NEX SS coilovers...anyone use them?

[supraguru05]

corner balancing ie weighting is puting the car on four individual scales and making the weights in each corner equal and or adjusting spring rates accordingly (simple weight transfer calculations) its purpose is to allow a car to be set to transfer weight where ever the situation might call for

ie some people like a perfectly nuetral car some like a car that loads the front a little more (FWD) theres alot more to it than that but this is a simple explanation because toehr variables like tires power etc come into play when dialing a car in



what do you mean by alluminum frame i assume you mean aluminum body which most are...

 

[Poodles]

our cars don't have the same spring rates front an rear stock... I can't think of ANY coilover on the market, or ANY springs out there for our cars that are the same spring rate front a rear...

it's idiotic

 

[Wiisass]

You do realize that with the units they quoted, that's not even a spring rate. It's some random number with the units of pounds per pounds per square inch. So whatever that means. And that should tell you something. It's bad enough using that stupid kg/mm shit, let alone stuff like this.

And yes for the supra, front and rear spring rates being the same make no sense. But it's due to the installation ratio difference front to rear. Lots of other cars can use the same spring rate front and rear or stiffer rear springs than front springs and they can all handle the same. It has a lot more to do with the geometry than the actual spring rate. Spring rates mean nothing without knowing the geometry of the car.

As for these and all the other companies using the same crappy dampers. That's what it comes down to. Sure, you can lower your car really far. And it may feel like it handles better just purely due to the decrease in load transfer from the lower center of gravity.

But the springs are probably crappy and may not be as close to the advertised rate as you think. The dampers are really bad. Bouncy is not a good thing. People who think bouncy happens because you put coilovers on the car are wrong. The only reason that would happen that would be somewhat acceptable is if you put coilovers on your car but you're running the stock wheels and crappy tires and the tire spring rate is a lot softer than what the dampers were valved for and the car is bouncing on the tires. But if the car is bouncing on the suspension that means that something is wrong. And a harsh ride doesn't come with all coilovers. The ride will be a little harsher due to the stiffer springs and stiffer valving, but the car should still take bumps and high frequency road inputs well if the dampers are valved properly.

So feel free to cheap out and buy something like these or any of the other stuff coming out of these places using the same bad dampers and the pick your own spring rate stuff. Most people don't realize what goes in to picking a spring rate and will just pick what they've seen on other poorly setup suspensions. And for the most part, the rates people try to sell stuff like this would screw up the handling more than it would actually help. There's a reason for runnning certain spring rates and if you don't know why or haven't tested a million different setups then don't even say anything.

 

[disturbed1]

my tein ha's are steel and very heavy - woulnt mind upgrading to something lighter

 

[suprabad]

IMHO, (having run a ton of different suspension set-ups for a lot of different applications) unless you are setting up a car exclusively for the track or strip, (and even then you need experts doing the fine tuning) you're a lot better off to stick with something simple, tried and true.

In other words, be honest with yourself. If you don't know exactly what you're doing, stay away from coilovers. The chances are your in for an expensive disappointment by bolting on coilovers.

I've known very few who could get a satisfactory compromise between ride and handling with coilovers on the street (even expensive top of the line units). It's alot more common to hear complaints and words of frustration from "Joe Boxwrench" struggling (usually in vain) to get it right.

Koni's or the like, with a reasonable spring ratio, will likely exceed the performance needs of the average guy.