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The Cheap Coilover Thread, Pros & Cons...


WaspGT

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My original plan was to go from stock->pinks->coilovers. I originally was going to go with the cuscos before Paul started development of the Megan's. my dumb ass bought them thinking they were great because Paully put in all the work developing them. I got them corner balanced and an alignment from West End. I was disappointed. I knew I mad a mistake. Maybe if I had better tires they would of had a chance, but you could tell they were working way to hard.

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I'm still in the debate of going with coilovers for the wagon or springs. I won't be tracking it ever as I have a kart for tracking which is way better then any of our damn cars to race and much cheaper too. :lol:

 

I just need something that can be dampened correctly for the abusive Houston roads but provide the stance I want as well so a "cheaper" coilover setup is something I am also looking into.

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it's just a difficult decision because once you add springs to that cost its like almost in the cheap coilover market.

 

Coilovers you get more height adjust-ability vs the koni's strut adjust-ability.

 

RMN15 gets you 15% off :)

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it's just a difficult decision because once you add springs to that cost its like almost in the cheap coilover market.

 

Coilovers you get more height adjust-ability vs the koni's strut adjust-ability.

 

I will tell you from experience that the vast difference in damping performance and consistently on the Konis make that choice simple. You aren't getting the advantages of corner-balancing and micro-adjustability of ride-height from units that just cannot control the springs they're wrapped in. I have countless customers with Imprezas and Legacys fitted with these sub-$1000 Taiwanese 'spring-holders'... not one of them can be driven full chat over expansion joints or small bumps without the car kicking wildly into the air. Many have gone through every combination you can think of with springs and 'damping' settings and finally given up. The cars are not as fast on the street as the quality fixed-perch solutions from Bilstein, Koni or even KYB. They are not as fast at the track as the cars with quality coilovers like KW, Bilstein, RCE etc. In other words they got all the disadvantages of short travel and harsh ride but none of the performance advantages they were hoping for. If someone just wants to slam the car, then LALGT has it right... buy the cheapest set of coils you can find and have at it. If you care at all about performance then for the love of God either stick with a fixed-perch setup that has some travel or save the cash for something proven to work on a quick car. Half of the guys I tune for that have these cheap suspensions will take one ride in my car and within 6 months either have a similar setup or some high-end coilovers.

 

< Konis + JDM GRF springs + GC bump stops + GrpN top hats

Obligatory '[URL="http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/2008-gh8-238668.html?t=238668"]build thread[/URL]' Increased capacity to 2.7 liters, still turbo, but no longer need spark plugs.
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You aren't getting the advantages of corner-balancing and micro-adjustability of ride-height from units that just cannot control the springs they're wrapped in.

 

This is really what it boils down to. The consistency of the damping on these budget coils (as well as rates of the springs) is so terrible from a unit-to-unit QC perspective, that any hopes of being able to use the adjustability to actually "tune" the setup for a particular track surface and tire compound go right out the window.

 

The only "tuneability" these coilovers have is with respect to ride height, nothing more, nothing less. Some people buy them for this purpose, and that is fine.

 

A lot of people look at the price of a set of quality struts/shocks, combined with springs, and think, oh man, I could get a set of coilovers for this! Then they automatically assume that: coilover > fixed perch option

 

That is a HUGE misconception/mistake. The CHEAPEST coilover that is the same damping quality as a Koni insert is a KWv2. In essence, the KWv2's are essentially equivalent to a Koni/ground control setup, with higher quality SS bodies.

 

Koni/KWv2/RCET1 is really the lowest quality damper I'd feel comfortable taking on a track. In reality, these options are an entry level twin tube design, and are far from anything that would actually be used in a competitive motorsport. But they ARE manufactured with quality, durability, consistency, and longevity in mind.

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This is really what it boils down to. The consistency of the damping on these budget coils (as well as rates of the springs) is so terrible from a unit-to-unit QC perspective, that any hopes of being able to use the adjustability to actually "tune" the setup for a particular track surface and tire compound go right out the window.

 

The only "tuneability" these coilovers have is with respect to ride height, nothing more, nothing less. Some people buy them for this purpose, and that is fine.

 

A lot of people look at the price of a set of quality struts/shocks, combined with springs, and think, oh man, I could get a set of coilovers for this! Then they automatically assume that: coilover > fixed perch option

 

That is a HUGE misconception/mistake. The CHEAPEST coilover that is the same damping quality as a Koni insert is a KWv2. In essence, the KWv2's are essentially equivalent to a Koni/ground control setup, with higher quality SS bodies.

 

Koni/KWv2/RCET1 is really the lowest quality damper I'd feel comfortable taking on a track. In reality, these options are an entry level twin tube design, and are far from anything that would actually be used in a competitive motorsport. But they ARE manufactured with quality, durability, consistency, and longevity in mind.

 

I don't think ive ever heard a better explanation than this yet, and if one of you has explained it like this and I missed it, well that's on me. Nicely done.

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Holy Sh!t, lmao!!! I just read the past few pages, I guess I missed a lot. Man, I thought everyone was angry with me, you guys are just mad period, lol.:lol: Anyhow, lets move on shall we?
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Does anyone have experience with cheap coils+Swift springs?

 

Awhile ago there was a member (can't remember who) that put swifts onto a set of BC coils, and reported positive results with ride quality and performance.

 

This does make some sense because swifts are very consistent from spring-to-spring, meaning they will all have +/- about 1-4% in terms of their rates, and are extremely linear throughout their travel. The crap springs that come on these budget coils are known to deviate up to 20-30+% from coil to coil, and are almost never linear throughout their travel.

 

Back when I had the BC's on my obxt, and I was at my whit's end trying to make them work for me, I seriously considered a set of swifts for them, but a set of 4 usually runs about $600. The BC's themselves were like $900 or so. That just did not make sense to me. I sold the BC's, and together with the money I saved not getting the swifts, was more than half way to a set of RCE-T1's.

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Holy Sh!t, lmao!!! I just read the past few pages, I guess I missed a lot. Man, I thought everyone was angry with me, you guys are just mad period, lol.:lol: Anyhow, lets move on shall we?

 

 

I'm kinda sad it's over... just as quick as it all started it was over..... until next time...:lol:

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