Specifically for street use (Daily Driving) - Coilovers or Spings/Shocks combo?

[VegaSupra]

Ok so I just spent about 30 minutes reading through several coilover threads. I saw all the arguments from both sides. But pretty much everything I read talked about drifting, which I have zero (like... literally zero point zero zero) interest in. So rather than resurrecting a super old thread, I figured I would just start a fresh new one.

Previously, I ran the following setup on my 91 Supra:

Eibach Springs Pro-Kit (perfect stance in my opinion)
Tokico Illumina II TEMS shocks
ST Sway Bars front and rear
Nitto NT555 245/45/17 on 17x8 wheels

Seriously my Supra handled like it was velcroed to the ground. I could take a "50mph" half moon on ramp at 110 (I mean... I think... lol) and come out the other end as flat as a pancake at full boost.

So I figured that I would surely duplicate that setup on my new Supra. Now I am seeing all this hype about coilovers and it got me thinking that maybe a nice set of coilovers would be the better way to go. But then I am reading about how coilovers don't last as long... and "don't hit any potholes" and all this mish mash, while Eibach Springs boast about a 'million miles' and stuff.

So what's the real deal folks? Was my previous setup the best path for a street roamer or would something like Megan Racing or TEIN coilovers be a good fit?

 

[boostED90]

im with you and i think bang for the buck -megan all the way

 

[hvyman]

Hvae to get the megan track if you get those. There also the same as stance and made in the same place.

Kinda depends on what you want. You can run a stiffer sway bar and use a softer spring and get the same thing as a stock sway bar and stiff spring. Except you would have a better straight line ride with the softer spring.

You could get some coilovers that dont have the stiffest springs and turn the dampning all the way down to get the softest ride out of them. But there really isnt that many coilovers to choose from.

If you like the stance and ride of the eibachs you could just go with those with either some koni yellows or some bilstiens. n Then get sway bars cause the eibachs are kinda eh by themselves for cornering.

 

[te72]

I've had both the Eibach Pro setup (with Koni Yellows), and Megan Track coilovers. Loved both, for different reasons. While the Eibachs have a beautiful stance, and when paired with the right shocks corner amazingly, they were a bit stiff for the power I'm putting down now, which isn't a whole lot. I could probably have set it up a bit better, but I wonder how my current engine/trans setup would have dealt with the Eibach setup...

That said, I really appreciate the flexibility of the Megans. When I start getting high centered on snow banks, it's easy enough to raise the car up a bit to give myself some clearance. If I want a low, aggressive stance, I can lower her back down in a couple hours (sooner if you have air tools for getting tires off).

 

[turbo87targa]

I've had both the Eibach Pro setup (with Koni Yellows), and Megan Track coilovers. Loved both, for different reasons. While the Eibachs have a beautiful stance, and when paired with the right shocks corner amazingly, they were a bit stiff for the power I'm putting down now, which isn't a whole lot. I could probably have set it up a bit better, but I wonder how my current engine/trans setup would have dealt with the Eibach setup...

That said, I really appreciate the flexibility of the Megans. When I start getting high centered on snow banks, it's easy enough to raise the car up a bit to give myself some clearance. If I want a low, aggressive stance, I can lower her back down in a couple hours (sooner if you have air tools for getting tires off).

I'm new to this suspension stuff, what do you mean "too stiff for the power your putting down"?

I'm starting to look into suspension setups for my build which will be a ~500hp DD. The car currently has tien coilovers that ride much to rough for my liking, and Colorado springs has some pretty rough roads which don't help at all. What setup should I go with to make the daily rides more enjoyable?

 

[mecevans]

Why not get the tiens rebuilt? You can get different valving and softer coils.

 

[turbo87targa]

Why not get the tiens rebuilt? You can get different valving and softer coils.

That's actually something I meant to ask about lol
Do you know what they would charge for that?
From what ive read (which may be wrong), with the roads around here I dont know if coilovers are gonna be cost effective, with the current setup I feel like I'm driving on a dirt road on most roads here.

 

[hvyman]

Softer spring rates and valving to match would help with that. OPlus you have complete control over the hieght.

What tiens are they?

Last i checked tien rebuilds there coilovers for like 60 a shock. So long as you didnt destroy them and need all new pistons.

 

[destrux]

There's no such thing as "too stiff for the power the car is making". It's all about what you want to do with the car. 140hp formula fords have much stiffer suspension than what we use.... cause they're built for racing.

For a street driven DD reliability and durability is important, to me it's more important than having maximum performance and "stance" adjustment. I went with Koni Sport shocks and Dropzone springs on mine. Koni offers a lifetime warranty for their shocks, which is great. Their products are top quality too, and last a looong time. Dropzone springs also has a lifetime warranty. I'm not sure on their quality, but their height specs are wayyy off (I had to put 1" spacers in the front to get only a 2" drop) and I'll be replacing them soon with eibach pro-kit. I really want RSR Race springs, but they seem to be out of production or on infinite backorder.

Tein has the price for rebuilding on their website IIRC.

 

[hvyman]

^ you might like h&rs better than eibachs. If not i will have some that i might be willing to sell in the next couple weeks.

 

[turbo87targa]

Softer spring rates and valving to match would help with that. OPlus you have complete control over the hieght.

What tiens are they?

Last i checked tien rebuilds there coilovers for like 60 a shock. So long as you didnt destroy them and need all new pistons.

Not exactly sure which ones they are as they were on the car when I bought it, but I'd guess they are the SS's

They are still in good condition afaik apart from the dust boots being torn in a few spots.
$60 a shock sounds amazing considering the only thing I don't like is the harshness.

 

[mecevans]

Do they honor the warrenty even with non-oem springs?

Tien has the specs on the website. Match the rate to the eibachs or stiffer if using a stock sway. If there not blown you might not even need to revalve them, just change the setting.

 

[VegaSupra]

^ you might like h&rs better than eibachs. If not i will have some that i might be willing to sell in the next couple weeks.

I went from stock to H&R before Eibach. The front was too low. I was bottoming out everywhere. I switched to Eibachs 2 days later and they were perfect.

 

[te72]

I'm new to this suspension stuff, what do you mean "too stiff for the power your putting down"?

There's no such thing as "too stiff for the power the car is making". It's all about what you want to do with the car. 140hp formula fords have much stiffer suspension than what we use.... cause they're built for racing.

Well, speaking strictly from my experiences, set the rear dampening to it's stiffest setting, and any time in the first couple gears that boost came on, I'd light the tires up easily. Softened up the dampening a good bit (only adjustment I made), and I now have to try to spin the tires. I believe the Koni Yellow shocks I had on my NA were adjustable but I never had any problem maintaining traction with that one...

Besides, comparing a Formula Ford to our cars? Apple, meet orange.

 

[hvyman]

Stiffer car will spin easier. Need to get that squat to get traction. Its why you take off the front sway bar links when dragging.

 

[VegaSupra]

Weird thing is that with my old setup (Eibach,Tokico,ST) with 245 Nittos at the rear, I had no traction problem at all. And that suspension setup was rather stiff all around. Granted I only had about 300hp, so you guys might be talking about a lot more than that. But now that I am back at stock power with my new Supra, I can't even pull through a rolling first gear grunt without breaking the 225s. I loose traction almost immediately. Even though the MKIII only makes 232 hp in stock form, I think the 254 torque easily warranted larger grip than 225s. That's a bummer, because other than that, I really like the look of the stock white rims. I suppose this is why some people go with the MKIV wheels and paint them white to mimic the white appearance package but with loads more traction all around.

 

[turbo87targa]

So I found the owners manual to my Teins, is anyone know anything about the
"Sports Spec Driving Master type HA"?

And it's written in pen on the manual sept 20, 2004.
Do coilovers usually last 6 years?
(one would think for the price they should lol)

 

[hvyman]

All depends on the quality of them, weather or not you track them, and what kind of roads you drive on them.

If its just a weekend car thats gets cruised on they will last a long time.

If its a quality set thats tracked hard they might last a season or 2.

I heard of cheap coilovers blowing a shock after a few track days. And some cheap ones blowing after a couple months.