[stretch]

Let me guess, the coilovers you're used to are made by Tein? Did the owner use them at anything above full soft because that felt faster?

There's no difference between a coilover damper and a strut coilover aside from the lower spring perch and, usually, overall length. They can be the same exact valving. Heck, in the case of Zzyzx 8610 coilovers and WRX Koni struts, they pretty much are the exact same valving just in different housings.

I don't know why you would think coilover damping = turd. The correct thing to say would be the specific coilovers you tried = turd. My coilovers != turd; in fact for a fast daily driver, I preferred them to the Ohlins + Blacks and even the Prodrive RB320 kit. I tested them back-to-back.

It's a shame that poorly designed coilovers have left such a sour taste in so many mouths. It's the fault of the manufacturer who chose not to put intelligent engineering into the product you tried, not anything inherent in a "coilover". While lots of people like to pick on easy targets like Tein, even premium companies release some duds (a Chrysler engineer was telling me about some $4k Motons that the company even acknowledged were an experiment gone wrong).

That's why I and many others on this forum really push that customers do their own research and demand things like shock dyno graphs.

[chaos311clarity]

i currently own a set of RCE yellows on ohlins FPS.


i say buy some nice coilovers. "why?" you may ask, well simply because you are much much more limited when it comes to spring/strut combos... dont get me wrong the yellows/ohlins is probably the best possible street set up, but i think there is still room for improvement on the street and track combination side.

[wrxcelration]

Originally Posted by chaos311clarity

i currently own a set of RCE yellows on ohlins FPS.


i say buy some nice coilovers. "why?" you may ask, well simply because you are much much more limited when it comes to spring/strut combos... dont get me wrong the yellows/ohlins is probably the best possible street set up, but i think there is still room for improvement on the street and track combination side.

Thats good to know. I was looking at the ohlins w/ yellows untill I decided on T2s w 500/400 springs

[chaos311clarity]

for the person who knows hes going to daily drive the car and not run wide wheels or corner balance the car or tweak it, the ohlins are the best. hands down. then again they are the only choice besides OE struts and Pink struts.


if you are like me, and want wider wheels and more adjustability... coilovers are the way to go.

[wrxcelration]

My car is my dd but Id like to auto-x this year and run 8.5-9 inch wide wheels

[Saabaru STI]

I was in a similar scenario as you.

TIC coilovers didn't exist at the time. I had moved from springs to a coilover system that was too rough (green man coilovers).

I wanted something that would allow me to adjust later if necessary, ride more comfortably, and IMPROVE handling while at it. Fixed Perched Struts were on the list but lacked the ride height adjustability.

I ended up with Ohlins Sportlines coilovers and have loved them ever since. They felt VERY comfortable while handling much better.

If you can afford it, I would consider that. The TIC's would've definitely been on my list of they were available at the itme.

[sciolist]

Originally Posted by polyol

Autox/track = coilovers

Street = F/P

This is essentially true.

It's not practical to set an STi up for autoX with a fixed-perch suspension (except for AS).

[turboranger]

Originally Posted by sciolist

This is essentially true.

It's not practical to set an STi up for autoX with a fixed-perch suspension (except for AS).

why is this?

[sciolist]

Originally Posted by turboranger

why is this?

Assuming we are working within the SCCA ruleset... and really any rules I can think of where the car would be even remotely competitive, you just don't have enough adjustment with fixed perches.

For an SP ar SM car, you need to be able to adjust ride height, rake, camber caster, toe and corner weights. This is basically true for an ST car as well, just to a lesser degree, because the car is going to behave more like a stock car. In both SP and SM you are making major changes to the car's suspension.

In addition to needing to be physically able to make changes, you also need to be able to make them reasonably quickly at a dial-in site; unless you have simultaneous access to a large lot and shop. Even then, I don't see how you could possibly develop an effective autoX car without perch adjustment outside of Stock.

[Risk3233]

It depends who you are competing against. Locally I found the FPS competitive and even won year end points for SM. I agree that on a Regional or National level, you need more.

But for DD, it's perfect.

Define your needs and choose accordingly.