I'm at the stage where I need coilovers for my S13.
I've had HSD monopros, Apex & Bc's in the past but if I'm being honest I've never kept or used a car long enough to know which ones are the best.
The car will be an occasional road car but I want it slammed.
I think I like BC's the best but I'm not sure.
Where do you guys buy yours for the best value?
occasional road use but manly used for what? or is it occasional road use and used for not much else.
for anything road bias I would go for the most expensive driftworks ones as they seem to stick you to the road and actually absorb the bumps meaning you can crack on with drinking a brew whilst driving and not throw it all over your face.
Sorry should have made myself clearer. It's going to be a road car only that I use when I'm not lugging around in my Caddy.
I did look at the mono pros but was under the impression Bc coilovers are a lot more road friendly.
Just to clarify the car has all new polybushes, adjustable bushed suspension arms, Godspeed arb's & will be running my R34 Neo RB25det engine pushing around 400bhp ish.
maybe BC's have changed, they ones I had were a good 6 years ago now. I got them secondhand nearly new etc.. so am unsure on the spring rates. but felt them to be no better than my apex type 1's, I drove the same mix of residential, country lane, motorway daily on both so had a good comparison.(at the time I had 2 cars fitted with each).
my s15 had the black HSD ones and they were real comfy, I found the front springs a little soft (and had rubbing issues with the wing on the front because of fitment) so opted for ones that were a touch harder. I found these to give a nice ride with the added bonus of the car not trying to kill me. the rears were set to full soft and the front a few clicks more.
my s13 now has the green HSD ones set to about halfway on the front and rear. the spring rates feel way softer than the old apex jobbies. it only goes on the track although I did take it for a 6 mile blast down the roads and I wouldn't say I could drive the car to its full potential as I was hopping and bouncing all over with some good wheel spins to boot.
ive driven an s13 with those apex comfy coilover and I was impressed on how comfy they were, (made me realise how much ive 'ruined' mine) although I didn't get to drive it in any real anger, but it did soak up the bumps/give a nice ride, decent ARB's would compensate for body roll.
Ive not driven on the £900 driftworks ones so cant give first hand experience but watching many drift cars fitted with them shows the car gliding over bumps and not bouncing over them.
my mate had the japspeed diarrhoea's and I found them to be terrible in all aspects.
all may cars would be setup for maximum grip/ so like 3* and 1* wheels pointing dead ahead 7* (ish) castor front
that's what I base my opinions on.
Last edited by green_rs13; 28-07-2016 at 21:45.
They're all practically the same. You're just going to hear one person liking one more than the other because that's what they've used or their mates, dads, goat raves about them. I think they all have a "limo" option with soft springs if that's what you're after. I'm a BC fan. Had Apex coilies first (same thing), lasted for years, never leaked and collars never completely seized. Then went with posher BC's with super hard springs. Terrible on the road but fantastic on the race track. I'm sure a softer option of these would be perfectly fine for the road. If you really want quality though you're going to have to pay for it.
Thanks for the very good write up rs13 it certainly helps with such good feedback on all brands.
As you said Blaktooth everyone has an opinion.
I'm not worried about cost but want to be realistic & not spunk £1k or more on coilovers for a car that will be occasionally driven. I don't though want to regret driving it if it feels like crap to drive & bangs & crashes everywhere.
I've been reading a few reviews on the HSD dualtech coilovers & they seem very good quality for the price.
It's going to be those or the BR series from BC.
I've found a cheaper supplier of the BC series & it's practically the same cost as the Hsd's
I just got HSD MonoPro Coilovers, they seem pretty good, apart from they was too cheap to even include new bolts to bolt to the top of the suspension turret.
West Country REO
I've been using apex comfys with whiteline anti-roll bars for god knows how long Ian, can't fault this setup for road and track use. Softer springs sort out the bumps, roll bars stop the roll.
I dunno how low they go on a 13, but mine goes low enough to be impractical...
Where did you source them from Matt?Originally Posted by Murt
I had Apex on my white S13 & I admit I loved them, I did also have Bc's on Skyline & they were great.
It seems to be a very personal choice.
Where did you source your Apex from Dave?
Your right its all down to personal preference, finding the spring rate that suits you is key, over spending mega bucks on something that knocks your teeth out (am I starting to get old...)
They were off here about 5 years ago in a group buy.
Most seem to be 7kg front & 5 kg rear. Do you know what you're running?
Driftworks bud, cost an arm and a leg.
West Country REO
Had a car into Zealou5 recently that had HSD coilovers on, I don't think they were very old but they looked in a right state, all the paint was flaking off and had started to rust. Also if I remember correctly 1 had started to leak.
^what model HSD where they?
I'm not sure mate, I only saw them on a passing visit
As has been said, most of the coilies in that price range are pretty much of a muchness.
I think the problem you are going to have is that you want to slam the car but you want a reasonably pliant ride.
The two don't really go together as when you lower it, you are reducing the available length of travel because you are bringing the wheel nearer to the arch and length of travel will have a big impact on how soft a spring you can run. If you run a soft spring even after lowering, you will simply wear out the arch liner or chunks out of your tyres.
If you try to increase the length of travel again by increasing camber and/or fitting stretch tyres that is going to have an adverse affect on how the car handles and feels.
Also, fitting big wheels will mean fitting tyres with smaller sidewalls and that also makes for a less pliant ride.
However, most people think the 4x4 OEM look and 15s don't look cool.
Only thing I seen done is to tub and flare the arches, run soft springs and use shorter lower assemblies so that the natural static sag of the soft springs and the shorter lowers combine to slam the car. The tubbing allows the wheel to travel up inside the arch so it will still operate over a reasonable length.
Ye I totally understand you can't have your cake & eat it.
My car has fully tubbed front arches & I have an arch roller to roll & pull the arches where required. I'm running 18x9.5 et30 wheels with 225/40 tyres on the rear & 215/35 on the front. I've got fully adjustable suspension arms so I can play with camber.
Personally didn't really find my old apex or hsd HR's to be that good on the road. They were too crashy and not massively well damped for our road conditions. They may have changed the damping etc since I bought them (apex definitely have cause that was about 10 yrs ago).
Don't know if yellowspeed do coilies for s-bodies but they have been perfectly acceptable on my M since fitted. Compliant, great build quality, well damped, decent price for the spec.
they do. which type do you have as there a fair few to choose from? http://www.yellowspeedeurope.com/man...coilovers.html
I've got BC RM on my s13, i like them, they're not crashy like some coilovers, the spring rates are 6/5kg, the ride is harsh and the damping adjustment has good range. was £750 through Jez at Hdev.
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