[2gT] Shocks/coilovers/springs

[Gno1316]

struts, shocks, coilovers, springs? whats the main differences and whats suggested for a 95 TSi AWD?

 

[BigRand]

Well, I forget the main difference between struts and shocks, however I'm hoping somone else will explain that part, but essentially they are the same thing. They are the piece in the middle of the coilover or spring that stop the car from bouncing after it hits something that is uneven in the road.


Springs
Kind of like your stock ones, lowering springs have one set height, once on that is the height you get. Some springs have different spring rates, to give better handling characteristics when it comes to cornering etc. These should be used in conjuntion with a strut/shock setup. Because the stock shocks aren't designed to handle the short stroke that comes with the car being lower to the ground. Thus it doesn't have enough room to travel when your car hits a bump, and causes you to bottom out. These kind of springs are a nice upgrade if you do it right. They are like the Eibach pro/sportline kits.

Coilovers

To me there are two kinds of coilovers. The aight kind, and the "hell yeah thats what I'm talking about" kind.
The aight kind is the coilover that has a spring inside that allows you to adjust the height of your car, but does not come with shocks. This kind you see mainly on Ebay, for people who want that 3" drop on their car, and aren't to worried about the ride quality.

the "hell yeah thats what I'm talking about kind" of coilover is the full coilover. this comes with the spring and shock in one unit, and is ride height adjustable. in some of the higer end kits allows you to adjust the dampening of the shock to be stiffer and softer depending on prefference. These kind of kits are like Tien Flex or super street kits, Tanabe Sustec kits, JiC magic kits.

In my opinon if you can afford to go for the full coilover kits, its well worth it to spend your money on that. When I bought my car it came with tokico blue shocks and Eibach coilovers (the aight kind). and when I dropped the car down about 2in the shocks blew on me. So I bought another set of tokico's and had to buy another set of SPW coilvers because the Eibach were screwed onto the other set of shocks becauses someone cut the purches. With in about 2-3months of having the new set, I blew another shock. So I decided to upgrade a little bit more. to the Tanbe sustec pr S-oc full coilver kit, and have never had a better ride in my life. This things handles like a beauty.

If your a really serious racer, consider upgrading even past a full coilover kit and having a custom one made for your car, by like Penske. I don't know to much about them, but I belive they are used in F-1 and other big racing scenes. Thats too much cash for me.

Everyone will tell you about different set ups that are cost effective and really expensive, but you will have to do a lot of searching before you buy the right setup for your car.

 

[jtmcinder]

A shock is a device that damps vertical movement.

A strut is a shock that also acts as the upper control arm.

Coilover, as a general term, simply means that the shock and spring are coaxial, as in when the spring is around the shock. We actually start with coilovers under this definition. In everyday use, the two types of coilover are usually defined in terms of whether the threading for the perch is on the body of the shock or is on a sleeve that is wrapped around the shock. This is actually very close to a non-issue. A better place to draw the line is in whether the upper end of the spring presses against the chassis, as it does stock, or against a coaxial hat that is mounted on the shock's shaft.

- Jtoby

 

[Gno1316]

thanks for the great input guys. im definetly gonna keep looking around. ill be back to discuss what i've found.

-late