kaikai114

Can somebody provide me some info on the difference between the regular springs vs. coilover springs in terms of performance, handling, stability, comfort, reliability, etc? what exactly is a coilover?

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Typically drop springs are just that, a spring that replaces the stock spring in your car. The coilover is typcially a spring with an adjustable spring perch that allows you to change the ride height of the vehicle. All the performance specs and details vary with the type of spring you get. The same springs as a regular drop spring and in a coilover set should provide similar performance.

bbbradley

Do you plan to corner weight the car? If not the benefits of coil-overs are minimal over traditional lowering springs.

/bill

ricecake

moved this to aftermarket since you might get some good answers from the experts in herre.

xizor

well, there is 2 types of "coilovers", the ones like mentined above are sold by ground control

they other kind sold by tein, buddy club, mugen are an adjustable springs, mated to an adjustable shock. its the entire assembly. See vwing's july4th thread to see what they look like. by adjusting the shock, you can make the ride firmer when you lower your car, otherwise w/ a stock shock it will be somewhat bouncy.

you can accomplish something similar to a full coilover setup by using springs and adjustable shocks like Koni yellows. these are 2 seperate products, unlike the full coilover, but they do about the same thing. you can see jtso's koni thread in the faq forum.

as for handling difference, the real difference comes in the adjustable shock. a coilover spring is better than a regular aftermarket spring because you can choose the exact ride height, but usually the aftermarket springs (eibach, neuspeed, H&R, comptech) are a good drop already.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

I was trying to keep it simple, but yeah, you got the rest of it that I missed.

Tsex on 19s

basically springs give a smoother ride than coilovers, but the benefits to coilovers are that their adjustable. id choose coilovers if you are putting some speakers in the trunk. cause if you have springs, your car will be sittin tilted down from the back. coilovers are a bit bumpy, but good shocks should help that out. springs are way cheaper. lol jus spit out whateva came to my mind yall.. feel free to add or modify.

cmf

I'd have to disagree that springs are softer than coilovers. Coilovers allow you to "dial in" a specific amount of suspension travel to provide better comfort, where springs provide no such adjustability. I am not talkin about ground control coilovers either. Me personally, ground control coilovers are a waste of money....My .02

xizor

well a lot of the softness/firmness comes from the shocks, that's the real difference, not so much the springs themselves

Tsex on 19s

i got the gc coilovers... aint that bad as peeps think. get the job done, ride is good, and saves me a whole lot of money for other goodies. they go good with aftermarket shocks, they (ground control) prefer koni shocks..

dzuy

teins are in my future.

kaikai114

thanks guys, that really helped clarify things

going with comptech springs until i save enough money for Tein's flex coilovers with EDC

JTso

iTrader: (2)

Will the EDFC even fit the rear shocks, as space is so limited in the back?

al8818

Hi JTso.

Apparently so. I know of one CL7 fitted with EDFC. Its a relatively small motor unit and the Teins' shaft don't come up so far if mounted on their Pillow Mounts. May have also cut away some of the plastic molding.

AL

dorikin_86

coilovers = sleeved strut (shock assembly) with a coil spring over it. Most coilover springs are of non-progressive (spring rate doens't change no matter how compressed the spring is) and usually has a smaller radius in order to achieve the high spring rates. The spring usually sits on a sleeved perch that allows you to adjust the spring length as you please (height adjustable).