Ditchdr

I did some searching online about coilovers and I can't seem to find any info about a good brands/quality. I have no idea about coilovers really. I was looking at Tein Street Basis Coilovers but there are so many different brands I don't know whats a good one to get.

Any suggestions on any coilovers for my 06 wrx sti?

Where is a good place to get my coilovers installed at?

02RS25

iTrader: (9)

First and foremost. Why do you want coilovers? looks? handling? track? What car is it going on? DD? Weekend warrior? Whats your budget? No one can help you without at least these basics. GL

Brfatal

I came here to post this.

Ditchdr

ah my bad, mix between looks, handling (like to do track days), and its a DD. I used to do some time trails cone racing back home, and would love to get into it again with the sti.

I need to replace my rear aftermarket stuts, due to them leaking. I am looking at upwards to 1300$ to spend on the project but my max is around 1500.

02RS25

iTrader: (9)

you snooze, you loose buddy!

Ah. Right on. So, safe to say you are looking at an entry level coil. I personally have BC BR on the bugeye and Megans on the blob eye. BCs by far the better investment. 32 way dampening and height adj. One thing i hate about them is their springs. im running swift springs on my BCs. IMO best bet for a DD/WW. I feel like anything more expensive will be leaning into more track/auto x specific, with dampening and compression adj. along with front and rear camber plates. Stay away from Megans and below. BC BR should be your very minimal spending. Also keep in mind, when lowering a car, its not just coilovers. its geometry (anti lift kit, bump steer, and possibly halfshafts) just some info. I havent gotten into pure track scene, but i am very happy with my BC BRs.

Ditchdr

well my car was previously lowered by the previous owner, unfortunately I do not know all they did to it. working on it though. I currently trying to learn all I can about it, but I have no background in cars other than oil changes and brakes.

are these what you are talking about? BC Racing BR Series Coilover Kit Import Image Racing

also why would you change your springs? how does it change running swift springs on the bc's?

Brfatal

I recommend ST coilovers + top hats/camber plates or Feal revalves, Swidt Spec Rs or RCE Yellows, and new tophats/camber plates with that budget.

Cheaper budget coilovers such as Megan, Ksport, BC, Fortune Auto, Stance, Raceland, etc are all junk coilovers with inherent design flaws in them due to lack of R&D, dinky internals, and poor construction. You can run them, but you are not a handling upgrade as coilovers should be versus a real coilover setup or even compared to a good strut and spring setup. Nor will they have the same lifespan as these flaws will affect damper life span.

I personally don't think coilovers have a place on a DDs simply because they are less reliable, higher maintenance (you have to keep them religiously clean in some environments and they require periodic rebuilds every 30-40k miles), and you're spending money on adjustability and functionality you're not utilizing on public roads. Most people cannot out drive a set strut and spring setup, much less drive hard enough to use the capabilities of good coilovers.

02RS25

iTrader: (9)

+1!

Ditchdr

So you saying just go for struts? Sorry for the numb questions, never had to do this before. Since my car is already lowered and I love how it handles/feels and want to keep it or improve on it, I need to replace my struts, so I want the best bang/quality for my buck.

LxJLthr

iTrader: (12)

Elaborate and educate please?

devilzdriver

iTrader: (4)

Just for some drop, Get some quality lowering springs like COBB or something along those lines, and some AGX's with Group N top hats. If you have never had coils and want to DD them here.... good luck

Z Madness

iTrader: (2)

Ditchdr, first off welcome. I hope you make it out to one of the weekly meats.

Your question will generate a ton of responses and opinions. At this point though, you should probably pop in on some of the autocross threads (check out the other forum too). Remember, in Hawaii, the closest you will get to track days is AutoX (and Rally X if you please).

With a budget of $1,000-$1,500, you will be limited to entry level type coils (as mentioned above), and not leave much room for other upgrades. Also keep in mind that we have new strict safety check and recon laws that might make you think twice about getting coilovers.

Usually at the meats there are a couple of Auto-X and Rally-X drivers that can fill you in on the basics. Good luck and hope to see you at AutoX next season!

spinplay01

iTrader: (12)

Real coilovers are expensive...like $10k
Decent Coilovers are priced $3k and above. (this is what I would call entry level)

I have worked on cars with $1200 megan, BC, Tein...ect. And I wouldn't put them on my car if they were free.

Low end coilovers (2k and below)are like buying a bike from wal-mart. Yes it looks like a bike, yes you can ride it for a little while before it breaks. But if you actually want to use it for more than riding down the sidewalk it isn't going to work very well and not for very long.

Cheap coilovers will lower your car. They will perform like crap and they will break quickly...especially driving on Hawaii's very well maintained roads.

If you want to go the cheap route, I have a complete set of Stance SS coilovers for your car. $200 and they are yours (two are leaking and have little or no dampening...very normal for cheap coilovers after a couple months of use)

Matty G

I bought some Raceland coils for my GC. They are the entry level and only have height adjustment. Raceland provides a more pricey set-up for occasional track use, but I just have a DD and they honestly haven't done me wrong yet. Had them over a year and still happy. I needed a new set-up and I aint made out of money!

Brfatal

Without exception they are over sprung and under damped. The entire point of the damper is to control the spring, but if the spring is too aggressive for the damper you're going to encounter several problems. Imagine putting RCE Yellows on GD WRX struts. The ride would be absolutely bone jarring and it would kill healthy struts within probably 20k miles. In the same regard Megans, BCs, Godspeeds, etc will always have a certain bounce to them that will always remain no matter how you adjust them and they will suffer shorter damper lifespans that a properly matched setup. For obvious reasons a tire that can't remain properly planted because the damper can't keep up with the springs will have negative handling repercussions as well. Another problem is that they often lack suspension travel. To understand why this is important, scan over this thread (be sure to watch the video in post 22). It's a shame the original pictures are gone. It showed a car with Megans lifted off the ground and the wheels only dropped to about how stock right height looks on a WRX. Travel/droop is important for proper tire/road contact as shown in post 22 and because you don't always wanting to be riding the bump stops even in coilovers. That will further hurt handling and reduce the lifespan of the dampers.

More brand specific things, also come up. Godspeeds are hated even by the cheapest of the cheaps, the 240 crowd because they are simply so unreliable and aren't unknown to have catastrophic failures (same problem that JiCs are known for and why the Subaru crowd hates them. You should never have to worry about a mounting point breaking off. That same issue is a concern for Racelands since the mounting points are so thin. Racelands are also typically very poorly mismatched front and rear (the rear being entirely too soft). I'd imagine a stock suspension GD WRX would handle better than one with GD Racelands. Nor are the expensive enough for the manufacturer to have really used worthwhile bearings that will last. BC uses rinky dink valving in their coilovers, which is part of why so many people blow them when actually pushing them into a race setting.

If you're going to make the kind of investment that coilovers are, don't throw your money away by either buying something you don't need (in the case of coilovers that will never see track use) or by cheaping out and getting something that's no good. If you're gonna spend the money spend it well and do it right. A good set of coilovers for the OP's fitment can be had around 2 grand. Ride in a car with something properly set up and matched and it will eliminate the misconception that most people have that coilovers are supposed to ride rough. GR STI owners love to talk about how RCE and KW coilovers are more comfortable than the stock suspension.