91civicZC | 03-19-2010 01:31 PM | Just cause Im like that, Thought I would post up my two cents.
1)If a coilover is built correctly for the vehicle, it should give you no more stiff or worse a ride than a shock and spring setup. I’m not sure where this idea comes from, other than people using old school Japanese coilover style tuning where its all about crazy high spring rates vs shock and spring combos that have been traditionally sold from Euro companies with less aggressive spring rates with better dampers. Long story short, they are both spring and damper setups, both should perform as needed depending on the intended use. The other part that people ofeten miss is the fact that replacing your upper mount with a "camber plate" (which is a whole other topic to rant on) decreases your comfort value. Usually stock upper spring seats have some rubber and some "give" that sftens the ride a little. taking this away with any kind of solid mount will put more feedback into the cabin and "stiffen" the ride.
2)As above, traditionally Japanese tuners tend to use a higher spring rate, and control those forces with high rebound force in the dampers, while the compression stroke is mainly controlled by the high spring rate itself. European setups generaly have better control over both he rebound and compression forces in the damper, and usually use a less high spring rate. In my mind this is preferable for both handling and comfort values. Remember, this is a general statement, there are exceptions out there of course, and Japans damper tuning has come a long way in the last few years
3)If it was up to me, I would go coilover over spring and shock combo every time, simply for the added adjustment (choices) it gives me. However, many of the coilovers out there than can be purchased for the same price as a quality spring and shock combo are total shit. I would look to larger brand names, and find out what they can show you to back up “performance” claims. If a company can sell you a neato wow groovey coilover for 500 bucks, but has never competed in a 24 hour race, or a ALMS race, or has never been used by an OEM on a factory car etc etc, you probably aren’t getting much more than your 500 bucks worth. Performance/build quality comes at a cost.
Just my thoughts on the thread above.
To answer the OP original question, I would recommend the Bilstien Eibach setup if given that those where my only choices, as Bilstien normally makes a good product. |