Coilovers....

merlin

merlin

merlin

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
20,707
Location
England
Has anyone here got them and if so - what brand are they and can you tell me whether you're happy with the performance & build quality.

Been reading up on them, some guys in the states are saying that they're finding big name coilovers from the likes of buddyclub & hks etc - look flashy but internally aren't really engineered/put together quite as well as they could be. Could just be people talking pap on the internet though :rolleyes:

Been recommended to take a look at Ohlins & Fightex.

Fankyou.
 
With HKS you are paying for the name really, someone else will be making them and HKS simply stick their name on it.

Ohlins are a well respected brand, Penske and Leda too amongst others, these are expensive though

The 'D2' Coilovers seem to pretty good. How come you want coilovers anyway? :) Decent springs and dampers are as good, however lack in ride height adjustability, however they are a 'fit and forget' solution, coilovers tend to need a lot of fiddling and adjustment to get right
 
Not overly bothered about adjustable ride height, just some guys with them on DC5's are saying they are cornering much better.

My springs are uprated anyway & the geo's been done and I am happy with the setup, certainly no understeer, ride is better, no more nasty clunking noises over the OE setup and better at high speed but they're insisting coilovers are in a totally different league. I thought the car was ok at Donny personally but wtf do I know, I didnt exactly push the car with the noise problems I had.

I've got some money to spend on the car & it's a toss up between coilovers or a Toda clutch & lightened flywheel.
 
If it's any help I have Tein type HA coilovers on mine. Awesome pieces of kit, and Tein deserve their great reputation. I do find them a bit too hard for UK roads though, even on the softest settings.
 
I have D2 coilovers on my car and they have transformed the handling of the car but then the car in its original form is a tourer. D2s are pretty cheap but the quality isnt fantastic and get knocking noises which a lot of people world wide seem to get aswell. They also IMO are over damped, so you have to really crank up the damping so the ride isnt bouncy.

The thing about coilovers is the adjustability but that in itself is also a pain to get just right, but then getting it just right will vary where you are driving it.

Teins do have a good reputation but IMO the quality is lacking and I would not buy a set of Teins after reading more than a few people suffer from leaking shocks only after a few 1000 miles.

Ohlins certainly are very good but then the price reflects that.
 
From the 205 enthusiast side I hear nothing but good things about GAZ coilovers.

You got H&R, Spax, KW, Koni, Bilstein, AVO, Weitec, Cobra and probably a few more i've missed. Half of those probably won't even do a kit for your car though.

Stonedofmoo said:
I had some HR (think that was it) on my Fiesta RS Turbo and they were lovely. I would certainly have them again
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They're H&R. :)
 
I have G-Force coilovers on my Pulsar, ride quality is very good, and being able to adjust the dampening, I can adjust for the "occasion" be it on track, pod or normal road use.

I had supersport coilovers on my MK4 polo, broke after two years, one started leaking, they did however have a 3 year warranty.
 
Bear said:
Teins do have a good reputation but IMO the quality is lacking and I would not buy a set of Teins after reading more than a few people suffer from leaking shocks only after a few 1000 miles.
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Ok, pleased you mentioned that because Teins have been commented on as being questionable. Very "fashionable" Teins atm, but suspected to be bordering on poorly engineered and seem to get "tired" with age. :(

That said, Drex is happy with his, and - as usual - you get to hear more from people who have suffered problems than people who haven't so sometimes a pinch of salt is required.
 
I have D2 coilovers on my drift car.

They've served me well, but the rears are getting a little tired due to the poor quality of the UK roads.

if I had a road car, tbh I wouldnt go for coilovers as you shouldnt really be using their full potential on the road and, depending on how stiff springs you go for, seriously compromise comfort.

track: coilovers
road & occasional track day: adjustable shocks with lowering springs (eg KYB agx etc) would do just fine.
 
Had KW variant 2's on my corolla, must say they were really big and solid compared to the standard shocks, also they were stainless steel so wouldnt corrode, i gave them a pounding on our potholed roads and i cant say as they ever felt any different over the time i had them, although it was only a year they did about 15000 miles. Handling was quality, but the one thing i did not like about them was the way you adjusted camber, much like vw's the top bolt where the strut mounted onto the hub was a groove and you set the angle of the hub, it was a real pain to set and i wished i had camber plates on top, other than that they were excellent.
 
Wouldn't touch Spax, Ohlins, Koni or Bilstein tbh. Have taken the apart and tbh are not really that well made.

Penske do some good dampers - that are made by another company that I'm not allowed to mention.

Personally - Go with ones that you have to rebuild every 1000km - buy a stack load of spares *dirt cheap anyway* and then you can customise them to whatever you want just by changing the shims/piston/pressures

Piece of urine.

Little expensive though - £4k a set for cheap ones - up to £10k for 4 way adjustable with pressure BOV's, remote reservoir, with a F1 style 29mm diameter piston, titanium shaft and accessories, magnesium caps and covers, aluminium bodies and 10ton instantanious pressure capability.

Simon/~Flibster
 
Flibster said:
Wouldn't touch Spax, Ohlins, Koni or Bilstein tbh. Have taken the apart and tbh are not really that well made.

Penske do some good dampers - that are made by another company that I'm not allowed to mention.

Personally - Go with ones that you have to rebuild every 1000km - buy a stack load of spares *dirt cheap anyway* and then you can customise them to whatever you want just by changing the shims/piston/pressures

Piece of urine.

Little expensive though - £4k a set for cheap ones - up to £10k for 4 way adjustable with pressure BOV's, remote reservoir, with a F1 style 29mm diameter piston, titanium shaft and accessories, magnesium caps and covers, aluminium bodies and 10ton instantanious pressure capability.

Simon/~Flibster
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We are talking about road cars here. I doubt OEM ones would please you when you take them apart by the sounds of things
 
Id ask the other Dc5 owners etc, it varies very much between marques.

Ie pre 2000 Hondas with D2's dont have any real noise problems due to the way you can preload the springs where as Gaz's rattle about as the spring dislocate. Tein has a range of products and with most going for the cheaper basics or superstreet and maybe having problems they get a band name for the better stuff like the HR's or Flex. Spoon fixed rate dampers could be a good call as they tend to be soft enough for good use on the road.

Do Leda do anything for the DC5?
 
Not sure about Leda but yeah the spoon dampers could be an idea - got the springs already so that'd make a full set.

Completely forgot about them. :)
 
Flibster said:
Wouldn't touch Spax, Ohlins, Koni or Bilstein tbh. Have taken the apart and tbh are not really that well made.

Penske do some good dampers - that are made by another company that I'm not allowed to mention.

Personally - Go with ones that you have to rebuild every 1000km - buy a stack load of spares *dirt cheap anyway* and then you can customise them to whatever you want just by changing the shims/piston/pressures

Piece of urine.

Little expensive though - £4k a set for cheap ones - up to £10k for 4 way adjustable with pressure BOV's, remote reservoir, with a F1 style 29mm diameter piston, titanium shaft and accessories, magnesium caps and covers, aluminium bodies and 10ton instantanious pressure capability.

Simon/~Flibster
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There we have our answer, get Simon to build you a set of custom ones for you ;) iirc he does it for a living

HT
 
Just to mention from Jonnycoupes post the complaints Ive heard about the quality of Teins are all from the type flex which are pretty much their top of the line kits.
 
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