Why are cheap coilovers crap?

Technical question for those who understand how suspension work.

If we compare the cheap ebay kits to the GAZ item the components are pretty much similar. So what makes the ebay kits so crap, is it the spring or damper?

If it is the spring if you change it to a different poundage rate would that make any difference?

Or is it the damper? If it is whats the difference between it and the GAZ item for example? What goes on inside that makes the big difference?

I'm not looking to buy a cheap kit but just curious how coilovers work.

some stuff is developed to work properly, and some stuff is made to look impressive.

A spring is largely a spring so no great wonderment there.

Its all in the valving of the damper.
Some makers cant get the valving right/havent really got a clue what is 'performance' suspension so put on soft springs and hard damping to make it 'feel' sporty but in reality its a handful on the road (skittish etc)

Also there is a lot in the finishing of the product.
A damper has recently been released to market for another car that is made in the far east and the damper body isnt hard anodised so the piston will wear the tube out in 12-18months of use, and they cant really be rebuilt. GAZ on the other hand are due to release a similar product but approx 20% more cash, but WILL be hard anodised, they can be rebuilt if needed and are engineered properly.

this day and age you get what you pay for ie. better quality metals and fabrication, better testing and improvements on old models, colors/finishes etc. and i assume the high end of the market avon, bilstein, gaz etc are handmade which is always a bonus :thumb:

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Originally Posted by Stuart

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A damper has recently been released to market for another car that is made in the far east and the damper body isnt hard anodised so the piston will wear the tube out in 12-18months of use, and they cant really be rebuilt. GAZ on the other hand are due to release a similar product but approx 20% more cash, but WILL be hard anodised, they can be rebuilt if needed and are engineered properly.

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...... also warranted with back up from the UK factory. Sure someone selling a shipload of Taiwanese goods will accept a small loss by maybe giving you free replacements should it be necessary, but what about when the seller is no longer selling Nova coilovers, maybe his next 'ebay scheme' involves selling cheap knives to chefs. He wont have coilovers to offer you & maybe even wont honour any kind of warranty as certainly in most cases, cheap goods come with none anyway, merely the seller offering the benefit as a good will gesture.

That said, over the years there have been many kits that come recommended in Nova circles & others that are best avoided. These reputations arent totally unfounded but based on the findings of many owners spending good earned money on the bits. I've had enough poor suspension to put me off Novas forever. I definately wouldnt advise scrimping on that aspect of the car.

I do love the fact that I can call up Gaz and pop down there to have a tinker with my spring rates/get the dampers dynoed after the rough roads of late etc.

cant beat good customer service in this day and age

I must say I have owned some really pap suspension over the years, even when going for top named stuff (eg avoid Bilstein Blacks), but when I put the full set of GAZ's on, even just setting it up with a tape measure, the handling was cok-on. Well impressed & I guessed the spring rates too.

I like Gaz which is why I run them on both the nova and the coupe.

Jamex coilovers on mine. The best set up i have had on my car by far (smooth ride without soggy handling). I have also tried some top branded stuff including an apparently road kit from courtenay that rendered my car almost undriveable.

Something which will always push up prices is tolerancing, tighter tolerances and throwing more parts out which don't fit them will always make costs go up exponentially for a greater quality product.

I've GAZ in my Nova T, they are awesome, so much better than the Spax coilovers in my other Nova.

Spax = too hard

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Originally Posted by jas2000000

Spax = too hard

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define that...



you can make it too hard with silly soft springs and wind the damping up to stop roll etc but then find it skittish.

And you can do it the other way too but that rarely happens

my spax springs are hard at very low speeds, but at high speeds, they are excellent

Spax RSX coilovers are rock hard ! Even on the softest setting theyre pretty stiff ! The TRD suspension on my daily feels positivley comfortable in comparison ! Onto the question in hand, the main difference between cheaper coilovers is the valving inside them, however alot of thought goes into spring rates !

Spax never were recommended for Novas before their coilovers became available tbh.

Too true, i've tried a handfull of suspension kits one including a spax setup with adjustable damping, even on the softest setting it would crash over the slightest discrepancy in the road.

I would happily be impressed by some cheap coilovers or suspension tbh, but I wouldnt want to be paying for it. My mate put some ebay coilovers on his mk3 golf GTi. It was very firm but not at all crashy, good for the money infact, but Novas are very sensitive to suspension setup I find & anything that cant take the abuse will soon feel crap & lose the pleasure of driving.

TBH the "cheap" coilovers on my mk4 are fooking awesome!!

i bet they are. I wouldnt be surprised if they didnt last as long as something more pricey though. Pays yer money, takes yer choice.

I reckon Novas are too fussy suspension wise, as odd as it sounds. I actually would fit 'cheap stuff' to any modern car tbh. A mate wants something for an A3, hot-tuning I'll be looking up on ebay..

My mate has TA Technix coilover's on his MK4 Astra and it is brilliant but whenever I have fitted cheaper suspension on a Nova you can really feel the lack of "quality" when your driving, I think it may be that you can feel everything through the steering etc.

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Originally Posted by craig green

i bet they are. I wouldnt be surprised if they didnt last as long as something more pricey though. Pays yer money, takes yer choice.

I reckon Novas are too fussy suspension wise, as odd as it sounds. I actually would fit 'cheap stuff' to any modern car tbh. A mate wants something for an A3, hot-tuning I'll be looking up on ebay..

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Well, they cost me £150 delivered brand new, they lower more than the Avos on the Nova, and they ride better! lol

OK, they have softer springs than whats on the nova, but MEH

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Originally Posted by craig green

but Novas are very sensitive to suspension setup I find & anything that cant take the abuse will soon feel crap & lose the pleasure of driving.

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It's pretty plausible that the lighter weight means a tighter 'tolerance' on the correct valving etc is required :)

the MK4 would handle well on solid ali bars inplace of dampers imho lol

A lot of the time some suspension manufacturers just "guess" the new valving based on dynoing a 20yr old OEM damper, and then just "stiffen" it up by 20-30%.... which in many cases is wrong and not matched to a particular range of spring rates you may want to use. Thats why the cheapo ones kinda get it right on modern cars and very wrong on anything earlier than 1995 lol

Thanks for the replies.

Reason I made this thread is because of the bad experience I had with the FK coilovers I had on my Corsa, they were solid and felt like they were welded!

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Originally Posted by Mieran

Thanks for the replies.

Reason I made this thread is because of the bad experience I had with the FK coilovers I had on my Corsa, they were solid and felt like they were welded!

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possibly really soft springs and hard damping to try an compromise.


I know the vx chassis is different to the nova one, but I've recently changed my rear springs to 550lb ones and I need to play with the damping to stop the bobbing on the road but its a great drive now :) (up from 475lbs)