Other than your tires, the suspension you run is one of the most important elements that’ll affect your handling and lap time around the track. We also can’t deny its importance when it comes to how your ride looks. So while you can get low and improve your handling characteristics with a set of lowering springs, 99% of car guys will tell you coilovers are the way to go for the best performance, adjustability and ride comfort.
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But before you go out and spend stacks on new suspension, it’s always wise to do your homework and make sure the parts you’re getting fit what you’re trying to do. If you’re building a car for stance that you’re never going to take on the track, you don’t need to necessarily spend $6,000—maybe you just need something comfortable that has a good range of lowering adjustability. On the other hand, if you plan on tracking your car regularly, you might want to invest in coilovers that will give you the best tuning ability to shave every second off the road course. So here’s our coilover guide—while we couldn’t include every manufacturer and coilover option out there, we’ve included the top lines here.
KW Competition (top)
There’s a reason Brittani is straddling this coilover and it’s not just because they’re pretty. These are KW’s newest coilovers and they’re built for the person who’s looking to shave as many seconds as possible in his or her new FR-S. Using a mono-tube design, these coils are three-way adjustable and offer the most adjustment range for the FR-S today. The rebound forces rely on preloaded jets utilizing specific needles and the main compression forces are managed by a versatile pre-configurable blow-off valve, not to mention the compression adjustments are separate—high speed is adjusted on the remote reservoir while low speed is on the piston rod. These babies are the best track options you can buy for the FR-S and are also available in a number of other applications as well! kwautomotive.com
Fortune Auto 500 Series (bottom)
If you’re looking for a good street coilover, check out these from Fortune. On their 4th generation design, these coils are designed to react differently at low and high speeds to give you the best control, response and comfort. The mono-tube dampers are also 24-step rebound adjustable. fortune-auto.com
For the Daily Driver
1. BLOX Racing Street Series
A full-bodied suspension at an affordable price, these BLOX Racing coilovers are perfect for the street. They also offer a Tuner Series street coilover that’s a tad more stiff.
bloxracing.com
2. H&R Street Performance
For almost 40 years, H&R has been in the game of coilovers; in fact they were the first company to introduce an aftermarket spring in Europe and also the originator of the full-bodied coilover suspension. It’s safe to say they know what they’re doing! Their Street Performance coilovers are all custom-valved and engineered using progressive rate springs for the best performance and control possible.
hrsprings.com
3. HKS Hipermax Max4GT
Designed in-house by HKS Japan, these mono-tube design street coilovers feature 30 levels of damping adjustment and a special piston and movable floating valve to help improve ride comfort for the street.
motovicity.com
4. Ksport Kontrol Pro
These are Ksport’s entry-level coilovers for the everyday guy who wants to lower their car with 36 levels of dampening adjustment. They also have adjustable lowering mounts and a pillow ball design to eliminate noise. The mono-tube coils come with an 18-month warranty for added assurance.
ksportusa.com
5. Raceland
On the tightest budget of all? Raceland’s are the way to go offering height adjustability, increased spring rates and damping stiffness over OEM to improve handling.
raceland.com
6. Raceland Ultimo
These thangs from Raceland are designed specifically for the ’02-07 Subaru Impreza and ’04 STI. The coilovers allow you to dial in your suspension with the included pillow ball mounts and camber plates. Ride height can be adjusted via hub mounts which won’t mess with spring preload like other coilovers.
raceland.com
7. Rokkor
Affordabilty is the key to Rokkor. If you’re looking for coilovers on the budget, Rokkor will have you covered along with a three-year warranty. Pictured here are the EM2 Honda Civic coilovers that offer 1-3" of lowering adjustability. The range is currently limited to Honda, Mazda, Scion, Subaru, BMW and VW/Audi.
rokkor.com
8. ST Suspensions
Not everybody knows this but ST Suspensions is a brand under KW Automotive. Their coilovers have all the same safety (Germany TUV approved), quality and performance characteristics from KW without the steep price of high-end models. They feature preset dampening rates and are optimized to give you a comfortable and sporty ride.
stsuspensions.com
Want to win a free set of ST Suspensions coilovers? a photo of your car, contact information and one reason why you need a new set of coilovers. Good luck!
9. Street Edge
You probably haven’t heard of them but they’re breaking into the scene offering budget coilovers that will give you a 15-25% stiffer ride than stock for a comfy ride. They’re also assembled in California and it’s hard to knock that!
streetedgeusa.com
10. Tanabe Sustec Pro Z40
Tested on the track, these Tanabe coilovers have also been put through the hardest real world scenarios to give you the best performance possible. They feature a special tapered locknut that prevents it from becoming loose during harsh driving, while also constructed using a twin-tube design and KYB dampers that are 40-way dampening adjustable.
tanabe-usa.com
11. Tein Street Advance Damper
Very little introduction is needed for Tein. Designed and manufactured in Japan, they’re some of the best money can buy which can be said about their street kit.
tein.com
12. TruHart Basic
These TruHart Basics are a good option for the Honda/Acura, Nissan, Scion or Subaru owner looking for a very adjustable drop while also getting decent handling for the street. TruHart also offers camber kits, control arms and bushings at stellar prices.
truhartusa.com
For the Weekend Warrior
13. D2 Racing RS Series
The D2 RS coils are 36-way dampening adjustable using a mono-tube design with separate height and preload adjustments. This will allow for more precise suspension tuning while still maintaining full strut travel at all times.
d2racing.com
14. Eibach Multi-Pro-R2
These Eibachs can help tune corner weights for optimum handling balance. There’s also a huge range of damping adjustability so you can optimize your car for comfort or the track.
turn14.com
15. Godspeed Project Mono-RS
Offered for the Nissan 240SX, Honda Civic, Subaru, Lexus and Mazda, these Godspeed mono-tube coilovers are 32-way adjustable and feature built-in camber plates on some models. A good choice for the weekend track guy on a tighter budget.
godspeedproject.com
16. H&R Premium
These are basically the same as H&R’s Street Performance coilovers but they’ll cost you a little extra coin. Not because they’re miles different but the struts use lighter aluminum to help reduce unsprung weight to further improve your handling.
hrsprings.com
17. HKS Hipermax MAX4GT 40th anniversary Limited-Edition
This is HKS’ ultimate coilover option for the street and track. The mono-tube coils are 30-way dampening adjustable and are tested tuned for each application. But these will only be offered in limited quantities so brownie points if you can get your hands on a set of these.
motovicity.com
18. Ksport GT Pro
As opposed to standard coilovers, these Ksport GT Pros are the business using an oversized 55mm inverted mono-tube shock body for better performance. They’re made to help reduce internal temps with max shock travel. The 36-way adjustable coilovers also come with camber adjustability up front.
ksportusa.com
19. KW Clubsport
Designed for the guy who daily drives his car but also spend his weekend on the track with a set of track tires, the Clubsports are some of the most popular used suspension around. They allow you to adjust the suspension geometry with option top mounts, plus allow you to independently adjust rebound and compression to fine-tune all those kinks for the fastest lap time.
kwautomotive.com
20. Tein Street Flex Damper
These are similar to Tein’s Street Advance Damper kit except more flexible with 16-way damping and exclusive upper mounts. It’s an easy out-of-the-box solution for anyone who drives his or her car on the street or track.
tein.com
For the Track Junkie
21. BLOX Racing Drag Pro Series
Designed strictly for drag racing, these coilovers will help drag racers get setup properly to adjust the ride height and corner weights to help compensate for front-end lift and rear-end squatting. They’ll greatly improve 60 ft times and stability at top speeds.
bloxracing.com
22. D2 Racing R-SPEC
D2’s top-of-the-line bad boy uses race-spec spring rates with matched valving and remote reservoirs. To let you fine-tune your car on the track for the best lap times possible. You can adjust the shock’s compression and rebound independently while shock oil temperatures are maintained under the toughest conditions.
d2racing.com
23. H&R RSS
These are H&R’s “boss” coilovers and have been designed and tested on the world-famous Nürburgring. They’ve been engineered for race cars and unlike H&R’s other suspension options, you can adjust the damping on these babies which will simultaneously fine-tune rebound and compression for the best balance.
hrsprings.com
24. Ksport Version RR
Built specifically for road racing, these Ksports use a similar mono-tube design as all their other coilovers but are reengineered with more aggressive spring rates and valving for maximum handling performance.
ksportusa.com
25. Tein Super Racing Damper
Proven in time attack racing, these Super Racing coilovers feature separate compression and rebound adjustment along with separate ride height and spring preload settings.
tein.com
Who’s The Model? If you’ve attended any SoCal car show this year, chances are you’ve run into this half Vietnamese/ half Mexican hottie Brittani Paige. Don’t let her tattoos fool you; she’s one of the sweetest models we know. You’ll find another photo of her in Readers’ Rides but feel free to stalk her on her Instagram and Vine under the name @miss_brittani_paige.
Lowering your car’s suspension system not only makes it more appealing but also improves the ride quality and handling of the vehicle. The factory suspension setup by the manufacturer is designed to offer more comfort to your ride, but if you drive a sports car or want to steer at high speeds, it should have a lower suspension height and a low center of gravity. Although, lowering your suspension makes your vehicle stiffer against road irregularities, but offers more stability while turning by reducing body roll and vibrations.
You can lower your car’s suspension in several ways depending on whether you prefer the sporty look of a slightly lower stance or a more dramatic drop in height. Different methods can be used for lowering your car suspension, and each method has its pros and cons. Some of them are as follows:
Altering the springs of a suspension is a common practice amongst tuners for lowering a vehicle. One way of lowering your car’s suspension is to adjust or replace the springs with shorter ones. This is a cheaper and more economical way of lowering your car’s suspension. Meanwhile, shortening the springs by just cutting or reducing them is an illegal process and compromises your and your vehicle's safety. It is always advised to either avoid shortening the springs or consult an expert before shortening them.
1. Altering Your Vehicle's Leaf Springs
The leaf springs are a type of vehicle suspension that consists of a stack of slightly curved, narrow plates of equal width and varying length clamped together, with the shorter plates in the center to form a semi-elliptical shape. Here are different techniques that are used to alter the height of a vehicle with leaf springs.
- Remove the leaf springs and have them de-arched.
- Reverse the leaf spring setup from overhung to underhung by placing the axle on top of the leaf spring, using a flip kit.
- Installing lowering blocks on an underhung leaf spring setup. They come in different heights and allow the vehicle to drop extremely low.
2. Altering Your Vehicle's Coil Springs
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Coil springs can be found on a car's front and rear suspension. You can remove the stock coil springs and replace them with shorter springs, or take your springs to a spring shop and have the coils softened and shortened. You can also cut the coils yourself using a hand grinder, cutting wheel, or torch. Altering your coil springs can make your vehicle sit lower but also reduce the quality and ride comfort. Doing so can also jeopardize the suspension’s operation and the vehicle’s safety. Therefore, it is recommended to install genuine and trusted coil spring lowering kits.
Vehicles with MacPherson struts use coil springs that can be replaced with shorter ones to lower the vehicle. Replacing your complete strut assembly is an easy task, but to replace the coil springs, you have to disassemble the complete assembly, and that requires expertise. If you wish to lower the car yourself, you can refer to the steps mentioned below:
Tools Required:
Step1: Raise The Front Of Your Vehicle
Loosen the lug nuts on your wheels and raise the front of the vehicle off the ground, and secure it on the jack stands. To ensure safety, engage the parking brakes and place the wheel chocks behind the rear wheels.
Step2: Remove The Front Wheels
Remove the lug nuts using a lug wrench and remove the front wheels. Place a jack under the lower control arm and jack it up enough to take some pressure off the suspension.
Step 3: Remove The Strut Assembly
Remove the upper and lower shock absorber mounting bolts using a socket or wrench. Access the top bolts from under the hood. If the bolt is stuck due to rust, use rust-loosening spray or WD-40 and tap it gently with a hammer to remove it. Once all the bolts are removed, pull out the strut assembly.
Step 4: Remove The Coil Spring From The Strut
Compress the coil spring using a coil spring compressor until it is compressed enough to release the tension of the upper strut mount. Remove the top nut holding the strut mount and remove the top mount. Slowly release the coil spring to ensure safety and remove the coil spring.
Step 5: Install The New Coil Spring The Strut
Install the new lowered spring to the strut and ensure that it is properly seated on the strut assembly. Always replace any rubber spring seats if they are included as part of your kit.
Step 6: Reinstall The Upper Strut Mount
Reinstall the upper strut mount onto the spring assembly. Compress the spring to the level you want to lower your vehicle and install the upper strut mount. Tighten the nut, turn it into a few threads by hand, and then tighten it using a torque wrench to the desired tension.
Step 7: Reinstall The Strut Assembly Back Onto Your Vehicle
Once the strut assembly has been reassembled with the new lowering spring, put the strut assembly back onto the vehicle in the reverse order of the removal procedure.
Step 8: Reinstall The Wheel Back And Repeat
Reinstall the wheel back onto the hub and hand tighten the lug nuts. Lower the vehicle and tighten the lug nuts using a lug wrench. Repeat the steps for the other side and the rear if there are struts at the rear.
Step 9: Replace The Rear Coil Springs
Once the front springs have been replaced, proceed to replace the rear coil springs using the same procedure.
Many vehicles, such as trucks and older vehicles, use leaf spring suspensions instead of coil spring suspensions. Leaf spring suspension uses long metal leaf springs secured to the axle via U-bolts. Lowering a leaf spring suspension is a simple task and can be done using basic hand tools and a universal lowering kit.
Tools Required
Step1: Raise The Vehicle
Raise the vehicle and install the jack stands. To ensure safety, install the tire chocks to prevent the vehicle from rolling.
Step 2: Locate The U-Bolts And Uninstall
Locate the U-shaped bolts holding the leaf springs to the axle. Uninstall them and free the leaf spring from the axle. Use rust-loosening spray or WD-40 to free the nuts if they are rusted or jammed.
Step 3: Raise The Axle
Raise the axle by placing a jack under it and lifting it to the desired height to fit the lowering kit block between the leaf spring and the axle. This step is done on vehicles with an under-slung axle leaf spring arrangement. Vehicles with over-slung leaf springs are discussed below.
Step 4: Reinstall The U-Bolts
Place the lowering block between the leaf spring and the axle and reinstall the U-bolts. Purchase new extended U-bolts in case the older ones aren’t long enough to adjust the lowering block. Install the bolts and tighten the nuts using a torque wrench.
Step 5: Flipping The Over Slung Leaf Spring
Flipping the axle is the quickest and easiest way to change an over slung axle to an underslung configuration. Vehicles with over slung leaf springs have leaf springs sitting on top of the axle. A "flip kit" will allow you to relocate the axle so that it sits on top of the leaf spring. This is the easiest way of lowering your suspension, which gives you 4 to 7 inches of drop in height.
Remove the U-bolts holding the suspension to the axle.
Remove the leaf springs from the vehicle body by unscrewing the eye bolts that connect the spring to the vehicle body.
Lift the axle using a jack and place the leaf spring under the axle. Lower the vehicle body and attach the spring to the vehicle body. Replace the bolts and tighten them using a torque wrench.
Reinstall the U-bolts and tighten the nuts. Reinstall the wheels and ensure everything is in place.
Step 6: Reversing The Shackles
A shackle connects the leaf spring with the vehicle's body or frame. Flipping the shackle or reversing its fitment can be used both for lowering and lifting the vehicle. Remove the eye bolt that connects the suspension with the shackle and remove the shackle from its position. Reinstall the shackle by reversing its orientation. You might have to drill new holes to install the shackles perfectly. Ensure the angle of the connection while installing the leaf spring back on the shackle. The angle of the shackle should be 90 degrees with respect to the line drawn from one eye to another eye of the leaf spring.
Step 7: Repeat The Steps For Other Wheels
Once the leaf spring is lowered on one side, install the wheel and repeat the same steps on the other side.
Lowering a car's suspension is a lot more than just a cosmetic change. It affects the vehicle's handling. It is necessary to understand the pros and cons of lowering your vehicle so you can make an informed decision.
Pros Of Lowering A Vehicle
1. Lower Center Of Gravity
Lowering your car’s suspension also lowers its center of gravity, which results in better stability through turns. This reduces the rollover risks while taking turns at high speeds.
2. Improved Aerodynamics
A vehicle with a lower ground clearance reduces the amount of drag imposed because less air goes underneath the car. This reduces the lift, improving the aerodynamics of the vehicle and its handling.
3. Improved Handling.
A lowered vehicle handles better and sits flatter during turns. A vehicle that sits closer to the ground has reduced body roll and improved steering. Furthermore, installing stiffer springs on a lowered car decreases weight transfer while accelerating and braking. This allows you to enjoy faster acceleration and quick stops.
4. Increased Visual Appeal
Lowering your vehicle’s suspension makes it look more impressive as well. It adds a great deal of visual appeal to your vehicle. The lowered vehicle gives a more aggressive and performance-oriented look that stands out in the crowd.
5. Improved Traction
Lower centre of gravity also improves the traction and stability of your vehicle. Improved traction reduces the risk of skidding or losing your grip on the road.
6. Better Fuel Economy
Lowering your vehicle reduces the air drag and improves the traction of your tires. Reduced drag and improved traction mean less energy is consumed to power the vehicle. Ultimately, improving the fuel economy of your vehicle.
Cons Of Lowering A Vehicle
1. Reduction In Ride Quality
Every vehicle’s suspension has its own quality. Changing the stock suspension can affect your vehicle’s ride quality. The car will be more jiggly and you’ll notice new bumps in the road, which previously would have been ironed out by your standard suspension doing its job correctly.
2. Increased Wear And Tear
Lowered suspension inherently has less travel, which means your car will hit harder and slam into potholes or other road imperfections. This increases the chances of damaging your wheels and increases wear on other suspension components. The increased wear and tear also applies to your car’s interior, which will create an ever-increasing amount of rattles and creaking noises over time.
3. Potential Handling Problems
Lowering a car’s suspensions can improve handling, but only if the road is perfectly smooth. On roads with imperfections, you might end up cornering slower as the car hits harder and skips across bumps. It’s the suspension's job to keep the tires in contact with the road at all times, and lowered suspensions are not ideal in such a situation.
4. Uneven Tire Wear
Altering your vehicle’s suspension can affect your vehicle’s wheel alignment as well, causing your tires to get damaged unevenly and develop extreme wear patterns. After lowering your car’s suspension, it is necessary to get your wheels aligned.
5. Vehicle Scraping and Bottoming Out
Driving on unpaved or bad roads with a lowered vehicle could be a nightmare for you. The lower ground clearance can cause your vehicle to scrape or bottom out at the vehicle floor.
6. Jacking and Towing Your Car Becomes More Difficult
A standard car jack is built for a car with a standard level of ground clearance. After lowering your car’s suspension, there’s a chance that you won’t be able to get your trusty jack under your vehicle. In addition to this, you’ll also have trouble towing it, as a standard towing hook won’t work. If your car is getting towed on a flatbed truck, then you could have some issues getting it up the ramp.
1. For high performance, you may need to lower your vehicle a lot less than you think. You can even make your suspension worse if you know little about suspension and how it works. To be sure that components like struts and springs can do the work of keeping tires at the right angles, get help from experts.
2. Don’t cut corners when it comes to shocks, struts, or other components. You’re making changes to the structure and balance of your vehicle and you don’t want to risk failing parts.
3. If you modify your vehicle in ways that aren’t road legal, you can lose your warranty and insurance coverage for your vehicle. Talk to your dealer and insurance agent before customizing your ride.
4. Take care while you get accustomed to how your new setup performs. The stiffer suspension won’t absorb the road shocks well and cause your vehicle to steer differently. A sudden hard brake or tight turn on a bumpy road could cause a loss of traction.
5. Every time you change your vehicle’s stock suspension, you should be sure that you’re not creating a setup that is unsafe or is going to cause problems with other car functions. Like with many aftermarket customizations, it’s about finding the right balance of safety, performance, looks, cost, and drivability.
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