i looking to lower my daily driven Evo and 75% of the reason is apperance. A few buddies want to try racing on the track maybe a few times out of the year.... nothing serious. Other than the brand/reputation what is so different between a $1500 and $2500 set of coilovers? What features should i look for?

 

IMO, go with either swift or esplier (sp?) lowering springs if you just want apperance. Coilovers need to be dialed in correctly and some need to be rebuilt at very short intervals. You don't need to spend all that cash if all you want is a lower ride.

 

JIC Coilovers...

 

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=158014

Here is the best bang for the buck in a coilover right now see post #63 esp if you are worried about quality. I'll let a few more go for $890 shipped.

 

If you want the apearance without the cost, try the omni power coilovers. They are non-adjustable (except for right height) which makes them pretty cheap, around $800 a set.

 

saw a pic of the RSX omni power front coilover broke into 2 pieces on freeway at RSX forum. don't settle for cheap coilover, at least get Teins basic.

 

$1500+? Chances are you're paying for a name.
Ask the manufacturer to show you the car that they used for track testing, or ask for the dyno graphs for the dampers, or why they chose the spring rates that they did. What type of oil did they use for the damper, and how resistant is it to aeration, and how its viscocity holds up to heat of operation? What sort of seals do they use, and how well do those seals resist oil and heat? Will track use wear them out prematurely? If so, are they warrantied against track use? If not, why not? Aren't these performance, race-derived coilovers you are paying $1500 for? Where do their materials come from? The steel for the springs, the steel for the shock body, the aluminum for the mounts. And where are they assembled? Where *is* the final assembly location? How are the spring rates measured? 1" of compression? Fully extended? Why offer 20 levels of adjustable damping, when only 8 show any noticeable difference in seperation? How do you know what damping level you are at? Are there clicks? If so, will every click give you the same level of adjustment? And will each of the dampers have the same number of clicks (you'd be surprised)?
Many questions to ask.
edit: I should add, these are questions you'd want to ask when purchasing any price coilover, not just expensive ones.

 

Obviously, I think people have had good luck with the Megan's for the cheap....I'd have to agree though, if you want to simply lower the car, just get springs...Your questions of course was what was the difference between 1500 and 2500 dollar coilovers. The more expensive ones usually have greater adjustability, some have aluminum bodies where the cheaper ones are steel, and some of that cost goes into having the coilovers properly set up for the car instead of slapping on a set straight from the box.

 

you wont appreciate an expensive set of coilovers until you're on the track, then you will hate your life and question why you ever got a cheap set of mad tyte jdm coilovers.

having said that i have a set of jic's forsale if you're interested. good street/occasional track coilover

 

zeal
jic

 

I have owned both Zeal and JIC coilovers - the Zeals are in the car now. I also have experience with several other brands of coilovers in Both Evos and other cars acting as an instructor for different track day clubs. I can say from experience that having owned both I will probably never own another set of "budget" coilovers again. The JICs started out as "tolerable" and after alot of tuning were just "acceptable". The Zeals started at "good" and tuned to "fantastic". Your mileage may vary...

The big differences seem to be quality of construction and how the dampers are valved and/or perform. I have generally found "budget" coilovers to use less expensive materials (no suprise) and to have a poorer overall ride quality. I'm not trying to say budget dampers can't be the right solution, but generally ride quality suffers - even at the same spring rate as a better quality damper. An exception to this seems to be Tein - they have good ride quality, but perform less well on the track.

More expensive dampers seem to do a better job of balancing ride quality and suspension performance. They also tend to be better supported if you ever decide you want to change spring rates and need the dampers revalved. They are also generally easier to get rebuilt when needed.

The best answer is to try to track down someone who has the different dampers you are considering and get some rides to see how the different cars feel. It's not bulletproof (car set-up is as important as the parts) but it's a good starting point. Good Luck!

 

does anyone know about tunabe sustec pro s-oc2? how are they? just bought a set of these used for less then 600 shipped, they were used for 3000 miles and he said they are perfect. he did 4 auto x's on them. opinions please

 

who's got opinions on tein basics. They're cheap but do they perform better than stock?

 

No, they have been compared to worse than stock.

 

anyone know about the tunabe i posted above?