Originally Posted by Raznips

so with tokico shocks there is a greater chance of getting my camber back in spec with the same drop as basics that will be out of spec? i just dont get this at all

Originally Posted by Gsedan35

Ride quality of the Basics will be effected by where you set the ride height. You'd kinda think that the lower you go the worse they'd ride. That is not the case, it's the opposite. Unlike the Flex coilovers, to change the ride height on the Basics, you must raise the spring perch's up in order to raise the car up. In the front, this mean's your upping spring preload. Let me try and explain what that means, sorry if it's TMI for some.

I'll guesstimate that at a max drop of 2.6" in the front that the minumum amount of spring preload is about 1/3" And I'll guess that the suspension moves upwards 1.5" when you put the car on the ground.

At a 2.6" drop on your coupe, the amount of force needed to compress the front suspension 1" upwards because you just encountered a bump in the road (motion rates factored in, so the numbers are the actual amount of force required at the tires). We are dealing with the front only, since the rear suspension is not effected by spring preload in relation to ride height because the rear springs are NOT on the rear dampners.
482lbs

Same thing as above, but you've reset the ride height higher to have a 1" drop on your coupe.
892lbs

Remember, the Basic is a non adjustable dampner, you cannot adjust the dampning.

Their is extra pent up force with higher spring preloads, in order for the suspension to move upwards, it has to get past these greater pent up forces in order to move and offer compliance because of the bump encountered.

And their is another side to this, changes in ride height change your avaliable amount of suspension travel. Coilovers that adjust height by changing the height of the dampners, do not suffer from changes in suspension travel nor do they suffer from changes in ride quality directly linked to high preload level's.

Remember, a coupe dropped 1" will need front and rear aftermarket camber correction to the tune of $618 minimum. Basic's can be set to give a coupe a .7" drop in the front and avoid this, but it mean's dialing in even more spring preload.

Originally Posted by Jahan

I don't completely follow your reasoning, but your original theory is backwards. The ONLY way to change the pre-load on a given spring is to change the amount of static compression. Raising the spring perch does NOT do this, since you are raising the car right along with it. IN FACT, if anything, the preload on the spring is REDUCED slightly because when you raise a corner, it transfers load OFF that corner to the opposite corner.

Originally Posted by Gsedan35

Your thinking about the rear springs and your correct. But in the front, no. Here's why. In the rear, the springs are not mounted on the rear dampners and theirfore do not have a upper mount bolted to the piston shaft. The upper mount holds back the front springs and limit's their upward travel. Since the upper mount stops the spring from going upwards, raise the lower spring perch up and your increasing preload since the upper mount will not move upwards. Vehicle height is only gained as a result of increasing spring preload.

Also, ask yourself this. What is the purpose of coilover's like the Tein Flex and Jic Flt-a2 that have dampner bodies that can adjust length? Why would someone want them vs a coilover that does not have that ability?