Coilovers? Why should i get them?

[Monty]

I am sitting in bed with this laptop and i am thinking about coilovers. I have lowering springs on order they cost me roughly £150. After a few months the shocks will be buggered so that will cost me £200.

It will cost me £70 to get my springs fitted in the first place, then more than £70 to get my shocks replaced. Lets just say £100. So there we have £150, £200, £70, £100. Thats a total of £520. I think i will be better with a set of D2 Coilovers?

Can someone explain what coilovers do, the benefits of them, and will they lower my car? Also what is the ride quality like on coilovers?

 

[riko666]

Hmmm k...put in leighman's terms...a coilover, like springs & shocks will a) absorb a shock transmitted from the road, and b) dampen the resultant movement of the vehicle. Now, Lowering Springs generally have a low spring rate increase over stock, whereas aftermarket dampers can go from Mild stock Replacements to Highly uprated units. The difficulty with this is you'll rarely match the Spring's rates with the Dampers...err...damping rate - what you will usually find is a spring too soft with a shock too hard, which will a) cause you to grind down onto the bumpstops on big undulations or bumpy stretches of road and b) the car will bound and rebound far too aggressively, bobbing around struggling to maintain the contact with the road surface.

Coilovers on the other hand are well matched as they are combined into a single, tuned unit. Spring rates will generally be much higher than that of Lowering Springs, so the ride will be harsher, but the suspension itself will better deal with bumps, sorting out a bound/rebound movement into a single event rather than having the car bounce uncontrollably. And yes, by their very nature, Coilovers are almost always height adjustable. The new D2's are apparently a good "Street" application in terms of comfort

 

[Monty]

Cheers Riko your the man! Appreciate you taking time to give me a good reply dude. Think i will just save up for the D2's then.

M

 

[steo800]

first off, do all the fitting yourself, very easy on a starlet with the usual tools.
also, when lowering a starlet you should get an adjustable lateral rod to re-align the suspension.you may not notice it to look at but if you measure your wheels each side, you will find one will stick out more than the other.


as for coilovers, they will significantly improve the grip of your starlet once they are setup. taking d2s as example, you can adjust the camber, height, damper and spring preload.
sounds great but can be a pain if you dont have patience for them.jacked my car up many many times fiddling with the settings on them.

also the coilovers will be a rougher ride as they will be stiffer.

im very happy with my d2s, but then i dont mind the rough drive over bumps and the likes.

if you are going to do a few track days, defo get coilovers, if not maybe you should try get a ride in starlet with coilovers before you decide.

 

[Monty]

Yeah maybe a better idea. I wont be doing track days ever so i am so pissed off with the whole not knowing what to get thing.

I Have heard people saying its better to lowering springs and a set of koni adjustable shock absorbers? Any truth in that? Also if i bought these shocks below how long would they last with 40mm lowering springs on them?

KYB Shock Absorbers/pair

£73.00 - £143.00 exc carriage (2-3 Days)


Enlarge

Application:

EP82 front all models - £143.00
EP91 front all models - £143.00

EP82 rear (post 92) - £73.00
EP91 rear all models - £73.00

Description: Slight upgrade over oem shock absorbers, KYB (Kyaba) actually make Toyota shocks as well as many others. Supplied in pair's as complete kits wilth all anciallries to run. Not available for pre 92 EP82 GT. Cost effective replacement shock absorbers.

 

[Monkfish]

I had shagged rear shocks when I bought the car. I priced up Tein 40mm springs and Koni adjustable shocks. £550 delivered from Mr Burwash at the time. D2's are only £50 more and have height, spring pre-load, damper and camber adjustment. Well worth the money IMO.

They are a harder than the shocks and springs, but that might be down to the fact there was probably no farkin' oil in the shocks!

 

[sx_turbo]

if you get coilovers, they will last the life time of the car, if you get those shocks above and lowering springs, you will be replacing them after a couple of years, and them shocks arent cheap wot you posted above.

on the other hand if coilovers are gonna be to harsh for you, then look on yahoo auctions for a shock and spring combo and get toby to ship them over for you, ones from japan are generally very good combinations.

 

[Nwimie]

coilovers are better for handling and have lots of adjustability. hense the price

bassically as with most things you get what you pay for.

 

[Jay]

Good thread lads, excellent response to a common question.