What's a good performance coilover setup?

IndiaDorifto7
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What's a good performance coilover setup?

Postby IndiaDorifto7 » Wed Jan 07, 2015 11:31 pm

Hey guys, I was wondering what coilovers are practical for street performance situations (not street racing :lol: , just canyon carving and fun stuff within the legal limit) and some track use. I've been considering BC and Stance SS andf I've been looking into different spring setups as well.

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Re: What's a good performance coilover setup?

Postby miswuevos » Thu Jan 08, 2015 7:58 am

Well, I am no expert in the suspension field, but I ll include my personal experience. I am running custom made coilover upfront with KYB AGX mr2 inserts and 8kg springs, and rear with trd 6.5kg spring with camaro agx adjustable shocks. Been daily driving it for over a year, and I find that you get what you pay for. It is stiff, but the ride quality kinda sucks on these cali streets.

If you balling, then go for Powered b Max :)

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Re: What's a good performance coilover setup?

Postby Deuce Cam » Thu Jan 08, 2015 9:54 am

Shockworks is at the top of my list for an off the shelf kit: http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/forum ... Suspension

Otherwise custom diy.

If it's a daily driver you might want to try riding in another ae86 with coilovers/high rates on a rough, or patch laden road surface first to see if you can live with it.

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Re: What's a good performance coilover setup?

Postby Clouds » Fri Jan 09, 2015 8:41 am

Depending on how much money you have, you might benefit from just using a spring and shock setup with some camber/caster plates that'll give you some form of adjustment, if you really need it.

It might be cheaper than coilovers, have a better ride, and you get some handling improvements, assuming that you currently are running on stock suspension.
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Re: What's a good performance coilover setup?

Postby chohdog » Fri Jan 09, 2015 10:25 am

For the average AE86 enthusiast, any of the readily available Chinese/Taiwanese coilovers will work fine (BC Racing, Megan, Greddy, Powered by Max). They are cheap and re-buildable by the companies and even by Odi Bachkis' company Feal.

If however you have the chance to drive someone's car who has a well sorted suspension, you'll find the difference to be night and day. Going the custom route is more time consuming and expensive, but to some people the rewards are well worth it. The main benefit of the custom route is that you get to choose your own dampers. The best "sorta available" off the shelf, made for AE86 shocks are HTS and TRD. A suspension with these shocks are better than any of the Chinese/Taiwanese stuff above.

Where it really gets fun, is when you start experimenting. This again however isn't for everybody, but only for those who find this sort of thing fun. For instance, Koni 8610 front universal race strut works wonders in a properly converted front strut assembly.

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Re: What's a good performance coilover setup?

Postby LongGrain » Fri Jan 09, 2015 11:14 am

Trust/Greddy type S on my track car for 8 years and counting, no issues yet.

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Re: What's a good performance coilover setup?

Postby IndiaDorifto7 » Fri Jan 09, 2015 7:41 pm

I believe the car came with TRD springs and tokico gas shocks, but the car feels a bit floaty, which is definitely not a good thing. I'm looking for something stiffer but still compliant enough to max out performance on the street (again, not a street racer).I've been thinking about just getting some swift springs and stiffening up the chassis for now. I'm thinking about Megans but I don't like to cheap out, I'd rather save up for something of better quality, like Stance SS.

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Re: What's a good performance coilover setup?

Postby shandangles » Sat Jan 10, 2015 5:11 am

Fortune Auto..../ end thread

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Re: What's a good performance coilover setup?

Postby chi-town » Sat Jan 10, 2015 5:58 pm

The easiest and most adjustable are the bc/megan/stance/fortune/etc.

There are multiple companies that can re-valve or change the weight of oil to tune them to your liking. Not to mention the availability of service parts.

If you're going to stay in stock strut casings I would look at Bilstiens or Koni. Both are rebuildable and can be custom valved.
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chohdog
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Re: What's a good performance coilover setup?

Postby chohdog » Mon Jan 12, 2015 11:05 am

I'm thinking about Megans but I don't like to cheap out, I'd rather save up for something of better quality, like Stance SS.


Both are made from the same factory in China. One is not better than the other.

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Re: What's a good performance coilover setup?

Postby Deuce Cam » Mon Jan 12, 2015 4:50 pm

IndiaDorifto7 wrote:I believe the car came with TRD springs and tokico gas shocks, but the car feels a bit floaty, which is definitely not a good thing. I'm looking for something stiffer but still compliant enough to max out performance on the street (again, not a street racer).I've been thinking about just getting some swift springs and stiffening up the chassis for now. I'm thinking about Megans but I don't like to cheap out, I'd rather save up for something of better quality, like Stance SS.


What do the TRD springs look like? Any idea on the spring rate?

If the ride feels floaty it can be numerous things like blown shocks, alignment, tires, bad bushings, loose suspension bolts, etc.

I used to have megan springs and the blue tokico shocks and it wasn't floaty at all. At speed man hole covers and rail road tracks still felt quite jarring.

It depends on what you mean by compliance. If you're talking about relative comfort and nvh then no coilover will. The spring rates are too high. Even with properly valved shocks there's no getting around the fact that the chassis is light, old, floppy, and poorly isolated from nvh. Even 6k/4k rates won't be comfortable. Now if you're talking about everything working together as it should than I would stay away from any scenario where the springs don't stay captive at full droop. This even goes for trd and swift rear springs - none of the ae86 specific shocks that I know of will hold them captive at full droop.

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Re: What's a good performance coilover setup?

Postby oldeskewltoy » Tue Jan 13, 2015 8:28 am

From our friends overseas..... Cliff Note's version - http://www.aeu86.org/forum/showthread.p ... #pid161445
OST Cyl head porting, - viewtopic.php?f=22&t=300

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Re: What's a good performance coilover setup?

Postby saiGone » Tue Jan 13, 2015 8:30 am

Sorry, I forgot if you did already or not... But

Get Poly bushings all around, 30 year old rubber bushings don't exactly do their job anymore.
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Re: What's a good performance coilover setup?

Postby chi-town » Tue Jan 13, 2015 3:39 pm

Skip the poly bushings and find the trd bushings.
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Re: What's a good performance coilover setup?

Postby phanist » Tue Jan 13, 2015 11:22 pm

ShockWork kit is very streetable

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Re: What's a good performance coilover setup?

Postby Jimmee1990 » Tue Jan 20, 2015 3:23 am

The Shockworks kit I found more comfortable on the softest setting than the original springs and TRD inserts that my car came with. It really is damped that well, and tuned with a combination of real on-road tuning and bench testing.

I've had them in my car for the last 3 years now, and am still yet to drive or ride in an AE86 that didn't feel nicer in road comfort or be quicker through the hills. They aren't cheap, still great value for the price however.

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Re: What's a good performance coilover setup?

Postby Deuce Cam » Wed Jan 21, 2015 11:40 am

Jimmee1990 wrote:The Shockworks kit I found more comfortable on the softest setting than the original springs and TRD inserts that my car came with.


:shock: that says a lot. I assume you're referring to the stock replacement trd long shocks, not the short race shocks?

Is it still confidence inspiring throwing the car into turn on the softest setting?

IndiaDorifto7
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Re: What's a good performance coilover setup?

Postby IndiaDorifto7 » Sat Jan 24, 2015 8:27 pm

Well, comfort is not really a priority of mine. Just need something tolerable. I tend to be performance minded so performance>comfort :D