When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I have posted before about what to do with my ridetech coilovers i currently have that won’t get low enough to get the stance that I like. I currently cannot lower the rears any more as the shock itself is to stiff and the spring won’t contact the stops. My question is what options do I have to go lower with different coilovers? I would hate to get a new set only to find I have the same issue. I currently have 2 1/2” of fender gap ideas? Options? It’s a mostly street driven car with hopes to do some HPDE next summer
LG G2 are probably one of the best set of coilovers around for the price... especially if you will be road racing or open tracking the car.
Another great option is the Aldan American setup which IMO is an AMAZING deal for the price... $1199 Shipped to your door, Made in the USA, 100% rebuildable, and we can customize to your specs..
Here's a quick overview of coils, roughly sorted by price:
LG GT2 GT2 price: $1,830
GT2 adjustment: 1 way (rebound, compression combined) Note: a heavier coilover compared to the PFADT FeatherWeight and LG G2, but has dampening adjustment. It doesn't have the trusted name brand parts of the LG G2 like the Bilstein (to my knowledge anyway) which is reflected in the cheaper price. I'd say this is a good entry level coilover for street driving with occasional entry-level track use.
LG G2 G2 price: $2,300
G2 adjustment: NONE Note: this is an aluminum (light-weight) coilover with very high quality parts (Bilstein damper, Hyperco springs) but has NO adjust-ability except for height, not even dampening. It's been pre-tuned by LG. I'd say if you're looking for serious street performance along with occasional, non-serious tracking, this might be a good coilover. While I personally do not like the lack of dampening adjustment, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. If you're a casual user who doesn't plan to mess with these settings then this is a non-issue, as improper adjustments can lead to poor and even dangerous handling characteristics.
Nitron R1/R3 R1 price: $2,700 R1 adjustment: 1 way (rebound/compression, combined) R3 price: $3,600 R3 adjustment: 3 way Notes: Nitron started off making shocks for Formula 1 and exotic cars. They eventually got into the motorcycle market, and then recently the automotive market. They seem to be very popular and are considered excellent choices in the motorcycle world, judging by the many online track reviews from motorcyclists praising them. Information on how well they perform on passenger cars is still scarce, but judging by both their success in the Formula 1 world, exotic car world, and motorcycle world, I'd guess they're pretty good. They also apparently dyno all their shocks before they leave the factory. When ordering Nitron's, you'll have to explicitly state the spring rates you want (and I'm guessing they valve the shocks appropriately to the spring rate).
PFADT Featherweight $3,000 to $5,000: Single adjustments: 1 way (rebound/compression combined)
Doubles adjustments: 2 way (rebound and compression, independent)
GMPP adjustments: 2 way (rebound and compression, independent)
Notes: an aluminum coilover with inverted shocks, just like the G2. Not sure what parts it uses, but it does have dampening adjustment. In addition, the shocks are dyno'd from the factory to make sure that the spring/shock combination you get are linear and working in harmony - this to me is very important. Some of the cheaper crap out there has dampening that is either unpredictable or doesn't even do anything. Also, the Featherweight's can be re-valved to whatever spring rate you want. That all being said, don't buy older gen 1 PFADT coils! They were prone to potentially catastrophic failure. PFADT fixed this in the newest gens. Unless you're buying used, you won't encounter a gen 1 for sale.
Spring rates for the PFADT FeatherLights are as follows: FeatherLight Singles: 460lb/in Front -- 600lb/in Rear FeatherLight Doubles: 700lb/in Front -- 600lb/in Rear FeatherLight GMPP Doubles: 800lb/in Front -- 700lb/in Rear
KW V3's $3,150: Price: $3,150
Adjustments: 2 way (rebound, compression independent) Notes: The KW brand in general has an excellent reputation. Regarding the V3's specifically, while they are excellent on the street, they're generally considered to be too soft on the track. Also, when I checked the spring rates on the V3's, they seemed really low for the Corvette. Finally, KW V3's are gonna be really expensive to re-valve. You can get away with putting some slightly stiffer springs on, but I don't think you'll ever be fully satisfied with these if you start seriously getting into tracking, as it's just not really practical to re-valve them cost-wise [citation: Dave @ CSG motorsports, in reference to KW V3's for FRS]
Spring rates: 285F, 515R
(personal note: stiffer isn't necessarily better, but these are pretty soft spring rates. I also don't get why the fronts are significantly softer than the front - this should, in theory, lead to more oversteer, which is exactly what the Corvette doesn't need. This makes me question how much C6 Z06 specific testing KW did)
[citation: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...e-c6-z06.html]
KW Clubsports: Price: $3,315
Adjustments: 2-way (rebound, compression independent)
Notes: in general, they are considered awesome coilovers for their price vs performance and are often recommended among various car enthusiasts. However, I don't know much about how they are for Corvette's.
Penske/JRZ/etc: Price: $4,800 to $8k+
Notes: These are what serious racecars run - they're the best shocks out there. But these coilovers are often $5k+ just for the shocks themselves which is overkill unless you're a serious race car driver. They're also not worth the additional $2k-$5k over Nitron R3's or KW Clubsports unless you're in a situation where that extra 10th of a second is the difference between first and second place.
Consensus:
If you want some aggressive coilovers for the street and the once-in-a-blue-moon track day, go with the LG G2.
If you want coilovers that retain the "softer" feel of the OEM suspension, get KW V3's.
If you want to start messing around on the track and are on a tight budget, get the LG GT2's.
If you want to start messing around on the track and aren't on a tight budget, get the Nitron R1's.
If you know how to adjust rebound/dampening/compression, and are willing to do so, and have some coin, get the Nitron R3's. KW Clubsports are great as well and serve as a nice bridge between entry level and serious race-team level coilovers.
And if you're doing legit competitive wheel-to-wheel racing, or just have too much money, get the JRZ's or Penske's.
I'm personally going to get the R1's and have them valved to handle 700f/600r.
Last edited by SivaSuryaKshatriya; 10-12-2017 at 01:54 PM.
LG G2: this is an aluminum (light-weight) coilover with very high quality parts (Bilstein damper, Hyperco springs) that has NO adjust-ability except for height, not even dampening. It's been pre-tuned by LG. I'd say if you're looking for serious street performance along with occasional, non-serious tracking, this might be a good coilover. However, I'm personally turned off by the lack of damping adjustment, though this isn't a bad thing if you're a casual user, as improper adjustments can lead to dangerous handling characteristics.
LG GT2: a heavier coilover, but has dampening adjustment. It doesn't have the trusted name brand parts of the LG G2 like the Bilstein (to my knowledge anyway) which is reflected in the cheaper price. I'd say this is a good entry level coilover for street driving with occasional entry-level track use.
PFADT Featherweight: an aluminum coilover with inverted shocks, just like the G2. Not sure what parts it uses, but it does have dampening adjustment. In addition, the shocks are dyno'd from the factory to make sure that the spring/shock combination you get are linear and working in harmony - this to me is very important. Some of the cheaper crap out there has dampening that is either unpredictable or doesn't even do anything. Also, the Featherweight's can be re-valved to whatever spring rate you want. That all being said, I've heard some complaints about PFADT quality in general, though nothing specific to the Featherweight series.
Spring rates for the PFADT FeatherLights are as follows: FeatherLight Singles: 460lb/in Front -- 600lb/in Rear FeatherLight Doubles: 700lb/in Front -- 600lb/in Rear FeatherLight GMPP Doubles: 800lb/in Front -- 700lb/in Rear
Nitron R1/R3: Nitron started off making shocks for Formula 1 and exotic cars. They eventually got into the motorcycle market, and then recently the automotive market. They seem to be very popular and are considered excellent choices in the motorcycle world, judging by the many online track reviews from motorcyclists praising them. Information on how well they perform on passenger cars is still scarce, but judging by both their success in the Formula 1 world, exotic car world, and motorcycle world, I'd guess they're pretty good. They also apparently dyno all their shocks before they leave the factory. When ordering Nitron's, you'll have to explicitly state the spring rates you want (and I'm guessing they valve the shocks appropriately to the spring rate).
KW V3's: you can't go wrong with KW V3's. While excellent on the street, they're generally considered to be too soft on the track. Also, when I checked the spring rates on the V3's, they seemed really low for the Corvette.
KW Clubsports: in general, they are considered awesome coilovers for their price vs performance and are often recommended among various car enthusiasts. However, I don't know much about how they are for Corvette's.
Penske/JRZ/etc: Yeah, you can't go wrong with Penske's or JRZ's or other super high-end shock manufacturers. But these coilovers are often $5k+ just for the shocks themselves - definitely overkill unless you're a serious race car driver.
Consensus:
If you want some aggressive coilovers for the street and the once-in-a-blue-moon track day, go with the LG G2.
If you want coilovers that retain the "softer" feel of the OEM suspension, get KW V3's.
If you want to start messing around on the track and are on a tight budget, get the LG GT2's.
If you want to start messing around on the track and aren't on a tight budget, get the Nitron R1's.
If you know how to adjust rebound/dampening/compression, and are willing to do so, and have some coin, get the Nitron R3's.
And if you're doing legit competitive wheel-to-wheel racing, or just have too much money, get the JRZ's or Penske's.
I'm personally probably gonna get the R1's valved to handle 700f/600r.
Wow awesome write up and fantastic information in this. Should make a suspension sticky with this lol.
This is really good stuff and I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to share it. I have done a fair amount of research into coilovers for our cars and the information you have provided is very useful to me and likely others.
I am basically down to either the Nitron R1s or the LG G2s. I've driven on the LG G2s on the track before and I liked them quite a bit. I already know what spring rates I want and don't intend on changing dampening.
Thanks again and much appreciated. I would be also interested to hear your feedback on the track if you do go with the Nitrons. You running any rear aero?
Depends on application and intended use. For street use and spirited driving, the factory leafs and shocks on our cars are actually pretty good. GM did a very nice overall job with them. For a once in a blue moon track event you can keep the leafs and simply install DRM Bilsteins which are great on the street and an occasional track run. But for a dedicated track car or a car driven more on the track than the street you can't beat a coilover due to flexibility in ride height, spring rates, compression and rebound damping.
Every serious car at the track I go to (Watkins Glen) is on coilovers.
Depends on application and intended use. For street use and spirited driving, the factory leafs and shocks on our cars are actually pretty good. GM did a very nice overall job with them. For a once in a blue moon track event you can keep the leafs and simply install DRM Bilsteins which are great on the street and an occasional track run. But for a dedicated track car or a car driven more on the track than the street you can't beat a coilover due to flexibility in ride height, spring rates, compression and rebound damping.
Every serious car at the track I go to (Watkins Glen) is on coilovers.
Does anyone keep the leafs in with coilovers? I bought my car with a set of ridetech’s (I hate them btw) and the leafs are still installed....
Why would you keep the leaf springs on the car? What purpose are they now serving if you have springs? The leafs add weight and you can't make adjustments. The spring action of the leaf is replaced by the spring sitting over your shocks. There are a few coilover systems that are designed to work with the factory leafs I think. I am not sure about these Ridetechs, but as a general rule the leafs come out for coilovers. Seems quite ridiculous to leave the leafs on the car once you install coilovers.
Does anyone keep the leafs in with coilovers? I bought my car with a set of ridetech s (I hate them btw) and the leafs are still installed....
Some coilovers are designed to run with the leaf springs but the vaste majority are not. You may want to check with Ridetech to see if the leafs are suppose to be removed. It may very well be the old owner installed these coilovers wrong. The old Eibah coilovers required you to keep the leaf springs
Why would you keep the leaf springs on the car? What purpose are they now serving if you have springs? The leafs add weight and you can't make adjustments. The spring action of the leaf is replaced by the spring sitting over your shocks. There are a few coilover systems that are designed to work with the factory leafs I think. I am not sure about these Ridetechs, but as a general rule the leafs come out for coilovers. Seems quite ridiculous to leave the leafs on the car once you install coilovers.
This was exactly my thought as well, and I believe that’s why it’s so overly stiff the previous owner obviously didn’t know what he or she was doing as I have found a few things amiss with the car.....gonna remove the leafs and see if things improve. It’s got to soften it up at least
Some coilovers are designed to run with the leaf springs but the vaste majority are not. You may want to check with Ridetech to see if the leafs are suppose to be removed. It may very well be the old owner installed these coilovers wrong
10-07-2017, 05:36 PM
Coilover questions
ideas? Options? It’s a mostly street driven car with hopes to do some HPDE next summer
