hey im still a noob at cars.. and was wondering what the difference is? and if i were to get one of those what other stuff would i need to get?i heard people says omething bout if i lower it i have to get new other crap from it wearin out too fast or something

 

One of *MANY* threads http://www.foums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=93537

 

anyone else can help me no?

 

all i know is with springs when the heights settles, thats that. With coilovers you are able to bring the ride up to stock, or slamm it down. How they ride? I couldnt tell you I dont own them and I am just getting into modding. Definitely do some reading tho, check out this link http://maxmods.dyndns.org/. Helped me decide on which springs I wanna run with.

 

coilovers u can adjust the hieght

 

i thought coilovers were simple but i read on one of these threads that you have to do alot of adjust to get it just right for you. i dont know how hard that is to do...

 

sounds easier, i mean no springs to compress right?

 

I think there's more to it than just being "easier" but I have yet to get a thorough explanation besides that they are way better.
And apparently after bump stops and other suspension accessories with a strut/spring setup the price is hardly different than some k sports which are "far superior"
I'm not crazily into performance though so I don't know if illumina/hr would be better for me. Or if k sports are good for daily driving in the city too.
Either way, ill put the money in for the k sports if I can be convinced it'll be worth it.
I just don't know about all the precise adjustments and what the deal with the height adjustments is.

 

How detailed an explanation do you want? I could go on all day.

Here's the jist of it though... if you want more details, PM me.

Springs are just replacements for what you have already. They fit in the same way and do the same thing. Most aftermarket springs are progressive rate, which means they have soft parts to absorb bumps and stiff parts to keep the car steady in hard turns.

Coilovers are complete replacements for your shocks/struts and springs. They're shocks and springs in one package; they look like shocks, only with springs wrapped around the top part. These have two big advantages. The first is that all the parts are made specifically to work together, so you don't have to worry about choosing the right shocks for the springs you have. The second advantage is adjustability: All coilover systems let you adjust ride height, most let you adjust damping and switch out springs easily, and some let you adjust a ton of other things that I won't even go into.

NOTE: Sometimes adjustable spring sets, like the Ground Controls, are labeled as "coilovers". These are really just springs with a place to put a shock absorber, so when you get both and put them together they look like coilovers. They let you adjust height only; whether you get damping adjustment depends on what kinda shock you choose. When I say "coilovers", I mean the full coilover setups and not these adjustable spring sets.

So which do you want?


SPRINGS

Advantages:
1. Cheaper
2. Big handling improvement while keeping the ride fairly smooth
3. Less likely to make your car skittish on rough pavement

Disadvantages:
1. Need to select and purchase good shocks/struts
2. Not as much handling as coilovers
3. Will reduce your suspension travel (i.e. you might bottom out a lot) unless you get aftermarket bumpstops and long-travel rear shock mounts (fairly cheap items)


COILOVERS

Advantages
1. Sharper turn-in response
2. MUCH better handling
3. Adjustability and customizability
4. Works as a system
5. Easier to install
6. Won't kill your suspension travel

Disadvantages
1. Expensive
2. Rougher ride


Basically, try this: Get a ride in a BMW M3 or Subaru WRX STI. If you think that's a smooth ride, get coilovers. If you think it's rough, get springs, good shocks/struts, and new bumpstops and long-travel rear mounts.

 

are the K-sports adjustable dampening. sorry. i forgot about the group deal info. i'll check there. but after S-techs($150)/Illuminas($410), long travel mounts ($80), and bumpstops($50) that's already up to about $690. (if all of my numbers are correct for lowest prices shipped.) K-Sports are $740!? that's gotta be worth it. and if dampening is adjustable, won't the softest ride be fairly loose, or is it tight all around? and how hard are they to tune to your liking? i mean, to get all four at the correct height and dampening, and anything else. i agree with chillin04. how do you know??
thanks in advance for answering any of the plethora of questions.

 

Coilovers are a rough ride? That's all I needed to know, ill stick to the shock/struts and buy those items to prevent the bottoming out problems or whatever.

 

hey are ground control coils worth it? i was really lookin into these.. the real coils are too expensive and i dont want just springs that you cant adjust.. what do you guys think bout the gccs?

 

The K-Sports do have adjustable damping (and spring preload, and front camber), but no matter how you set that, the spring rate is the same. Lowering the damping setting past a certain point will actually make the ride a lot worse because the shock will no longer be able to control the movement of the spring, and things will get really bouncy. Same reason you don't want stock shocks with lowering springs. On the other hand, people who have them are saying that if you crank the damping up, it's bumpy but not harsh, and it feels really nice and controlled.

The K-Sports, like any coilovers, are for people who put handling and adjustability first and comfort second. That's that. They're apparently a lot comfier than other coilovers over broken pavement, which is very good, but they'll never be as comfy as good progressive-rate springs with Illumina shocks. If you're looking to drop your car and make it handle better and you don't really mind sacrificing ride comfort for a ton more control, this is what you should get.

That said, you can get the K-Sports with lower spring rates. That might help strike a medium between them and springs/shocks. Then again, if you're getting them, might as well get the best handling you can... just my $0.02.

I know this stuff because I'm very good at feeling out a product from a very wide variety of reviews, even if they're all really biased.

 

i agree, but you can pay less and get eibachs and still perform like a pro, it may not look all that low but if your for show you should get some sprints or intraxs not coilovers

 

Don't forget, you have to get a set of shocks with those as well, and you can't go cheap or the ride will suck and they'll blow out real fast. Once you figure that into the cost, you're really better off getting the K-Sports (as long as it's before May 31, when the GD ends).

The GCs will have a rougher ride than comparable complete coilover systems because they don't give you the advantage of having custom matched shock valving -- you're just buying off-the-shelf components that are made to work with a variety of products, and they're not tuned specifically for each other. You will get almost as good handling though.

 

That's an important point. Eibachs are good enough to satisfy what most people will ever be able to do on the road, and they're a little safer because they make the car more forgiving over bumpy roads.

Just bear in mind that Eibachs with shocks/struts will never handle as well as full coilovers, nor will they provide the same sharp turn-in. Coilovers are also much better for lowering your car because they have stiffer springs, the shocks are guaranteed to work no matter how much you lower the car, and they preserve suspension travel.

 

so i guess having coilovers in the street will give you crazy handling then right?

 

Yes. Just make sure you keep three things in mind:

1. You'll rarely ever find places where you can actually use the extra handling without whipping around a corner too fast to be able to react to anything in the road.

2. The car will be more easily thrown off by bumps... which would be a Very Bad Thing (tm) in the middle of a turn.

3. Your Max still won't be a sports car.

If that's cool, then go ahead and grab some coilovers. The people who have them all seem to love them, except for the people who have JICs and Ground Controls - some of whom say they're too rough. (I don't even consider Ground Controls to be real coilovers but I'm mentioning them here cuz other people do)

 

I just installed Tein Basic's (Coilover system with height adjustment only) and I couldn't be happier. Going from the stock springs and struts to these is heaven. Many coilovers are harsh - I don't find these to be that way at all, they're very comfortable.

You feel more bumps, but the tradeoff in performance and drivability is well worth it.

 

Excellent point here. Even if coilovers make you feel more bumps, they don't let the car wallow and float and bounce as much. That, combined with the greater response and sense of control, makes some people feel like the ride is better with coilovers than with anything else.

 

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a good set of true coilovers wont have any worse ride than a set of aftermarket lowering springs...in fact they might jsut be better

 

It all depends on what you consider a good or bad ride.

 

Time to update my opinions.

After being able to ride on D2 coilovers, which have really stiff linear-rate springs, I can tell you for sure that the ride over broken pavement is bumpy -- much bumpier than stock -- but not harsh or bouncy. Over smooth roads with soft undulations, they're absolutely orgasmic. There's quite a lot to be said for well designed shocks that are well matched to the springs. In other words, you can feel the bumps clearly but they're not ridiculously jarring, and you get this incredible sense that the car is planted and in control in a way that you just can't get any other way. If that's what you want, then coilovers are for you.

I can't imagine how comfy Eibachs with Illuminas would be. You wouldn't get the *****-out handling and response of the coilovers and you'd lose some suspension travel, but it'd be much less of a bumpy ride.

Just for reference, I also got a ride in a car with cut Eibachs on stock struts. The kid who owned it actually liked a bumpy ride and was this total freakin' badass so I can't flame him for it. Let's just say it was.... not smooth. Not remotely. And it wasn't even that you felt every bump -- it was that every freakin' crack in the pavement damn near had you banging your head into the ceiling. One kid who rode in that car and also a 5th gen with S-Techs and GR-2s said that that 5th gen was almost as bad. All I'm going to say is this:

Do NOT go cheap on your struts when you lower your car.

At least when you get full coilovers, you know they have shocks that will be able to handle your drop.