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coilovers pro and cons ?


davievtec
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Allright folks what coilovers have you fitted to your impreza and how are they ?

I was speaking to a company about tein coilovers and have been advised to stay clear from them as they seize easily in the cold weather in the uk and corrode very quickly and have been known for the top bolts to snap off,

Obviously I dont wanna buy coilovers and have to clean them Every week as I have not got the time for that is there any coilovers on the market that work great in subarus and from your expirience what coilovers are best for road and track use and also worst ?

Cheers

Davievtec

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i don't have any coilovers on my subie but have had one other cars and they have reanged in price, the major difference i have seen is the cheap ones blow the seals really easy, usually after 12-18 months, the cheap ones are Joms, hottuning, raceland, that kinda thing, with my old cars the cheap ones were around £180, the expensive ones more £600-£1000, ALL coilovers are prone to seizing if not looked after, even stainless steel ones, the cheaper ones have thin threads and cheap quality adjusters, when you try to unseize them the adjuster can break or the threads can strip, the better quality more expensive ones tend to be easier to unseize

 

the cheap ones listed above are more than double that for imprezas even for the same brands

 

are you going to be adjusting them every year?

 

i used to have snow mode and normal mode, normal mode was 2" off the floor at the sills, snow mode was 4", to prevent seizing i used to fit high temp bearing grease on the threads then wrap with PTFE tape then insulation tape over that, the PTFE isn't sticky so no chance of gooey residue round the threads and the insulation tape just kept it there

 

if you are buying to use on track as well as road then i would suggest in car adjustable ones, my mate paid £1500 for a second hand set that have little stalks coming out the parcel shelf, he can adjust the damp and rebound via said stalk, his were something silly like 185 ways adjustable

 

i'll get some links for some sets

 

these are just track use but you could use on road, would be quite harsh click

 

these are adjustable damping so can me made softer easily for road use or stiffened for track click

 

these are road use but would be good for the track as above damping adjustable click

 

theres more on there as well as other places, the best things i have heard spoken about coilovers sets is

Sapx

KW variants

Weitecs

 

 

the way i gauge cheap and expensive like i say is the threads, this might sound weird so i'll try my best

 

as you look at the threads they have a point to them on cheap ones, like a knife edge, and close together, decent quality ones have a flat edge to the threads and spaced a tad further apart as they are thicker, i don't have any examples to get you a picture i'm afraid, you'd think over the years i've tried to explain this i would have got photos at some point lol

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Ahh ok was just curious because I lowered my honda civic with just springs but still got alot of roll and were comfy.

I can see your point I wouldnt mind paying the extra for good coilovers as it will be a rarity that the car gets taken to a track as it has only done 900 miles since march so it has barely been driven its really just a toy/project

What I ideally need them for is comfort when just going to the shops but if I feel a blast around a back road is appropriate then I can be confident that they can withstand the pressure

Im not one for slamming cars but I would love to close the arch gap a little tucking a nice set of wheels but I still wanna get over speed bumps without worrying about scraping the bottom of my car

Im also a firm believer in you get what you pay for I have used raceland coilovers before and dont get me wrong they were stiff and were good in corners but were very harsh and as you said blew seals every so often

I had a bad expirience with spax and that was the bottom bolts attachment that hold onto the hub snapped right off when I was driving on a newly built road (could possibly have been the speed bumps around my area)

Back to bc coilovers alot of my friends use them and say they are good but online reviews are different on websites lol its really confusing as to who I would believe and I dont really wanna have ti buy them and buy new ones 6 months down the track

I also know exactly what you mean the cheap coilovers manufacturing process is alot cheaper and the materials used are inferior to the bigger dearer brands that are on sale

Thanks for the input

Davievtec

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I found too when looking in the past I've wanted a 120mm drop from them, TUV approved shocks are a maximum of 90mm yet the same brand non approved were cheaper but bigger drop obv

With an impreza, due to the diff the exhaust tends to hang lower than most cars so slamming, unless you tweak the exhaust, isn't a viable option, 40-50 is usually more than enough on the impreza and 30-35 on 17's can look spot on, if it's going to be fixed then why not go for a full lowering kits, springs and dampers, this way you'll get stiffer than factory, no or little roll round the bends and if it's a damping adjustable set you can have it smooth most of the time too

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Not a problem pal, he's over this way in Lancashire but if you need to buy owt I'm sure he'd post/courier it, failing that if he won't I don't mind going picking it/them up and posting to you

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I would recommend MeisterR's

I have a set of their Zeta-R's on my Legacy, they are fully adjustable, very easy to work with, great value for money at around £750 and I've never heard a bad word about them.

No matter what coilovers you buy be sure to spray them with some white lithium grease every 6months just to stop them seizing.

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Ahh I never even thought of meisterR's thats a good shout I dont wanna slam it too far just want it to sit nice over the wheels n dont wanna go through sumps and diffs lol I will look into them thanks bip

Davievtec

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have BC racing coilovers on my WRX, I've had them before on another car as well.  Very good product and well worth the money.  Teins are over priced and not all that brilliant quality, they are only so expensive due to each Tein seller making profit from each other and bumping the prices up.

 

Make sure the coilovers are set up correctly by somewhere that knows what they are doing.  Especially if it comes with camber adjustment on the top.

 

Mine feel great on the road, the car is stiffer but the dampeners work very well taking all the harshness out.... again this is due to me getting it set up by someone who knows what they are doing (Thwaites Development/TD Racing in Warwick).

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've had Apex coilovers on my BMW for the last 12 months and am very impressed with the quality.  NO signs of corrosion on the bodies despite driving it through winter and not applying any grease or tape.

 

A firmer ride than standard, but well damped and superb control when driving hard, though a little harsh if just pootling along...

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