Question about Springs/Coilovers
 

Sorry if this is the wrong forum but I figured it would be a good place to ask.

I'm new to changing the suspension on my car but after watching countless videos I think I can do it fairly easily.

My question being is that I am currently at 52k miles on my car. I've read in other threads that if i were going to change the springs or coils for that matter that it would be better to just replace it for a different system altogether.

I'm looking to make my car lowered and to be honest i've never driven a car or been in one thats been lowered so I can't seem to wrap my mind around an "uncomfortable ride". However I don't think I would care too much if its uncomfortable or not as I really enjoy driving the car as is.

I'm on stock rims/tires and probably will be like that for awhile. I guess what I am asking is should I do springs or should i do coilovers and if I do coilovers which ones do you guys recommend to buy. My budget is anything below 1000~. I was looking at TEIN Flex Z's originally but if there is something better/recommended I will look into it as well.

Thanks

How much do you want to lower the car by, and for what reason?

For your case it sounds like lowering springs will suffice, as it seems like your main reason for lowering is aesthetics. Softer lowering springs like TRD, Eibach Sportlines, or event RCE Yellows would be fine to match with OE shocks.

If you get a stiffer spring, like RCE Tarmac lowering springs, you should upgrade your shocks to something like Koni Yellows or Bilstein B8s. This will cost you around the same as any budget set of coilovers, and will generally be of higher quality.

I think you'd be happy with RCE Yellows, Eibach Prokit, or the TRD springs.

- Andrew

^those or Swift sport springs are your best bet for DD.

I personally had the RCE Yellowz and loved them for DD/canyons

Another option is the MeisterR ZetaCRD+ coilovers that will fit within your budget and usage.

http://www.meisterr.co.uk/Pics/Post/FRS/FRS1.jpg

http://www.meisterr.co.uk/Pics/Post/FRS/FRS2.jpg

Sensible springs rate at 5kg/mm front, 4kg/mm rear, with adjustable mono-tube dampers.
They will allow you to adjust the ride height to your preference, as both front and rear are freely adjustable to suit most need.

The coilovers comes with front camber adjustable top mount, and the rear uses an OEM style rear top mount to help absorb NVH (Noise Vibration Harshness).
The adjustable damping will also allows you to dial in the ride quality to your preference.
So you can have a softer setup for daily road use, and a stiffer setup if you are doing a track day.

The coilovers comes fully assembled so that mean no need to reuse any old parts.
That mean less labour cost on installing the suspension as you do not need to dismantle the OEM setup.
This mean you can have the complete OEM setup sitting in a box for future use (in case you want to sell the car and return to OEM, etc).

Comes in under your budget at $995 delivered.
So just another option to put into the group of choices under the coilovers section.

Jerrick

One thing you should consider about coilovers is that the setup is more involved and some of the parts are a little less conducive to daily driving for months and years, especially in the $1000 range.

So, while yes, you can bolt on a set yourself, getting the height and preload and camber plates adjusted properly is a little more work. We have seen over and over again in the recent alignment threads that this is easy to screw up and a lot of alignment shops will even get it wrong.

The other thing is that with adjustable height coilovers you should really, really have them corner balanced. It is easy for the corner weights to wind up way off which will mess up the handling.

So, if you go the coilover route, you should be sure to put some money aside to find a competent shop to set them up and align them for you. And then if your cheap spherical bearing top mounts start knocking and popping after a couple months, you get to deal with getting a replacement and then possibly doing the alignment all over again.



On the other had, springs, bilsteins, stock or group n front tops, and camber bolts will be trouble free for years. Install, align, enjoy.

Based on your needs and the fact that you're going to continue using your OEM wheels and tires, from everything I've read I'd recommend Racecomp Engineering 'Yellow' springs and Bilstein B8s. They'll offer a mature ride, a reasonable drop, superior damping and wheel control over stock, will match the available mechanical grip, are priced within your budget, and will work for you now and give you some room to grow if you decide to do wheels and tires down the road.

If you would eveer want to change the ride height in the future I would get coilovers. You can also get adjustable dampening and camber plates with coilovers. Stance coilovers seem great because they ride similar to stock and are more affordable than many other coilover systems.

Wow didn't expect this to blow up with as many answers. I'll do some research on everything that was provided in the thread but to answer someones question up above. I honestly just want it for aesthetics reason. I know a 1000~ range for track use is probably not a good idea and i'm ways away from that for the time being.

I'm looking to lower quite a bit. With stock wheels and rims I want no space at all between the fender and wheel basically. Also with springs and what not will I need spacers?

yes

Doing research is good, and most of us are happy to help as that is why we are here.
Using $1000 suspension on track are perfectly fine, the long as they are designed properly and work.
Some will work better than other, it depends on what you want.

The main thing are to decide what you want your cars to do, then pick the parts that will do the job.

If you want to have no gap between fender and wheel, then you are onto coilovers right away.
And if that is the ride height you are after, then you have to be very careful if you want performance also.

With the 86, the issue is there aren't a lot of rear damper travel.
So for a suspension to compromise the it's specification enough for you to have no wheel gap, it isn't going to have much travel in the rear.
That mean the performance of the suspension won't be as good as it can be.

So in this case, I will consider what you want carefully.
Because having a small wheel gap and having no wheel gap will require two different suspension setup, and you will have to trade performance against ride height adjustment on this instance due to the 86 suspension design.

Jerrick

I see. What if I were to upgrade to 18x9.5 ?

You will not be able to fit that wide of tire in the front without switching to coils