Can't get lowering springs, so what coilovers?
 

I know a lot of people ask this and I went through a few pages searching through the forums. (A lot of old stuff). I can't really decide what coilovers to go for. I just started getting into cars so I'm not exactly familiar with spring rates or anything too detailed but I know the basis. I DD my FRS and the roads aren't crazy rough but in the winter they are rough. I haven't tried AutoX, but I might try a little (nothing serious). I care more about DD than AutoX.

I want something fairly soft and will bring me down enough for the wheels to fill the wheel well (not tucked). I'm running 18x9.5 +40(apparently stock strut won't clear). $1500 is the budget. So far this is what I've seen:

Tein Flex Z:
I haven't looked too much into the Tein Flex Z. I've had a feel of another set of Teins (not flex Z) and they're quite comfortable. Gave a good drop. They're also less than the others mentioned.

Tein Flex A
A little more expensive than the Flex Z, but have a hydraulic bumper which makes the ride slightly more comfortable. According to other reviews they're

Fortune Auto 500
I've heard only good things from FA. The fact you can send them back and get them rebuilt is definitely something I've considered. I've had back and forth reviews on people saying "they're stiff" and "they ride smoother than stock".

MeisterR ZetaCRD
I don't know anything about these. I just heard of them from searching through the forums.

If anyone has any other that I don't know of please feel free to suggest!

Check out the Bilstein B14.

I am not sure when RCE will have their version of those or what the pricing is, but would also be worth looking into.

They also will probably hold up better than all of the above for daily driving in alaska.

I hope you are ready to deal with rust and other stuff with coilovers.

The more steel parts, the higher the chances of rust. Plus, the spring perch collars tend to get stuck after a winter's worth of northern roads.

Why can't you get lowering springs but you can get coilovers?

-alex

Ya I wondered this as well.

It is due to his wheel sizing (18x9.5 +40 will not clear oe sized springs).

Good luck with your search, op. would suggest Bilstein, but you will still run into fitment issues w/ your wheels. alternative suggestion is to spend a little more and going with other choices like RCE, Ohlins, or KW.

Sell your wheels and get ones with the right offset. You're jumping into a major suspension project with very little knowledge due to another purchase you made seemingly without enough knowledge as well. That is NOT how you go about modding a car.

Damn. I totally missed that he posted the wheel size.

I would Consider the RCE T0 as well in that price range. Though not sure how they would handle winters compared to the others since I live in sunny CA and dont have to worry about that kind of stuff lol

Just to say we can rebuild MeisterR coilovers also.
It's just many time, it works out more economical to replace parts due to the cost of shipping and down time involved.
Especially for you as you are located in Alaska.

But there are nothing stopping us from actually rebuilding a MeisterR damper.
It is just more economical to work with a replacement model.

The ZetaCRD runs a fairly soft springs rate at 5kg/mm front, 4kg/mm rear compare to other brands.
But that is really as stiff as we would want to run for a fast road car.

This will allows the suspension to provide a pretty compliant ride over uneven road surfaces.
You can also adjust the springs pre-load a bit if your local roads surface are really rough, this will give you a bit more compression travel.

The overall ride height adjustment range should do what you need, might have a small wheel gap but not too much.
We actually a longer damper vs. other brand (just over 4" of damper travel) to ensure good ride quality over uneven road surfaces.

So that is pretty much it, the ZetaCRD should do what you are asking for.
I would suggest getting a bottle of the MeisterR ARC as an additional protective layer if you have really salty road, makes a pretty big difference for owners that live in the northern part of UK with heavily road salted winter.

But if you have any questions, please feel free to let me know and I'll be happy to help.

Jerrick

I don't know too much about the Bilstein B14 but they don't come with top hats so it makes swapping coils harder if I decide to swap between stock and aftermarket.

I looked at the RCE T0 and they're $1700 (out of my price range) and seem like a good deal. Might consider them since they have best of both worlds?

Someone said earlier stock strut won't clear 18x9.5. I might just switch back to stock struts/stock wheels in the winter time. They don't salt the roads in Alaska.


I wouldn't consider coilovers a major suspension project, because I just need after market ones. I have a few friends I'm doing this with and they're a lot more knowledgeable than I am in this stuff and one of my friends told me a post of someone running 18x9.5 with a +38mm offset and he had 5-6mm of clearance from a stock shock strut. So I just need new coilovers.

I am from SoCal so that's why I'm leaning towards Tein because there's a warehouse down there that can rebuild them for a good price.

The Flex Z and Flez A are not rebuildable per se. You replace the whole carteridge. Thats what kept their price so low for the quality you get. The inserts are cheap though and its still a good deal either way

Just go with tein i think for you. Is the extra $200 worth it for hydraulic bump stop? Maybe you are going to slam this car. If not, cheaper flex z sounds like a good fit for you.

Flex A are rebuildable IIRC. That, and also HBS, are what sets a bit more expensive A-s from Z-s.

Just wanted to note that many coilovers do not come with top hats but you can pick up group N fronts and oem rears for a relatively low cost. The benefit would be less metal components to rust and less nvh. Great for daily driver :)