Hey guys, I have read through some posts about springs and coilovers and still am undecided.
I have my 245/35/19 tires and wheels and want to do a mild drop just to get most of the wheel gap gone. I dont want it slammed to hell. I looked at Tein S-tech springs and the Tein coilovers (read the DIY on it, thanks saucy). Once the car is lowered, I dont plan on adjusting it just leaving it at about a 1.5 inch drop. I understand the coilovers allow height adjustments and firmness settings, but are they worth the 4-5 times cost of just the springs if I am not going to adjust the height once initially lowered? Are springs that much firmer than coilovers ( I have a rougher ride already because of the 35 series tires). Will the stock shocks/struts work ok with the shorter springs? I guess I am asking is the huge cost difference worth it for the coilovers versus the springs. Thanks for any help.

 

it just depends on your needs and wants.
you say you arent going to mess with the height, but what i found is that once set, people are like "hmmm, maybe i can go a little bit lower to reduce that gap even more"
then once you get a set of cool rims, you'd want to play with the height some more.
basically, if you're doing it for looks i'd opt for coilovers.

 

I'm sure you should get some good responses here. I always had the same question and if I ever did suspension work, I think I'd go full coilover. It's a tough call though with the price difference. I see plenty of guys here running just springs and their wheels gaps / stance all look pretty solid to me.

I also had the impression that going just springs will result in a shorter life span of the shock absorber, but that is certainly determined also on your driving habits / road conditions. Then again coilovers can blow the absorber just the same so I don't see that being much of a factor.

 

A good shock spring combo can cost as much if not more than a set of decent coilovers for our car with coils you atleast have the option to raise or lower on the fly, another plus you can adjust the dampers to make the ride suit your driving habits with springs you get a one shot deal.

 

coilovers are worth it i allways did springs and struts then finally tried coils on my genesis was so worth it to be able to adjust it my self.

 

Coilover! If I had the money I wouldn't have gotten springs.

 

i agree with justin. i was in the same boat as you, almost with with s tech. im SO glad i went with coils instead. i've adjusted my height about 5 times +. lowering it, realized its too low, raise it up, realize its too high, lower again. etc. finally adjust to a perfect daily driving height with minimal wheel gap.


think about it, once your springs are set, there's nothing you can do. can't raise, can't lower.

i do understand the price difference is pretty big though. good luck with your choice!

 

So, lets talk what a good spring and shock combo can do for you.
if properly matched, a good combo will out perform a coilover setup.
purely performance based.
BUTT, like ed said, you're stuck with the drop that it gives you.


for example,('06 TL) I paired the Koni yellows with the aspec springs.
it gave me what I wanted via performance, butt, I regret because my rear is HIGH and it looks factory.
People are like, "are you dropped? because that shit looks factory."

 

So far, I am leaning towards coils I guess. Gotta save up a bit more for those.

 

definitely must get coilsovers, at first you'll prob be like like i dont have a need for the adjustments, but you will eventually want to lower/higher it more. ive already adjusted my coils like 7 times which makes it already worth what i payed for.

 

Do it right from the beginning and save yourself the 200 dollars...youll be glad you did

 

yea i would definetly rather have a fully adjustable suspension than strut and spring combo if i was going to race just me i guess different tracks call for different settings.

 

^with the konis you can adjust damping settings.
so, if you're doing a road course, you can adjust the fronts for more TURN in.
my set up does out perform a coil over set up in purely a performance aspect.
but I can not adjust the height

 

justnspace covered it all pretty much.

Similar discussion here a few months back too:

https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-tsx-tires-wheels-suspension-300/springs-coilovers-852936/

 

and also for whatever its worth i have 245/35 19s and am lowered on coils if you wanted to see what it looks like check out my build thread in photogallery

 

are you the one that had the chrome RDX wheels before or was that someone else? I have the silver RDX wheels with the 245/35/19 tires. I'll be sure to check out your build thread.

 

^He had 5zigen's before the Vossen's I believe.

maiku was the owner of the VBP with the 19" Chrome RDX wheels.

But he traded it in.

 

alright I see a lot of people have the Megan EZ coilovers. Is this the right set and a good price?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MEGAN-RACING...da8bf3&vxp=mtr

 

Now that I FINALLY have the rear camber corrected, do count that as a necessary item when doing springs or coils. The problem without doing so is that you have more negative camber in the rear than the front, and that geometry really messes with your handling especially in a front heavy car like these. I went with the more pricey SPC kit, but there is another much cheaper version. Do it right the first time and install at the same time to consolidate the work and only align it one time. I thought I could get by with just doing the toe arms at first and quickly realized that by cheaping out, I was cutting off my nose to spite my face.

 

YOU CUT OFF YOUR NOSE???!!?!?omg

 

How hard would it be to put on coilovers?

 

just remember you have to maintain coilovers make sure the threads are stuff are clean. i just bought a set of tien s techs just because i dont have the $$ for coilovers at the moment

 

Coilovers are easier in a way because you don't have to disassemble and reassemble the shock assembly, since most coils for this car come assembled for you out of the box (Teins are the exception because you reuse the stock top mounts). However, removing the stock shocks and installing the coilovers isn't as simple as most other cars. The double wishbone is awesome for performance but can be a pain to work on.

 

Quick question, and I am new to this so may be a dumb question, but say I add coilovers. How will that effect the ride quality? I added the 19" HFP wheels and love the ride quality/feel as it is. Will it make the ride stiffer/rougher?