I don't want a drop. I dont track my car. Any benefit from coilovers for me?
 

As per the title, I don't want to drop my car. NYC has too many rough roads, potholes, speed bumps, and even entrance ramps onto driveways, parking lots and gas stations suck sometimes. I'm fine with the typical minimum half inch or so drop from coilovers, but I don't want to drop it anymore than that.

And I don't track it. I might go to the track this summer just to try it out but it'll probably be a rare occurrence even if I do end up enjoying it.

I've thought about coilovers mainly to be able to have 9.5" wide wheels (especially since wheels like Kojins and 57C6s are only concave once you hit 9.5"). Other than that... is there any reason for me to do coilovers?

I like the stock ride. Something smoother would be nice, but nothing stiffer. Would there be any noticeable benefits when I just drive on the streets?

You will see benefit if you buy something really top end as they ride really nice, that being said its a waste of money for your goals haha! If anything you should get some bilstein struts they should give you a bit better ride.

a proper coilover setup with matched valving to spring rate will give you a smooth and comfortable ride. not all coilovers are stiff and bouncy. expect to pay upwards of 2k for the premium setups though...

18x9.5 wheels won't make your ride any smoother. 9.5 widths will poke unless you add camber, which won't really work without coilovers.

Maybe look into a set of Bilstein HD shocks, but coilovers would likely not do much for you.

All depends on how much you want to spend. You can go big or go home, but youd be wasting 90% of the dampeners abilities at that price level.

Hmm. How about Tein flex z-s then? While not on par as high budget coilovers, at least should do better then stock @DD, no? I don't dig that uber-wide wheel mania though.

I'll be honest, I've never put coilovers on anything. My suspension experience is limited to..

1. Replacing the original air suspenion on a '93 Range Rover County LWB w/ OME (Old Man Emu) springs and Bilstein shocks. HUGE, HUGE improvement.. stiffer, but still comfortable, more clearance compared to stock air except on highest setting (before it totally died), and much better handling.

2. Replacing stock suspension on an '82 VW Rabbit convertible w/ progressive rate springs and Koni cartridges. Another big improvement. Stiffer and better handling, but still a much-less-than-punishing ride.

3. Bilstein touring shocks on an '88 Benz 560SL. Not a huge difference over originals, other than they weren't worn. In hindsight, I would have gone w/ stiffer Bilsteins for better handling.

Note that all of them resulted in "stiffer." I doubt very much you'll end up with a smoother, more comfortable ride from any suspension "upgrades."
Most upgrades are geared towards stiffer rides and better handling.

Just thinking out loud. Lots of folks with more experience than I here.

HTH.

Barry

IMHO, no. Keep the stock springs and put some Koni or Bilstein dampers on there. The only reason you'd consider coils is as you said - wide wheels (depending on offset) can interfere with the stock suspension. What I'd do is get the specific dimensions of the rims you're planning to run, and then do some searching on this forum (via google is the best) for people who run similar sizes and whether they ran into issues or not.

Why change anything at all? You like it how it is. And you don't say anything about wanting improved performance. It seems to me like any money you spend on suspension would make it less desireable to you, so why change anything?
I guess if your shocks are worn out you could replace them with a high quality, comfort-oriented shock. But that could just mean OEM. Maybe Bilsteins or Konis would work, but they might be considered by some to be less comfortable, not more.
So again, why are you considering changing anything? You mention 9.5" wide wheels. What's the point of that? Would they be 17s or 18s? If 18s, that's going to degrade the comfort level, something you said you don't want to do.
If 17s, have you seen what 9.5" wide wheels look like on suspension that is the stock ride height? Is that what you are going for?

Wide wheels can interfere with the stock suspension, most coilovers are more compact and allow greater clearance. That's why.

A good set of coilovers (not the Taiwanese stuff) will often be more comfortable than stock. That said, 18x9.5s will make your ride worse.

He's concerned primarily with comfort and asking about modifications that 90% of the time decrease comfort, especially wheels.

Common sense advice will be "don't do the thing that will have the result that you explicitly don't want"
/thread

Imo OP should go to 16" wheels, 7-8" with big cushy tires, will stand out more than the typical 18x10 that the other hardparkers all run and if they're light wheels and quality tires will noticeably increase ride comfort. Check out the meaty tire thread.

Edit: Double checked the meaty tire thread, not what I thought it was, searching "16" wheels ft86club" does turn up some results though.

Just cut 0.5 inch on the stock springs and call it a day