Suspension Control
Which Performance Suspension? Suspension Kit Or Coilovers?
It seems quite a common misconception that coilovers are the best choice for performance suspension, and although this is not wrong, that doesn't mean that coilovers are always the most appropriate choice of suspension upgrade for the customer.
So, let's just be clear about the difference between coilovers and normal suspension kits.
Suspension Kit
A convention suspension kit is usually a straight replacement for the original equipment (OE) parts. It will consist of a set of dampers (usually 4), and a set of sports springs. Each of these components could be fitted alone to replace the OE parts, they are literally just sports versions. You could for example, fit the springs alone with the standard dampers, or just the dampers with the standard springs. I am not saying that this would work well, but the point is that they are the same style and fitment as the original parts.
The springs are often progressive so give more resistance the more the spring is compressed. The advantage of this is that they appear quite soft and comfortable still when just cruising and soaking up the undulations in the road, but when you throw the car hard into a corner, they are much stiffer giving the improved road holding and reduced body role you fitted them for.
The dampers are often fixed damping. Even premium kits like the Bilstein B12 are not ride adjustable; they are pre setup to what the manufacture considers the optimum compromise between handling and ride quality. Some dampers like Koni / Spax / Avo are combined bounce and rebound adjustable, so you do have some control over the stiffness of the ride quality.
Coilover Suspension
Coilovers are a different type of suspension. Their component parts (spring / shock) could not be fitted with the OE parts. Coilovers can only be fitted as a complete unit with spring + damper. The springs are a much narrower diameter, and usually parallel and linear so the give the same level of resistance regardless of how much they are compressed.
Coilovers are nearly always height adjustable. This is usually done by having an adjuster plate which the bottom of the spring sits on. This plate is threaded and can be screwed up or down the damper body to increase or decrease the ride right of the car. So coilovers then have small "helper springs" which sit on top of the main springs, and ensure that during extension of the damper, the main springs remains under tension and doesn't become dislocated.
In the same way as suspension kits, the lower end coilovers usually have fixed damping, but as you go up the quality (and cost) you will find dampers which are ride adjustable, first the bounce and rebound will be combined and adjusted together, but as you go further up the range, many will feature independently adjustable bounce and rebound. This gives a much greater level of control over the handling characteristics of the vehicle.
Top mounts are often also adjustable on coilover suspension particularly on the more premium brands, some for camber, and some for caster and camber. BC Racing are a great example.
So as you can see, coilover suspension gives you a LOT more scope for tailoring the behaviour of the vehicle to suit your requirements. So what is the problem? Why would you not want coilovers?
The problem is the amount of adjustment. Do you really need it?
The biggest issue with coilovers is the set up. A suspension kit can be DIY fit if you are handy with a wrench, and as long as you have the tracking done at the end, you shouldn't have any problems. Coilovers need to be set up by people who REALLY know what they are doing (this is more important, the most adjustment options the coilovers feature), and I don't mean your local garage mechanic. He may be great, but unless he has motorsport experience, chances are he won't know much more about setting up your coilovers to meet your needs than your Granny. And yes, coilovers, correctly set up, can give fantastic improvements in control, but incorrectly setup your car will just be hard and crashy and handle like a shopping trolley!
So which to choose, suspension kit, or coilovers?
Go for a suspension kit if:
- You want to lower the vehicle by up to 40mm (some kits do go more)
- Ride comfort is paramount
- You are not a track guru, just want to stiffen up the ride for general fast road use
- You want something that is straight forward to install
- You are on a budget
Go for coilover suspension if:
You are a regular on the track You want to be able to adjust the ride height or lower the vehicle 50mm+ You want to be able to tweak the suspension to change the characteristics of the vehicle You want the best and money is no object You are not concerned if the ride is hard on the road
Be aware that recently there has been a flood of "budget" coilovers to the market. These tend to be low cost, with adjustable height, and fixed damping. If you are considering a budget set, then give serious thought as to whether you really need coilovers as discussed above, because for the cost of budget coilovers you can often get a much better quality suspension kit which would potentially give you a much better ride!
About the Author
Performance car parts and styling and tuning accessories online. DCPerformance stock induction kits, exhausts, suspension and alloy wheels from leading brands like K&N, Janspeed, Bilstein, Koni, Mongoose, Eibach and many more. Website has over 100'000 products available to order online.
Maximum Control -- The Chassis suspension
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