lowering spring or coilovers which is better?

**hondaesi** · February 17th, 2008 03:18 AM

sir question lang

ano ang mas maganda gamiten sa dalawa?

benefits and downside nito?

tnx

san pwede bumili pang ESI?

**niky** · February 17th, 2008 03:39 AM

You could probably buy lowering springs for the Civic from a sidewalk vendor... I see them everywhere. Coil-over kits, well... not available at your local carinderia, but lots of shops have them, too... Try Autoplus or Speedlab for the newer/higher quality kits.

Lowering springs will give you a stiffer car and more control over body roll, but if you're on stock (presumably old) shocks, they'll make for a very bouncy ride and poor handling on bumpy surfaces. And if you don't change out your stock shocks, they'll eventually give out because the stiff springs put extra stress on them. Once the shocks go, the car will ride like crap. But there are soft sets available that will not stress your shocks as much. I don't know what those brands are, though.

A coil-over kit is usually a matched set of springs and shocks... so the shocks will not be
over-stressed by the spring stiffness. They're usually adjustable for ride height and shock damping, too. If you buy it at a good place and the installer knows what he's doing, it'll ride better than stock while giving you much more control and better handling than just a set of lowering springs. Only downsides is possible suspension noise and rust on the grooves for the rings used to adjust height. If it's a good brand, the springs and shocks will probably live longer than your car will... as most of these sets are a hell of a lot stronger than stock suspensions... Unfortunately, they cost a freaking arm and a leg (say... 30 - 60k pesos... or more for the more adjustable ones).

**hondaesi** · February 17th, 2008 08:07 AM

tnx for the info...

**Type 100** · February 18th, 2008 12:24 AM

I was also considering choosing between a full coilover setup vs. a matched shocks-and-springs combo.

I wanted to ask: there seems to be the notion that once you go with coilovers the ride will become unbearably harsh. Is this necessarily true? I've heard testimonials from a few TEIN coilover users that will refute this notion.

My whole reason for swapping suspension parts is to cure the Jazz's somewhat restless ride...and beef up the reportedly shoddy construction of the stock dampers.

Thanks in advance.

**empy** · February 18th, 2008 05:09 AM

^no, it's not always true. some coilover setups, especially those that are only height adjustable and not rebound/damper adjustable, do have stiffer ride characteristics than the stock suspension. however, the better coilover sets do have rebound/damper adjustability and you can adjust the ride quality somewhat to your taste.

**niky** · February 18th, 2008 09:36 AM

If you can adjust the dampers, the ride should be okay... but these things are designed for handling, so, unfortunately, no... your Jazz won't ride like a Corolla after installing these things.

But yes, the shocks will probably last much longer than the stock units.