ahhh. How much did you pay for the coilovers?

He gave me the best deal out of all the vendors I pmmed, you would have to pm him to see if he can get you a good price, as he only had one more left. Do it right the first time and go with coils :). Thank me later!

Oh and it's FBParts, sorry.

Ahhh thanks ill definitely look into it!

what is your goal? just for looks or performance?

will you be tracking your car? or just a street car?

Just for looks. I'm not planning on tracking it since I'm still in high school and college is coming up. No time for that!

If I want one, my budget is about 1k. I haven't seen any sold for lower than that new.

Look into BC BR or stance coils. If you want springs then also look into shocks (koni yellow's) Since you are only going for looks it's really up to you.

Srsly, send fbparts a pm!

If you're just going for looks, then just get some springs and camber bolts, then when your stock struts needs replacement, just go coils (or get koni's) that's what I'm planning to do (coils) since my struts are still pretty much brand new

Hmmmm Im going to see how much the bc coilovers are then I'm gonna calculate how long it'll take to save up that money and go from there.

Can anyone tell me what's the difference between coils? Like is the price due to brand names?

Also, I don't wanna lower my car and sacrifice ride and control quality.

There is certainly a lot of information on this, however, to make things concise, it all comes down to your price range and what you're really looking for. :)

Well I want to lower it about 1.6" max cause my area has bad roads. So I don't want to lose any control quality on the car either. I'm not going to track my car at all. And my budget is ~1k or so.

Ksports coilovers fetch for right around 1000 bucks

Ill definitely do some research on them as well

A shock/spring combo would be a better choice for you. My suggestion is Tein Street Basis (sub 1k) or Koni shocks and lowering springs. Both in which CSG carries. :thumbup:

How long would springs last for? I don't want to get springs just to get coils in the future if the springs fail

Springs don't fail.

Springs DO fail, but what people are referring to failing is the shock absorber. The stock shock absorbers have a tendency to fail when the vehicle is lowered. The vehicle is more likely make the shock absorbers 'bottom out' (and work in a piston travel distance they were not designed for).

From what another member has seen (he is a Toyota Service Advisor), people have had decent luck with the stock absorbers when lowering 1", but he has seen multiple failures already when lowering the car more than that...

So if you do lower your car (with just springs), and your stock shock absorbers DO fail, you will likely replace them with aftermarket units, and use the same springs.

If I went with the springs set up, what would the total cost be around if I get eibach sportlines with aftermarket shocks?

Do some research?

Your springs are probably $200...but there's only one aftermarket shock right now and that's the Koni. Those are $770 right now, but were on sale for 20% off last month.

So it'll cost about the same as coils then.

It's not the spring that fails. It's the OEM shock that will fatigue over time. With lowering springs, the shock life will decrease. Aftermarket Koni's or shocks have a more performance oriented valving to handle the slightly more performance oriented spring rates. Although this setup may be close to a "coilover" setup in price, this particular suspension setup is better than the cheaper alternatives. :thumbup:

About how long will it take for the shocks to wear out?

Shock life varies upon use. How abusive you are to them and how many cycles it goes through are just a couple things to take into consideration. You're essentially loading the OEM shock a little extra and causing the shock to work a little harder with lowering springs and slightly higher spring rates. However, if you want the car to look good while you're saving up money for a solid set of coilovers in the future, I'd say lowering springs are fine for purely looks. Just be extra nice to your car over dips and bumps to reduce to impact loading on your shocks. :)

On average, how long should it last tho? Assuming there is minimal aggressive driving

In my experience (having worked as an automotive technician for 11 years), replacing factory shocks (that aren't leaking/blown) after about 75000 miles results in a noticeable improvement in feel. Obviously, if a shock is blown out, it should be replaced ASAP as that becomes a safety issue, though usually that only happens due to abuse. As was stated above, the more aggressively you drive, the faster you will wear out and/or damage the seals, requiring shock replacement.

I ran the GC Koni/Eibach combo on my '94 Honda Civic back in the day, and with the adjustment turned down towards the low end, it was easily as comfortable as stock. Personally, I doubt any of the $1000 coilover kits can compete with the stock suspension in terms of ride comfort. It takes an expensive shock to handle the high spring rates coilovers typically run.

This is what I think I'm going to do:
Get springs and then mod everything else (body kit, downpipe, wheels, etc). Then by that time, ill probably switch to coilovers. Would this be a good idea?

Hard to say. Some people on the boards blew their shocks quickly. Some are still running just fine. The reality is, everybody's experiences vary by a large range. Some people have ran on lowering springs for 60-70k miles and never realized their shocks were blown. Some notice significant shock performance changes after a few thousand miles. So definitely hard to say. What other goals do you have in mind for the car? :thumbup:

Just a body kit and wheels after lowering it.

:thumbup:

A friend of mine blew two sets of the stock shocks already on RCE Yellows (IIRC), but he tracks regularly.

A friend of mine recommended ISC coilovers - not too expensive and he says they're very good quality - US made with a damn good warranty (i forget the specifics).

He runs em on his EVO and WRX.

They are 'the best bang for your buck' he says.

Any ideas?

I actually think the company started out in Thailand but your best bet would be go use "Google" and check out reviews there. I don't think many people on here are using that brand suspension.

Cheapest I found for Eibach Sportlines was here:
Website: www.sparktecmotorsports.com

Contact @genometuning he's had the cheapest after shipping rates.

That site doesn't even have our cars.

Edit: You have to use the search bar to find our cars.

Sorry for hijacking the thread.

I'm going with the Eibach Sportlines til the time being. Next year I'll end up going with coilovers.

With the Eibachs, what would you guys recommend I get with it? Rear control arms? Camber bolts for the front?

If you guys don't mind providing links that would be useful.