Coilovers vs Lowering Springs?

Newbie here. I want to lower my car, especially the front which sits up like 1.5 in higher than the back. What are the differences between coilovers and lowering springs? Handling is very important to me, I won’t need to adjust height after, and I’m not looking to cheap out either. If anyone has suggestions on what to get let me know please.

Newbie here. I want to lower my car, especially the front which sits up like 1.5 in higher than the back. What are the differences between coilovers and lowering springs? Handling is very important to me, I won’t need to adjust height after, and I’m not looking to cheap out either. If anyone has suggestions on what to get let me know please.

 

Ultimately depends on what your goals and budget are. You mentioned that handling is really important to you and that you don't need to adjust height afterwards. Fronts generally sit higher due to "saggy butt". I've seen a lot of springs lower the front more to compensate for this and there are also "saggy butt" spacers as well to even out the ride height front and back.

 

Sounds like you would be better off getting a set of Konis matched with a good quality lowering spring. I've been debating this myself too but for entry level coilovers (~$1000), they aren't really the best at handling and ride comfort.

Hey... just getting into the Legacy world and I'm in a similar boat. At this point, I'm trying to decide between the Koni package w/ springs (around $750+) or just go with entry coils which are around $1000 give or take. Vehicle will be a daily to the true sense of the word (around 70 miles a day) so I'm really trying to figure out comfort level. Lots of info out there but it's fairly difficult to put it all into context. GL with your search and I'll comment on here if I find any good info (even though there is a lot on this forum)

I’m on Koni’s with H&R lowering springs but a full sway bar, end link, strut bar, etc set up. I love the ride for daily driving and road trips and the wheel gap is about a finger and a half. Highly recommend going this route if you don’t need adjustments, don’t ever need to slam the car for shows, or don’t need to go on the track.

 

I also wouldn’t recommend cheap coilovers, if you have the budget for nice coilovers and sway bars go ahead though. With the amount spent on nice coilovers you can also have the setup I have with the sway bars and etc. I believe H&Rs are good for stock struts as well.

I’m on Koni’s with H&R lowering springs but a full sway bar, end link, strut bar, etc set up. I love the ride for daily driving and road trips and the wheel gap is about a finger and a half. Highly recommend going this route if you don’t need adjustments, don’t ever need to slam the car for shows, or don’t need to go on the track.

 

I also wouldn’t recommend cheap coilovers, if you have the budget for nice coilovers and sway bars go ahead though. With the amount spent on nice coilovers you can also have the setup I have with the sway bars and etc. I believe H&Rs are good for stock struts as well.

 

Thanks for the info and response. Your hook up sounds very similar to what I had in mind, I wasn't really sure if it was worth it to delve into the coilover world for just a couple extra hundred ($750 give or take to $1000 give or take) but it seems from research that coils probably aren't a great choice for the amount of miles I'll be pouring onto them.

Edited November 20, 2017 by JOZI
TYPO

I recently was in the same boat of a full strut/coil/tophat package vs a set of coils. The struts and coils on my car have around 100k, and it felt like it was time to freshen things up. Whether it be the right choice or not, I ended up going w/ a more entry coil from Fortune Auto (500 series w/ default spring rates). If you haven't made your purchase yet, give them a look. The gen 6's are pretty good quality for the money without getting into the real pricey premium products. My plan is to pull the old bilsteins, have them rebuilt if possible and get some new tophats and H&R springs on them.

I recently was in the same boat of a full strut/coil/tophat package vs a set of coils. The struts and coils on my car have around 100k, and it felt like it was time to freshen things up. Whether it be the right choice or not, I ended up going w/ a more entry coil from Fortune Auto (500 series w/ default spring rates). If you haven't made your purchase yet, give them a look. The gen 6's are pretty good quality for the money without getting into the real pricey premium products. My plan is to pull the old bilsteins, have them rebuilt if possible and get some new tophats and H&R springs on them.

 

 

I haven't pulled the trigger yet, but yeah Fortune was one of the brands I was mulling over. Another one was Feal, which I was interested in because they come with Swift springs. I'm actually still really undecided so I've still been digging through old posts and what not trying to find info. At the end of the day, I think I'll probably go with coils but I can't get myself to fire off the money quite yet.

Those 441's look pretty nice...hope you find something that will suit you best!

If you "don't want to cheap out", budget $1500-2000 for a good coilover like KW. You get extra adjustability and damper settings - whether you can take full advantage of it is all up to the user and their knowledge of suspension setup. The downside is that coilovers need to be rebuilt every 40-50k. Don't argue, it's in the manual for every reputable coilover manufacturer. Also the corrosion that cause all those adjutable bits to freeze up - it happens when you drive your car on a daily basis.

 

If you're willing to live with the tradeoffs for the potential adjustability, coilovers are a good idea. If not, a good strut paired with a good lowering spring will do wonders with swaybars, bushings, and a proper alignment (which would end up costing roughly the same amount as a good set of coilovers).

If you "don't want to cheap out", budget $1500-2000 for a good coilover like KW. You get extra adjustability and damper settings - whether you can take full advantage of it is all up to the user and their knowledge of suspension setup. The downside is that coilovers need to be rebuilt every 40-50k. Don't argue, it's in the manual for every reputable coilover manufacturer. Also the corrosion that cause all those adjutable bits to freeze up - it happens when you drive your car on a daily basis.

 

If you're willing to live with the tradeoffs for the potential adjustability, coilovers are a good idea. If not, a good strut paired with a good lowering spring will do wonders with swaybars, bushings, and a proper alignment (which would end up costing roughly the same amount as a good set of coilovers).

 

Great info, thank you. Didn't think of the corrosion issue. Rebuilding every 40-50k would be a real pain in the rear for a daily, not to mention it's basically tacking on more and more money to the cost of the coils over time.

I obviously did not do enough research on the rebuild issue, and the potential for corrosion freezing things up. Thanks for the good info on this. That may definitely influence my decision.

KW's are really the only all season coilovers as they're made with a stainless steel body that resists corrosion. Whether or not you're using your coilovers in the winter or not, I highly recommend putting a layer of anti seize on the threads prior to installation and making it a habit to clean the threads and reapply antiseize a couple of times a year. Never had a coilover seize on me through winter driving on all my previous cars with coilovers

That's a really good idea. Any work I have done on the suspension of the car has been accompanied w/a liberal amount of anti-seize. I will make sure to apply it to the treads on the coils as well. Thanks for the advice!

Hello another newbie here, just wanted to ask if anyone has used or knows anything about Silvers Coilovers?

Newbie here. I want to lower my car, especially the front which sits up like 1.5 in higher than the back. What are the differences between coilovers and lowering springs? Handling is very important to me, I won’t need to adjust height after, and I’m not looking to cheap out either. If anyone has suggestions on what to get let me know please.

 

 

What did you end up doing and going with?