What is the difference between coliovers and just adding springs to lower your ride. Is there a durability factore involved? Which is better in the long run?

 

Coilovers hands down lol You have springs and shocks that are designed to work with each other and can have the dampening and height adjusted...varies with different coilovers.

Springs just lower your car and that's about it, cannot adjust height obviously unless you cut them which is a whole different topic. The only upside to springs are that they are WAY cheaper than coilovers. Springs aren't necessarily designed to work with your oem shocks, aftermarket springs have spring rates different from oem springs. The greater the difference in spring rates, the less life your shocks will have. With coilover's that's not a problem. You can buy aftermarket shocks to compliment those aftermarket springs but you might as well just jump to coilovers if that's the case.

Springs last forever, shocks don't.

 

Coilovers will allow you to adjust ride height and the stiffness of your suspension.

Springs by themselves will not - they will simply lower your car. They can, however, change the overall feel of your ride.

I disagree that you "might as well just jump to coilovers if you get springs and aftermarket shocks." To me, that is not valid. Different people are adjusting their ride for different reasons. If you are simply looking for stance and ride height, then springs+shocks might actually be a better option. I don't know anyone who actually goes out and adjusts their coilovers on a regular basis if they are dropped simply for looks.

If you are tracking your car then the story changes. Stiffness is more of a factor, but you can still adjust stiffness with aftermarket shocks. Coilovers require a lot of time and energy to get them at just the right setting (spring pre-load, ride height, stiffness, etc). I know some people who have been adjusting their coilovers for many months and have just now gotten them right where they want to have them for auto-x/drift purposes.

In the end, it's more about why you want the aftermarket suspension. Are you performance minded, or are you all about looks?

 

^^He summed it up nicely.

Coilovers are more performance based and springs are looks based.

 

I was merely referring to price and nothing else. He would be close to the price range of coilovers. I was assuming he was going for just looks. And if it came down to the track there are some who would prefer aftermarket springs and aftermarket shocks instead of coilovers to get even more technical.

But it would help if the OP stated if he was performance minded or just into aesthetics.

 

I would go coils from the beginning if you had the cash

 

just save for coils..

 

In all honesty, and this is NOT me trying to bash anyone at all, I don't understand the obsession with coilovers.

I started off with the OEM 05 sport suspension. I eventually went with a great deal on some coilovers (MDU) because coilovers are what all of the members hyped up. After 8 months, I just switched back to aftermarket springs and shocks. I will not be looking back.

If you are willing to drop some serious coin, then there are some really baller coils out there. However, if you are like most members and on the fence between the two due to price, then you are not in the right price range for the better coilovers. Period.

Springs+shocks will never be in the same price range as the better coilovers. I really think that a lot of members recommend coils simply because everyone else does. Your personal preference and reason for wanting the change in the first place will dictate what is best for you.

 

Unless you are looking for pure track setup you won't notice the better independent struts. Plus you have to factor most springs aren't designed for those better struts where coils were designed as a package.

Most people like coilovers because they give you a great performance over just springs or oem and it gives you your perfect ride height. Now if you are trying to go pure track then I would consider something else. But I don't think you will find many people complaining about "entry" level coilovers being a disappointment.

 

Don't waste your time with springs like I did. I kick myself everyday for spending over four hundred dollars on two sets of springs that are now sitting in my garage.

 

+1

I'm not sure what the other guy means by better coilovers. They would be near the price of entry coilovers though

 

coilovers!