Springs and Sways for 'Mountain Ripper NC" or Coilovers?
Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 10:35 am
I get this question often, spring and shocks....or Coilovers... for aggressively driven NC. Customer today actually termed it suspension for 'mountain road ripper' NC?
So much depends on what you want to do with the car...and how serious you want the handling?
My wife's 2012 has just our Progress Springs and Sways and every time I get out of that car I tell my wife that her car "is a blast to drive!". It is much more flat in the twisty bits than stock and I find myself driving it like a total hooligan through curves and freeway ramps at 9/10ths. Yet if I took her car to an autocross event and push it to 10/10ths it would prove faster than stock....and then fall on its face compared to my 2006 with Ohlins. Once you reach 10/10ths her car would not be near as much fun because it is just not setup to be pushed that hard, doesn't have enough damping, enough spring rate, etc. The description of "mountain road ripper" makes it sound like you want to push it and would appreciate a set of coilovers. In that regard the Ohlins are a complete revolution of the suspension but also more suspension than 90% of owners will ever use. Lots of intermediate steps like the TEIN coilovers, we have a few street customers on these new TEIN STREET FLEX and they tell that me they love the new setup.
One advantage of the real coilovers is shorter shock bodies. If you want to lower the car significantly then you start to give up enough travel that you spend a lot of time on the bumpstops. At lower heights (particularly around 13 inches and below), the coilovers will give you more travel before you hit the stops...and the higher spring rates actually give BETTER ride because you don't get to the stops near as quick.
So much depends on what you want to do with the car...and how serious you want the handling?
My wife's 2012 has just our Progress Springs and Sways and every time I get out of that car I tell my wife that her car "is a blast to drive!". It is much more flat in the twisty bits than stock and I find myself driving it like a total hooligan through curves and freeway ramps at 9/10ths. Yet if I took her car to an autocross event and push it to 10/10ths it would prove faster than stock....and then fall on its face compared to my 2006 with Ohlins. Once you reach 10/10ths her car would not be near as much fun because it is just not setup to be pushed that hard, doesn't have enough damping, enough spring rate, etc. The description of "mountain road ripper" makes it sound like you want to push it and would appreciate a set of coilovers. In that regard the Ohlins are a complete revolution of the suspension but also more suspension than 90% of owners will ever use. Lots of intermediate steps like the TEIN coilovers, we have a few street customers on these new TEIN STREET FLEX and they tell that me they love the new setup.
One advantage of the real coilovers is shorter shock bodies. If you want to lower the car significantly then you start to give up enough travel that you spend a lot of time on the bumpstops. At lower heights (particularly around 13 inches and below), the coilovers will give you more travel before you hit the stops...and the higher spring rates actually give BETTER ride because you don't get to the stops near as quick.