Coilover Questions

[Blue Arrow]

I'm thinking of putting coilovers on the V but before I bite the bullet, I was wondering if I can get some advice/feedback. I don't track the car and have no intention of doing so. I just want the flexibility it offers (height and damper adjustability). I find the manual stock ride a little bit on the harsh side but livable and I don't want it to get any worse which is certain if I just change the springs. I plan to change the wheels to 19"s or 20"s so I think that putting coilovers will help find the balance to maintain the current ride while lowering the car.

B977 was very helpful in giving his thoughts and was very happy with BC coilovers BR series (10 kg front/8 kg rear).

Just wondering what others have experienced with other brands. Has anyone heard or used HSD coilovers (twin tube or TT)? Is it true that most coilovers produce that metal to metal sound on rough surfaces?

Will changing to coilovers require a camber kit?

Thanks for any advice or feedback.

[xscape237]

I also have the BC racing coilovers. I'm happy with them for the price.

Just keep in mind that while its great having the adjustability, it is not as quick and easy to adjust as you might hope. The rears are the main problem.

The rear upper strut mounts on these cars are basically enclosed. There are a few small holes, but none big enough to fit the extenders through (at least the BC racing ones anyway). I have read that some people drill a bigger hole and thread the extenders through to the boot, but i dont have the will-power to go that far just yet. My solution for now is to drop the shock each time i need to adjust it.

Also, the height adjustability is always a slow process. The fronts you just deal with. They are not stricltly a "coilover" in the rear, which means you need to adjust both the spring perch and the shock individually, and with only enough room to do perhaps a quarter turn each time, i'm finding it to cause less stress if you basically unbolt everything and do it that way (but then again i'm not the patient type).

Anyhow. I'm happy with the performance of these on the street. There are 30 notches of damper adjustment. On 15 rear and 10 front it felt a bit friendlier than my prior setup (nismo struts, rsr springs). I'm now driving around on something like 27 rear and 22 front and its quite firm, i need to back it off a bit after the next track day in late May.

[FlyingEL]

Just wondering what others have experienced with other brands. Has anyone heard or used HSD coilovers (twin tube or TT)? Is it true that most coilovers produce that metal to metal sound on rough surfaces?

Will changing to coilovers require a camber kit?

Thanks for any advice or feedback.

I used to have CUSCO 2R in my Silvia. They comes with pillow ball which you can adjust the chamber. The Negative side of these is, since they are all metal, after some wear and tear, the pillow ball do get a little worn out. That where you get the irritating knocking sound. I contacted CUSCO, they told me all pillow ball will knock over a period of time. Unless you keep changing the pillow ball, which is not cheap, you got the live with it. That's the only way to make a suspension which can be adjusted perfectly. And I find the only way to stop the knocking sound it to drive fast in the corners.

[Blue Arrow]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I guess having coilovers is not as clear cut as it appears to be. The adjustability is still a big advantage over changing to lower/stiffer springs but it looks like it's not easy to do. I may need to check overseas forums to see what their experiences are with coilovers. Problem is that it's quite difficult to find reviews on the web (most are on brands that are not common here).

[Nightcrawler]

I made the HUGE mistake of buying some Ebay coilovers made in Taiwan called "Master Damper Unit". I know it was a risk but I took it (for a measly $900 delivered), and it failed. I am still running the fronts (which clunk a little bit but not too bad), but the rear shocks were terrible, so I am running the stock rear shocks with the aftermarket rear spring setup. Runs not too bad now I have ironed all of the significant bugs out of it.

Yes, you DEFINITELY need rear camber arms if you lower the car (the front I got away with at 1.5 degrees camber, 340mm eyebrow height). I have 340mmm rear eyebrow height and was over 4 degrees cambered. I bought a pair of SPC rear camber arms from America (about $400 the pair) and straightened it all up nicely.

[FlyingEL]

Now a day, you can get cheaper coilover. I think if you search Ebay. you can get Tien for about $1k. They do not have the fully adjustable flexibility but you are not going on track. Tien Spring tend to be on the softer side too. Check them out.

[rb26stagea]

I use Advance coilovers... They are pretty decent: the previous owner had them set ultra hard which was extremely uncomfortable, but having adjusted them (the rears are a cop to get to, as documented already), the car rides better than it did. I still think it could use another adjustment to soften the rear, which I will do once I fit the swaybars: it's almost like the factory ride quality, but not quite there yet.

Also, given that my seats are pretty much solid carbon fibre with about 10mm of foam padding, I believe that this adds to the perceived harshness of the ride- once I have new seats in, it should be no less comfortable than stock.

[n15m0]

I'm thinking of putting coilovers on the V but before I bite the bullet, I was wondering if I can get some advice/feedback. I don't track the car and have no intention of doing so. I just want the flexibility it offers (height and damper adjustability). I find the manual stock ride a little bit on the harsh side but livable and I don't want it to get any worse which is certain if I just change the springs. I plan to change the wheels to 19"s or 20"s so I think that putting coilovers will help find the balance to maintain the current ride while lowering the car.

B977 was very helpful in giving his thoughts and was very happy with BC coilovers BR series (10 kg front/8 kg rear).

Just wondering what others have experienced with other brands. Has anyone heard or used HSD coilovers (twin tube or TT)? Is it true that most coilovers produce that metal to metal sound on rough surfaces?

Will changing to coilovers require a camber kit?

Thanks for any advice or feedback.

No offence, but if you think the factory suspension you have currently with 18s are a little bit on the harsh side, then fitting adjustable coilovers will only make it worse. No ifs or buts about that.

Also if you are planning to go 19s or 20s then I can tell you now your ride is going to be worse that what it currently is as you will be running lower profile tires which means less tire to cushion your ride. Spring rates for adjustable coilovers are always going to be stiffer than factory ones and the lower you adjust them, the harsher they become as well. I am no suspension expert but that is just from my personal experience.

[FlyingEL]

No offence, but if you think the factory suspension you have currently with 18s are a little bit on the harsh side, then fitting adjustable coilovers will only make it worse. No ifs or buts about that.

Also if you are planning to go 19s or 20s then I can tell you now your ride is going to be worse that what it currently is as you will be running lower profile tires which means less tire to cushion your ride. Spring rates for adjustable coilovers are always going to be stiffer than factory ones and the lower you adjust them, the harsher they become as well. I am no suspension expert but that is just from my personal experience.

Very true....well said

[mosoto]

Not taking away from what's been said already BUT you should have a talk to Sydneykid. He will give you the most informed & experience backed response. If you want a superb ride for the V35 look into the Bilstien PSS9 or 10. Not a track coilover out of the box but I'm led to believe as good if not better than stock ride comfort wise. These as well as the cusco coilovers use the stock rubber upper mounts which avoids the "clunking" of pillowball setups along with contributing to the smoother ride.

I'm using Ohlins (Japan) coilovers and the pillowball mounts started clunking within a month of having them installed. I'm rolling on 20's and ride wise the Ohlins are more firm than stock on softest setting but not uncomfortable or bouncy.

Edited May 2, 2010 by mosoto

[scathing]

No offence, but if you think the factory suspension you have currently with 18s are a little bit on the harsh side, then fitting adjustable coilovers will only make it worse. No ifs or buts about that.

Also if you are planning to go 19s or 20s then I can tell you now your ride is going to be worse that what it currently is

I can't believe it took this long for someone to mention that.

[fcruz3r]

mate..your stock springs & shocks are built with 1 purpose...comfort.

if you find these ride harsh...you can buy ebay or coilovers worth thousands...and they will all ride harsher even on the softest settings.

with regards to noise... the firmer coilovers do tend to accentuate road noise and some upper pillowballs do tend to give a clunk sound on slow turns and bump...like when ur turning up onto your car driveway.

[Walf]

I used to have HSD street adjustables on my S14. Thought they were great.

Had some lowered springs with S15 shocks before that and the ride was much better while being stiffer. Handling was slightly better but think they were designed for drifting because it made the car slide 10x smoother when drifting.

definantly worth the $1,200 I paid for them new.

[xscape237]

If you're finding the factory ride a bit harsh, perhaps there is a problem? Worn bushes or shocks perhaps?

[Blue Arrow]

If you're finding the factory ride a bit harsh, perhaps there is a problem? Worn bushes or shocks perhaps?

No problems with the suspension, the car is in top shape. It's also generally a weekend car so it has done limited kms since I got it. I guess I should re-phrase my original post. I find the ride a bit on the hard side because I suppose I'm used to my daily driver. But like I said, it's something that I can live with and it doesn't bother me. It's the price I'm willing to pay for better handling and a good looking ride. My passengers are the ones who complain and since I can't kick them out, I'm stuck with them

Mosoto (Mark), thanks for your comments, I'll check it out.

N15M0, no offence taken. That's why I posted this question in the Forum, to get ideas. I know that getting bigger wheels will affect the ride. I jumped from 16" to 19" on my other ride which surprisingly didn't affect it too much in terms of ride harshness. True it was a bit more bumpy but nothing drastic (didn't get any complaints either even when I later switched to Tein springs). In short I don't have first hand experience with coilovers.

The reason I'm looking at coilovers rather than just lowering springs is because I need flexibility in terms of the height adjustment. I've got the front spoilers and I don't want to scrape it off going into my driveway. Now if the coilover set up can provide the same comfort/ride as OEM set up or even better then it becomes a no brainer. As long as it's not jarring, it should be good. I don't want to constantly see the dentist to fix my fillings. I'm wary about the clunking sound that seems to pervade coilovers (just from reading forums) so I need some advice/feedback. Maybe I'll just leave the current set up and see how it goes. It just would look so much better lowered with bigger wheels.

My hats off to the BMW engineers who seem to have mastered the suspension game. The sport edition 3 series coupe I drove with 19"s was smooth as yet stayed flat on corners. Then again, it's 3-4 times the cost of the V. Can't see why a car should cost so much - it's still just a car.

Thanks again for the feedback.

[fcruz3r]

My hats off to the BMW engineers who seem to have mastered the suspension game. The sport edition 3 series coupe I drove with 19"s was smooth as yet stayed flat on corners. Then again, it's 3-4 times the cost of the V. Can't see why a car should cost so much - it's still just a car.

Till you jack the car up and find that the rear subframe is cracked and not covered under warranty...or the fact that the FCAB on the 3 series are made of marshmellows and you get seasick driving the car on highways

[xscape237]

My BC Racing coilovers do not clunk. They've only been installed for a matter of weeks tho.

[Blue Arrow]

My BC Racing coilovers do not clunk. They've only been installed for a matter of weeks tho.

Can you give us some feedback after you track the car or after you've had them for a while?

Does anyone know what the OEM shocks are on these manual coupes? Is it just some generic shocks that Nissan puts in? I've heard that JDM cars don't have the sport suspension on the manual/brembo-equipped cars unlike in the US. I took a peek, it has bilstein shocks so unless that's standard, might explain the ride.

[mosoto]

Bilstein is not standard

[FlyingEL]

Actually, if you just want a better cornering car, why not leave the shock & spring but change the sway bar or Anti roll bar? Actually that's what I'm going to do. I think the car is already low enough and ride is not too hard. I'll like to keep the comfort but a better cornering car.