Coilovers: Tech, Buyer Guide & Brand List

[DreadAngel]

Coilovers: Buyer's Guide


Where to start?

• What am I after - Make sure you know what you want, be it just a simple drop, a drop and some performance, drop/performance/comfort or whatever combination, otherwise you will end up running something that you will dislike and make the car a pain to drive. Remember that we mod our cars because we want to enjoy them.
  
  
• Application - Similar to the above, application is also everything. After all, there is no point running super stiff circuit valved coilovers on a car that will only see the street and driven mainly on broken tarmac. That's just a recipe for disaster not only in performance, but to your own safety.
  
  
• Budget - Another important point is the amount of money you feel justified to spend. If your budget doesn't allow for the dream setup, you must look for a compromise.

What to look for?

• Damper Type - Twin-tube or monotube? In a perfect world, twin-tube would be used for street and monotube for track. It's not that simple however; a high quality monotube will almost be on par in comfort as that of twin-tubes and will almost last as long. Conversely, a low quality monotube is horrible for street and tends to wear out very quickly, so it will feel like it's not absorbing the bumps at all.
  
  For cars that are used as a daily, a twin-tube or high quality monotube will give you performance and comfort.
  
  For cars that are used on the track more often than the street, a low or high quality twin-tube/monotube coilover is suitable; budget and performance goals will determine which one you would go for.
  
  
• Damper Valving - Digressive is often regarded as the best damper valving and for good reason. They have a good feel at low piston speed whilst giving a softened response at high piston speed speed, minimising harshness and providing control. Digressive coilovers however are some of the most expensive on the market.
  
  Most affordable coilovers for the average owner will have linear or progressive valving, which are set with a stiff bias. This can be intolerable on harsh surfaces and if it's really badly made or set up, it can be painful to ride even under normal driving conditions.
  
  
• Spring Rate
  
  1. Think about what you want most: comfort or performance.
  2. Research your car's weight. In general, heavier cars require stiffer springs to counteract the car's mass for the same effect that a lighter car with softer springs so base it in respect to chassis not spring rates alone.
  3. Research your car's suspension layout and factory rating. This is very important as different layouts will require different approaches to suspension selection and tuning.
  4. Research what is available in the market for your car.
  5. Compare the spring rate of the coilover you're considering to your factory spring rate, this way you can infer how much stiffer it's going to be.
  6. Check the coilover's damper valving/quality if possible. The stiffer the spring rate is, the better the damper's valving should be to compensate for the stronger springs.
  7. Choose the right one for you; refer back to the first point - softer for comfort, stiffer for performance. Additionally if the roads you drive on most are **** then it's not smart to run super stiff springs; instead go softer than normal. If the roads you run on are smoother, you can afford to run stiffer springs if you want more performance, otherwise stick with the norm and you'll be fine.
  
  
  
• Damper Adjustment - It may seem difficult to choose as the range of adjustments or steps for coilovers varies from 5 ---> 10 ---> 16 ---> 24 ---> 32.
  
  A larger number does not mean much, as a 32 step adjustment damper could actually feel like a 5 step adjustment damper depending on its quality. For example, a poor quality 32 step model could mean that several steps feel similar or no different like 1-6, 7-11, 12-18, 19-25 and 26-32.
  
  Therefore try not to focus on the how many step adjustments a damper has and hoping it can offset the harshness. Instead, focus on its quality, as this will determine how harsh the ride will be.
  
  
• Damper Quality - This is very hard to assess when you can't necessarily try and by. Fortunately there are a few key features, which can help differentiate a superior coilover from an inferior one.
  
  
  • Gas/Oil Type -
  • Piston Size - Piston sizing, especially for monotube, is a good way of judging how good the dampening can be. Coilovers with smaller pistons tend to not have precise dampening. In general, <30mm is considered small, 31mm - 45mm is considered medium and anything >46mm would be considered large.

Work in Progress