What's so great about coilovers?

For as long as I've had my car I've been told over and over 'dude, you should put some coilovers on your car'. Ok, maybe not the dude part but..

Why are coilovers _the_ way to go? They're expensive. What really makes them so much better than non-coilovers? Is it simply because everyone thinks lower = better? Is it the adjustability? I'm looking at getting 'STANCE GR+ PRO' Coilovers. (I'd need to pay someone on here to install them but that will be another thread.)

Are coilovers really worth the price? ( I know that's probably a matter of personal opinion but.. I need help making such personal opinions..).

About two years ago I had new shocks and struts put on, though the springs were not replaced. I'm starting to notice bouncing (like when on the highway going over bumps). This is what has me looking at getting coilovers, replace everything at once.

you don't need anyone put them on for you.
there's vidz on how to do it on youtube i think even.
on a s13.

Thanks for that vote of confidence but I lack arm strength for such things.

the REAL question, like i say to all posts. is what do YOU WANT TO DO WITH YOUR CAR?
who cares what other people have? no reason to get coils if you dont drive it...for me. i drift.autocross.i build the car for me. what i like. if you want your car to feel like.all the other 240s(every bump you hit will giggle your bones)haha giggle.thats what will happen when you get coils.
and yes they have great adjustablility, i have the stance gr+ on my car. i love them.and you can raise/lower your car.if you drive your car for more than JUST a daily.then i think its a good investment.
so bascially.
what do you want to do with your car.
are you just trying to lower it?
that should answer your qestion

nephthys wrote:

Thanks for that vote of confidence but I lack arm strength for such things.

you dont need much arm strength. get a breaker bar...im 19,5'8" and asian.lol you need rear upper contol arms btw.

fronts=
3bolts up top on each side
take off wheel
remove break line
take off 2 other bolts.
slide off coil
and put everything back on

rear=
remove 2 bolts on top
one long bolt on the bottom
put in new coils.
done.

It's my daily driver and I autox it. I would enjoy having the car lowered but I'm not buying anything specifically for just that purpose. I want high quality, good performance, and I want to resolve the current issue that is starting to become more and more noticeable (bouncing/hopping). Whether I use my car to it's performance or not I consider irrelevant at the moment. So knowing that something is in need of replacing, and knowing that my ex's, my friends, and the car-smart people I know keep talking about coilovers, I'm looking as to why it is exactly everyone seems to think that's the way to go.

Why everyone gets it:

Its probably for all the adjustability for the suspension (camber, height, springrate, dampening)

and in some peoples cases, to slam it to the ground



I know that someone makes some custom ohlin spring/strut combo that is made for auto-x road racing. It has a small threaded portion for small height adjustment. Maybe you can look into that.

yeah but i can imagine ohlins = $$$

coilovers really give your car a feeling of control, the less body roll the better, shocks and spring and ride height causes higher center of gravity witch makes a lot of body roll.
I could go iweight transfer and all that but its really kinda self explanitory...

but they're easily adjustable for height dampening camber etc... so you can really set them up to fit YOU and your driving style.

GR+ for most people
OR
Koni 8610\8611 if you're actually serious about tuning your handling. (if you actually want tune each one to your corner-weight)

Both options cost about the same.

SPEEDTRIBE wrote:

yeah but i can imagine ohlins = $$$

coilovers really give your car a feeling of control, the less body roll the better, shocks and spring and ride height causes higher center of gravity witch makes a lot of body roll.
I could go iweight transfer and all that but its really kinda self explanitory...

but they're easily adjustable for height dampening camber etc... so you can really set them up to fit YOU and your driving style.

ohlins ARE pricey. im trying to save for a set.

PS: ill install them for you. just let me know when

nephthys wrote:

Thanks for that vote of confidence but I lack arm strength for such things.

do you have a disability to do something?
like serious question.
not trying to make fun or anything at all.
i didn't think i could do it either.
tried it. wasn't hard at all.

just very time consuming for making adjustments.

i'm guessing nephthys is a female. am i right?

install is easy u can do it yourself. just those 3 bolts on top of strut and 2 bolts where the spindle connects to strut. and in the back 2 bolts on top then one nut at bottom. Dont forget to move the harness in your fenders and hammer that little sharp thingy so it wont cut your wheels.

nephthys wrote:

and knowing that my ex's,.

nephthys wrote:

For as long as I've had my car I've been told over and over 'dude, you should put some coilovers on your car'. Ok, maybe not the dude part but..

I think shes a female would be why she doesn't want to try to do it.
witch is understandable, its not always easy especially if the nuts are seized or you don't have the correct tools.

koukimonster wrote:

i'm guessing nephthys is a female. am i right?

that is correct.

i met her because she made it out to a few of our meets

listen to Kevin... he's always right

and does good installs

Specter wrote:

listen to Kevin... he's always right

good to see you finally accepted the truth

I heard D*star and Team Mexico have Stance Gr+ Pro's.
They must be fucking BOMB then.
I hate to say this to you but.
SEARCH SEARCH FUCKING SEARCH.
Join zilvia and browse the FAQ's and stickies for stuff like this.
I could go on for days about the benefits of coilovers.
As could many.

+1, I have GR+ PRO also.

MEEE TOOOO. .
gr+ Pro rollCALL!!!1

FRANKMON DOES TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

s13, s14, z33

Hearing other people have what I was looking at is cool to know. And I think my question has been answered, thanks guys.

Ya, I'm female, thought the hello kitty exhaust pic under the nickname was giving me away. Guess not. In general, I try to speak without coming across as a car ignorant chick. If people think I'm a guy (online) I take it as a compliment, because I assume it means I wasn't making myself sound dumb.

d*star , I understand what you're saying but why should I join another forum to talk about something, when I've already joined _this_ forum? When I asked my dad this question, guess what he told me. "Hm, I don't know much about coilovers sounds like a good question for your 240 guys on that forum, why don't you go ask them I bet they can tell you all about it." So, that's exactly what I did.

Kevin, thanks. I think I'll take you up on that when I am ready.

Unfortunately I have a more pressing problem I discovered last night at like 10 pm in the middle of the street. I was noticing on my way home that it was getting increasingly hard to shift, clutch feel was going away. Soon it's basically impossible to shift. Light ahead of me is changing and I'm all 'crap, I hope I'm going to be able to shift it.. contemplated going through but stopped. Car dies.. Always a drag. Start it up, can't move it into first. Manage to get it into neutral. My clutch is dead (or something). I couldn't shift it out of neutral. Kinda blew. Light turns green.. uh.. fuck. turn on hazzards. Light changes some more..Call my dad (I had just come back from my folks). Tell him what's going on.. discuss options (call insurance to have them send tow truck.. call 911 to tell them im stranded in the middle of the road.. ). Cop turns past me, doesn't bother to stop, how nice of him. But my dad gets an idea.. I learned something new last night. He had me turn the car off where I could then shift it into second, start it up, push on the gas quick and I was able to drive home in 2nd, no stopping of course.
So thats my story for the day. Hopefully it won't be real expensive to fix. Otherwise I'm not getting coilovers any time soon.

Its your slave cylinder.
Easy to replace.

Costs $17.

or clutch master. either way id recommend replacing both (like $90 for both at autozone) just to be sure you don't have any problems like that in the future.