Coil overs vs Springs.

[J@Se]

Hey guys,

Can someone tell me the difference btw the two. I am a bit confused about this topic...all sorts of ppl have been telling me different things..So in your opinion, which is better? Cost wise, which is much more affordable?

TIA guys.

J@Se

[xoom]

Hey J@Se

<rollin> put coil overs on a little while ago. here's his posts about them

http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/index.php?showtopic=334

http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/index.php?showtopic=455

i think he's the only one that put them on from this forum and as u will read he took them off to put a springs set up.

Here's a message i found poping up on several forums surround this debate

depends on your style, where your live, and the conditions around(turf and weather)

now... coilovers have the advantage of self adjustment, you can raise your car back up in winter and/or after a show... to keep it looking low n cool in shows/summer

springs however.. are not adjustable but are more aggressive and are better for drag racing and launching...

each kind sort of has it's own field becuase of how different they are...

So mate it looks like its really personal choice.

My opinion. Aus roads are barely good enough to have ur car dropped on springs so going the coil overs i think is a bit of an over kill.

Cheers

Bill

[richi]

kcorro is on coilovers atm, i think his rear is at 1cm from the guard

[kcorro]

i love my coilovers. i am stuck on the road.

true coilovers are fully adjustable. most coilovers give you adjustable height of 4" and adjustable damper and adjustable camber plates. you can also change the springs to other springs with different rates. i am using standard springs but the manufacturer of my coilovers has 9 different springs to choose from.

on the other hand just springs are fixed at a height. typically spring manufacturers just make two stages for lowered springs known as low and super low. they are fixed spring rate unless you can get the manufacturer to coil up springs at the rate you desire. the damper is not adjustable because you are using the stock shockers.

i have the sedan with no body kit. i have not touched anything but i have come close to cement hotdogs in 90 degree parking spaces. i am glad the muffler is small and hidden because i would have hit it when reverse parking.

to give you a good answer to your question of which is better we need to know your application. just springs are $200 a set and fully adjustable coilovers are $2,000 a set.

[Mee?]

I've heard that using aftermarket springs that lower your car will inevitably kill your stock shox faster - in a time frame of a few months. How true is that? Because for a couple of hundred dollars to lower your car against a couple of thousand seems too good to be true ;)

[kcorro]

mee? i used to think that but i know several sportivos that are on lowered springs stage 1 and 2 for nearly over a year with no leaking from the shocks.

using lowered springs with stock shocks will place more pressure on them as they should be matched to shortened travel shocks. more pressure could cause the stock shocks to premature leak and fail.

[shaohaok]

i used to think that stock shocks and lowered spring could work. but after sometime, very gradually u'll find that the car seems to be very easily unsettled over corners and not tied down to the road. coz the rebound stroke on the stock shocks aren't very strong, it will tend to struggly to control the spring when the car is on its way up.

i find it a bit difficult to explain. until i swapped shocks in my first car, it would just suck itself back down on the road. coz when it was just the lowered springs, the car was quit unsure of itself at higher speeds and also when it encountered lots of ripples and bumps at low speeds. the car just kept getting pushed up but not tied down.

i did get to drive my sportivo with just lowered springs and it felt the same but not as bad. another example is if u hit a sharp bump, as the forces from the compression stroke travel to the car, the body will rise but it will take ages to fall. but because as it rises so far up, the wheel has already fallen, and then the body will drop very quickly and sometimes hit the bumpstop and crash.

as soon as i got the shocks put into the sportivo, on softest settings, the car just felt stock. like what it should have been if that was the factory ride height.

i think that's the best i can explain it at the moment. u just have to get a ride and see but i have it on 80% stiffness at the moment :P so it might be a bit too harsh for some.

[Mee?]

i'm not concerned about harshness.. What I'm concerned is if i fork out that $2-300 and get those springs.. am I severly risking the lifespan of my shoxs? Cuz I dont want to have to have to pay out another couple of grand 6 months down the road because the shox got stuffed. I drive quite aggresively sometimes.. sharp/high speed cornering so all these factors will definately contribute to the quick wearing down of the shox with lowered springs on em..

What do you guys think?

[ADR_rolla]

just use low king springs, alot cheaper and i think they are great, not much difference in feel from the orginial springs and still keeps your car like 2 to3 cm off the wheel. very practical for aus roads as well as giving u great handling and that low look. <-- this is for sportivo owners other rolla's must use super low kings springs

[kcorro]

mee? try out a set of springs. if your shocks fail you can look for a second hand set. like me i do not need my shocks, springs or struts anymore.

[CAP]

I've been informed by Car Shine - North Melbourne that the stock shocks will wear out prematurely if they are made to work significantly outside their normal operating height.

They stated the standards will be fine on anything up to a 35 mm drop, but past that, you will wear them out more quickly.

[Mee?]

They stated the standards will be fine on anything up to a 35 mm drop, but past that, you will wear them out more quickly.

Cheers for that info! I'll keep that in mind when looking for springs.. :D

[kcorro]

roller skate conquest

[kcorro]

ascent down approximately 7 cm

[kcorro]