Coilovers........

[MattNova]

^^^ what are they, i take it that they are something to do with suspension. but i dont know what :oops:

[DrivingSpanner]

there dampers that have the spring around them... usually the spring platform is adjustable in height (to change the ride height/preload), use a standard spring usually 2 1/4" meaning that the spring rate(Stiffness) can be changed by bunging on different springs... changing the handeling

[MattNova]

so the dampers and the springs are joined together??? if you get coilovers then you dont have to buy springs or dampers??? can dampers be adjusted???

[DrivingSpanner]

the springs and dampers are seperate items, coilovers is a term for the combination... some can be adjusted depends what you buy, how much u spend... a coilover kit will contain all you need

[MattNova]

so its better to buy the coilovers than the full suspension kit? cuz on a wabsite, cant remember which, i saw sometings saying

springs ?45
dampers ?cantremember
coilovers?300+something

so the coilovers is the full set basically.

[Stuart]

you can buy springs, dampers and kits for "normal" lowerd suspension which basically looks identical to your existing stuff. and the kit has the springs and dampers in one box.

OR you can buy coilovers (best to do it in kit form) which will be an all in one box jobbie (except the rears as they tend to remain as standard looking suspension.

[Elthrin]

Your standard front struts are coil-over in there most basic form. The term Coil-over just refers to the fact that the coil twists around the suspension strut.

However, with the increasing amount of people that don't know what they are selling/buying, most people when they say Coil-over kits are referring to front struts with spring platforms that can be moved up and down typically between 10 and 20 cm.

Some kits will be ride height adjustable on the rear as well however due to the design of most modern cars with rear torsion bars most kits for Astras for instance are not ride height adjustable at the back because they require modification to the swinging arm.

There are several other things to look out for when buying "Coil-Over" suspension.

Some will just be ride height adjustable i.e. 10 minutes work with a "C" spanner and you can slam your car to the ground.

Other will be damping rate adjustable i.e. you can adjust how much effect the damper has, typically these adjust from slightly harder that standard to spine jarringly solid.

The best are independent Compression and Rebound adjustable (sometimes called Bump and Rebound) i.e. you can adjust the dampening rate separately for the lengthening and shortening of the shock.

Other options include having the oil shocks, or compressed air or even emulsified gas dampers, some even have a remote canister to reduce the moving weight of the strut.


As DrivingSpanner said they springs are usually 2.25 inches ID but you can get other sizes depending on the application the astra GSI that I built suspension for was uses 2.5 inch springs.

A cheap option is to get ?coil-over? conversion kits, which consist of a threaded sleeve and spring platform that can be welded to your existing suspension struts. The money that can be saved by doing it this way can then be used to buy better dampers. (this is only cheaper if you can do the work yourself to be honest)

Anyway time to get back to doing some work.......

[MattNova]

wel i think i know what they are now. thanks to Elthrin for the in-depth explanation :+: cheers.

i think that i wil go for the coil-overs and i do plan to fit them myself. however i do only plan to lower by 30mm all round so would it be worth getting the coilovers or should i just get the springs and some GSi/GTe shocks??

[Elthrin]

To be honest if you are just using the car on the road the then the best option would be to go for lowering springs with damping rate adjustable shocks.

i.e. something like the the Koni kit (the one with yellow shocks)

Bilstien is what I have on mine but they are too hard in my opinion.

Coilovers on are street car are only really worth it if you are desperate for the "Street Racer" look or if you are messing about with large wheels or wide arch kits. Obviously "coil-overs" give you fine adjustment if you need it.

In general though there is not that much point in getting the instead of a good set of matched lowering springs and good quality dampers.

In my opinion anyway.

Better brakes is what i would spend any left over money on.

[DrivingSpanner]

Spot on that is what i was trying to say only didnt say it very clearly... actually the double adjustable dampers (bump and rebound) that were mentioned above are not the ultimate... I've got a set of 4 way adjustables (high and low speed bump and rebound) sitting in the workshop here from one of our racecars(confusing or what)and i ve even heard of 8 way adjustables!!!

[Stuart]

im currently working with the guy who designed trak spax in his year out of uni lol

we have the designs and i may wind up making some for myself :D

[DrivingSpanner]

is that the guy that now makes nitron dampers???

[Stuart]

no, he left to finish his degree and then went ot work for CAT designing gearboxes

[DrivingSpanner]

Quantums or Dynamics are by far the best dampers that i have ever worked with and there has been a few! penske, ohlins, spax, koni, nitron,belstein......... shame they dont make them for the nova!!!

[nova_rally]

the main reason people buy coilovers for road use is that the ride height can be dropped really low for showing off, then raised a bit if they actually plan on some performance driving!

i.e. exactly why I want them! (Nice and low for driving round by day, then raised up near standard for rallying it by night)

[benji]

matt, where in derbyshire are you from? i live in derby so if you want to to pop round to have a look at my coilovers you can, i also have a set of -30mm springs for sale, what nova do you have?