I'm kicking around whether of not to get them ...... price VS function.
It would be real cool to be able to set the ride height and have real fully independent suspension.

I hear they're real stiff .... but they shouldn't be with the rights springs.. Right?

Any input would be appreciated

 

I am also intested in the coil overs. I race a 97. Do you think it would put me in a mod class to switch? I wonder how much performance gain we are talking about.

 

Nate at Xtreme talked me out of the coilovers, they are just too aggressive for the street. If you race your car a lot and don't mind having an uncomfortable ride around town, go for it. I'm putting Z06 springs on my car (I found out I have the base suspension) and Hal 12 way adjustable shocks. If you have ever seen Nate's car in person you will appreciate that he is sparing no expense to use only the absolute best components on it and he is putting Hals on his car. If coilovers were a better choice he would be using them regardless of price, and he's not.

PS: I just realized that in talking me out of the coilovers he also talked himself out of about $400 in additional sales, how's that for honesty over greed?

 

DO NOT WASTE YOUR $$$$$$$$$!! With some aggresive swaybars (hotchkis/T1), good shocks (bilstein sports), nice rubber (Pilot/BFG's), and good alignment (.75 - 1 degree neg camber all around) you should have handling that will put a huge smile on your face (at or over 1g).........no need for the coilovers IMO......

 

A few t;hings about coil overs:

first, to put a real coil over that is made for road use, which is the same as road racing, the shock has to have a fairly large body. The large body will offer consistantcy in the operation with the larger volume of fluid in the shock. This allows the fluid to work longer, and not overheat. A shock like a Penske, Bilstein, Koni etc offer this performance. The problem is that to run a full size shock/Coil over, the rear coil over spring interferes with the rear tie rod.
On the C5R, and the World Challenge cars that we built, we had to make a special tie rod to clear the springs. So for a true competition set of coil over springs/shocks there must me a method of clearing the tie rods.

This can also be accomplished with the use of a smaller diameter spring, but still must be matched to a full size shock.
At the present time there is not a street/race package available that can perform well enough to hit the road race track without losing its efficiency.

We have a very high priced kit that we used on the World Challenge cars that we built, but to go with a Penske set up, you are talking about $4000+ for just the shocks.

So until a lower cost full size shock is available, the others are acceptable for Drag racing, since they are adjustable, or for street use since they are not asked to perform at 100% for any length of time.

Oliver is correct. Unless you are going to the road race track, you can accomplish plenty with the T1 bars etc.

Just my .2

Lou Gigliotti LG Motorsports


[Modified by LG Motorsports, 11:35 AM 8/19/2002]

 

Thanks guys you saved me alot money :cheers: :cool:

 

I have the BPP/PRo Shocks coil setup. I have to echo LG here. I had to clearence both my tie rods. The fronts went on fine, but the rears were a MAJOR pain in the butt. One rod needed just a lil clearence, whereas the other needed more. I have pics, but they are kinda of hard to tell. I also lowered the car significantly. Also have the Hotchkiss bars. The ride improvment was very noticable to me at least. I squated better and the tires bite the road more. I like the setup. I got new BPP coils for $1000 for a forum member, so it was not bad. I drag, but never autox so the $1550 I shelled out for the coils and bars was worth it IMO.
Oh yeah I can also corner now like a wild beast, it is amazing. :cheers:

 

I purchased coilovers for 3 reasons,

1. I can easily weight balance all 4 corners
2. Cross talk is eliminated keeping my tires planted on uneven roads
3. I can switch springs in an hour from 350 lbs to 500lbs. Springs only
cost $110 from Proshock for which ever rate you want

After having this setup for a few months I have concluded that the ride is more comfortable considering I have T1 bars and the ride feels the same as the z51 package I had before. But I have also concluded that if I were to do it again I would have bought Ohlin coilovers instead. The Proshock coilover just barely fits and does need wider spring and shock.

If you don't race...just get bilstiens or Hals and some hotchkis bars.
I my self will always go with coilovers but I don't recommend them to everyone.

 

I agree with you Lou but there are alternatives. I'm using a Ohlins 46HRC coilover which have a external canister for compression adjustment, the rebound adjustment are on the shock. This makes the shock smaller and you do not get any problems with the tie rods. The cost is still high (about $3200) so I would say it's a waste of money for only street use. If you are serious about roadracing go for it :)