Which coilovers?

[gkimlach]

I also want to put some coilovers on, and I wanted to know a couple of things, number 1= which name brand should i get, i was looking at Weapon R and Skunk 2, but what do you guys think? #2= Can i do it myself, put these on i mean, I have a spring conpressor, do you think i can do it? #3= do i need to get new shocks or struts? Thank you again for all the help you guys give, you are great.

 

[gkimlach]

also, what stuts do you guys think, and also are there any packages that i can get that has both coilovers and sturts?

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

Neither of those coilovers are really good. If you want good ones you will have to spend the money on Ground Control. also for struts it depends on what you want the car to do. I wil never auto-x so i went with non-adjustables from Tokico. If you want more you can get Tokico Illumias or Koni's.

Moral:You wouldn't go cheap on power upgrades don't go cheap on suspension upgrades

Later,

 

[candela]

...you wont go cheap on power upgrades, don't go cheap on suspension uprgrades...

its overlooked a lot, but having a nice setup makes driving so much more fun, even if your not going crossing. just being able to rip corners and occasionaly have a good race on a windy ass road is much more fun than just going strait and ripping threw gears. Sorry to get of the subject... ground control is mucho beuno

 

[slospyder]

Originally posted by MuttedTSiAWD
Neither of those coilovers are really good. If you want good ones you will have to spend the money on Ground Control. also for struts it depends on what you want the car to do. I wil never auto-x so i went with non-adjustables from Tokico. If you want more you can get Tokico Illumias or Koni's.

Later,

i will never auto-x either, all i want is a nice low ride to go crusing in my spyder with. do you think that the non-adjustable tokico's with ground controls would be a tight setup??

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

Originally posted by slospyder




i will never auto-x either, all i want is a nice low ride to go crusing in my spyder with. do you think that the non-adjustable tokico's with ground controls would be a tight setup??

That would good. I'm going to swittch to GC's after I finish in the power dept. I have Eibach por-kit now.

Later,

 

[candela]

thats what i have on one of my cars, but have been in my buddies 95 gst w/ gc's and tokicos and it rides pretty tight, definetly manigable and handles great!!

 

[MitsuE95GST]

I can't stress the importance of getting good quality stuff. Last week I bought some cheap coilovers and stuck them on. Later the next day when I finally got them on I went for a drive came home and took them off right away. coilovers are pretty stiff, you need to change your shocks to match the springs. The first thing you want to do first if you want a stiffer ride is get shocks, if you want to turn faster get stiffer sway bars. Once you get to the point where you want to get shocks you should'nt lower the car more than 1" any more than that and you should have a camber correction kit. And don't forget to get your car aligned, unless you like buying new tires.

 

[slospyder]

Originally posted by MitsuE95GST
I can't stress the importance of getting good quality stuff. Last week I bought some cheap coilovers and stuck them on. Later the next day when I finally got them on I went for a drive came home and took them off right away. coilovers are pretty stiff, you need to change your shocks to match the springs. The first thing you want to do first if you want a stiffer ride is get shocks, if you want to turn faster get stiffer sway bars. Once you get to the point where you want to get shocks you should'nt lower the car more than 1" any more than that and you should have a camber correction kit. And don't forget to get your car aligned, unless you like buying new tires.

so do you think that the setup of gc's and the tokico NON-adjustable shocks would be aite??

 

[MitsuE95GST]

Actually I would suggest Eibach Pro Kit Springs, they are only about 20% stiffer than stock and your stock springs can at least control them somewhat. The tokico non-adjustables are good shocks but if you are going to be doing any type of racing or sport with your car you should get the Tokico Illumina 5 Way Adjustable Shocks, they have a decently high cost but they are Guaranteed. And you can get your money back out of them if you ever decide to sell them.

 

[dsmnate]

If you want coilovers don't buy anything but 5-way adjustable shocks. You can find Tokico Illuminas on sale sometimes for like $80 a shock and it is well worth it for the adjustablility, this way if you get tired of a stiff ride you can soften it up a bit. Especially if you live in a place that doesn't have good roads. I live in PA and I think we have the worst roads ever. Our state doesn't smooth anything out they just pave over it and it is all bumpy. Without the adjustability I would be hitting my head on the ceiling all the time and the car would be impossible to drive.

 

[slospyder]

wow this is such good information guys, thanks alot..... and sorry to gkimlach for hogging this thread but i was about to make some dumb decisions before i posted some questions here.......

one more thing.... if i do get the illuminas and the GC's thats going to put a big dent in my wallet .. after i put tehm on and get them aligned will that be a good enough ride?? do i have to get a front/rear camber kit?? again this is just for cruising purposes, no racing or ne thing.

 

[gkimlach]

Don't worry about it, you guys are the greatest, i love everything about this web board, everthing. You guys are a hella lot nicer than the people in say the prelude board or the toyota board. Thank you so much, i almost did a dumb thing but putting on cheap ****. Thanks again.

 

[97EclipseGSX]

Originally posted by gkimlach
#2= Can i do it myself, put these on i mean, I have a spring conpressor, do you think i can do it?

You don't have to have a spring compressor if you want to be a little risky. I did mine using a jack and a piece of wood to keep the shock compressed in the front, then unbolt the bolt and lower the jack and slide everything out. Isn't the safest method but it will work. In the back you can remove the shock bolt and then raise the car, the shock will expand and by the time the vehicle is all the way up the spring will slide off the bolt in the back. The coil overs will leave you plenty of room to put everything back on if you lower the coil.

Do this at your own risk. You should be fine but be careful.


If you are getting coil-overs don't buy tokicos. You will have to cut the perch off. If you buy ground controls they will supply a mount to add in so you don't have to cut the perch but you can't lower the car as much.

Get koni adjustables if you plan on buying coil-overs. The adjustables come with only a ring so all you have to do is slide the sleeve on and install the rest.

 

[dsmnate]

Originally posted by 97EclipseGSX


If you are getting coil-overs don't buy tokicos. You will have to cut the perch off. If you buy ground controls they will supply a mount to add in so you don't have to cut the perch but you can't lower the car as much.

Get koni adjustables if you plan on buying coil-overs. The adjustables come with only a ring so all you have to do is slide the sleeve on and install the rest.

Yeah I forgot to mention that you would have to cut the perch off of the Tokico's but they are still a great shock and you can find them for alot cheaper than Koni's, if you don't have alot of money. It doesn't take much to remove the perch..you just have to becareful not to cut into the shock body itself and take your time.

 

[97EclipseGSX]

I cut mine with a hac saw (i screwed that spelling up) it didn't take long with a good blade it would have been much quicker. Thats how I would recommend doing it. Using a dremel or something like that would be really easy to get carried away and cut to far.

 

[2-0turbo]

Originally posted by MitsuE95GST
<SNIP>I went for a drive came home and took them off right away. coilovers are pretty stiff, you need to change your shocks to match the springs. The first thing you want to do first if you want a stiffer ride is get shocks, if you want to turn faster get stiffer sway bars. Once you get to the point where you want to get shocks you should'nt lower the car more than 1" any more than that and you should have a camber correction kit. And don't forget to get your car aligned, unless you like buying new tires.

This is a REALLY general statement. If you put coilovers on your car with the stock spring rate, you wouldn't be able to tell--it would feel identical. However, most people when they get coilovers use stiffer springs. The real advantages to coilovers are as follows (not necessarily in this order): 1. They look cool 2. Since they use a standard size spring (2.5" I.D. X YY long), you can buy a whole new set of springs for $200 (pick your favorite spring RATE) 3. You can adjust your ride height to exactly what you want it. 4. You can adjust your corner weights (and cross weight) to the exact number you want it 5. Coilovers usually use a smaller spring diameter (O.D) than stock to allow more suspension clearance for big wheels and/or different offsets (this is the case on the front of DSM's).

I have the DSS kit on my car. The "standard" package Mike recommends for a 1G AWD is 400 lb springs in the front and 350 in the rear. I have AGX dampers, set to 2 in the front, 1 in the rear for everyday driving. RMDSM rear bar only. Custom rear camber adjusters (my own design). ES bushings all around. Lowered to 14.75 in front and 14.5 in rear (works out to .25 inch drop in front and 1.25 in rear). Yes, it is stiff. That is because the stock springs were ~150 lb springs and my fronts are now more than 2.5 times stiffer. But, it is worth it to me. My car will hang corners like it never has before. I can push very hard in the corners and I don't destroy the outside shoulder of my front tires.

There are a ton of suspension "issues" to consider. So many things are inter-related. If ride quality is important to you, don't buy stiff springs and/or heavily valved dampers. If cornering is important to you, do whatever is necessary to get good transistional response (bars/dampers), prevent your suspension from bottoming (springs/dampers)out and control wheel camber (springs/bars). It is up to you. What you pick determines how your car handles. Change any one thing and it could be VERY different. Experiment carefully until you find your limits.

Matt
'90 TSi AWD

 

[eclpsed]

I have GCs on my 99 GS the front left one broke off the purch and messed up the whole coilover.. that's 400 bucks wasted.. I have VIS ones too that seem to be the same, but cost WAY less.. I dunno.. but I'll never put a set of GCs on any car i own again...

.......just my .02..

 

[dsmnate]

Originally posted by eclpsed
.......just my .02..

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I guess great minds think alike