I plan on doing some more suspension work as my next mod, not sure if a spring/shock combo would be best or if it would be worth it to spend the little extra money for decent coilovers ($1100-$1400 range, I like the H&R coilovers). The thing is, I only plan on lowering my car about an inch at most, but I think 3/4 of an inch would really be what I'm looking for.

I know most people who want a big drop (1.5+ inches) go with coilovers to accomplish that, so with that being said, would it be worth the money to get them if I only want a 3/4-1 inch drop?

 

Depends on what you consider worth it but I would say yes. I like knowing that my shocks and springs were engineered and tested to work together and who's to say you won't change your mind in the future about your ride height?

 

I agree with 350Zenophile. What happens if, later on, you decide that 3/4" isn't what you want anymore? you'll have to spend MORE money on new springs again.

I vote for the coilovers... at least you'll be able to adjust your height as you see fit.

I have the Nismo shock and spring kit, with Tanabe Sustec GF210 springs. Love the drop, and went that route because it was inexpensive, but I'm stuck at the height it's at now.

 

I had shocks and springs before and now have coilovers. Absolutely prefer coilovers for adjustability and corner balancing.

 

Coilovers have always been my preference, but for some it may not be worth it. What's your planned use for the car? Street and canyons only? Track driving?

P.S. I thought a 1 inch drop was going to be what I wanted (went with springs as a short term answer) but quickly found out that was too much for my application. Coilovers would have best for me (and they are still on the list of things to grab soon).

 

I agree with these guys, the coilovers are definitely worth it should you ever decide you want to go lower, and just for fine tuning in general.

 

Seems pretty unanimous, makes a lot of sense too. Thanks for the advice guys

 

I'm sorry people and I hate to bring this up but, now I understand why so many owners end up with coilovers I would not even unbox let alone install if they magically showed up at my door for free. We have no idea what the OP's want and needs are other then the mild drop request and the price range. We are justifying on things that most coilovers owners never take advantage of in the course of ownership. Most never adjust height after it's set, most never corner weight or can justify the costs on a car driven for the street, and most do not adjust damping. Furthermore, most buy the cheapest thing they can without real requard to weather or not it actually delivered what they need, in valving or especially in spring stiffness. That last bit is the biggest potential catch with going the coilover route. Most owners do not know what bad behavior is, so you do not see bad reviews, hey it's all good,....right.

It should be about what you will actually use and actually want, about the product that delivers what you want out of your new suspension.

So, for $700 to $800 the OP can get Tokico D-specs on any of the following .7 to .9" drop spring

RSR 350Z linear springs .6”/.6”
Spring rates in LBS 345/417

Hotchkis 350Z Linear springs .6”/.8”
Spring rates in lbs 340/330

Tein S-tech 350Z springs .7“.6“ (fronts are slightly progressive, rears are linear)
Spring rates in LBS 386/402 (estimated front intial rate is 327lbs)

Swift 350Z linear springs .8”/.6”
Spring rates in LBS 336/364

He get's excellent damping that does happen to be adjustable, the drop height he's looking for, and mild streetable spring rates at a great price.

Do not get me wrong, I'm for coilovers, but only when they are truely justified and when your buying something that is geared towards your needs. How's it valved, do you really need much spring stiffness over oem and it is from a brand I trust?

To the OP, take the H&R coilovers off your list, they do not have the drop height range your looking for. Below are the drop specs lifted off the H&R site.

Min 1.2"/1"
Max2.2"/2.1"

If you do go with coilovers Bilstein Pss and Eibach Pro-S come to mind. Tanabe S-OC maybe. I would not touch any other sub $1300 coilover. But even then, I really do not know what you need. It would help if we knew what you were really looking for as far as ride and drive goes.

 

Gsedan35, you bring up great points but it is there in the points where you support the idea of a moderate coilover. True, for budget minded people springs and shocks have a huge price advantage. And true, most people don't adjust (height or dampening) after setting them. But it is here where the arguement is made. I remember deciding on a set height (with a previous car) that I thought was great, I later determine it was not what I wanted a week later, because they were coilovers the problem was easy to solve. Had I bought springs and shocks I would just have to deal with it or sell them. Both resolutions not really what anyone wants to do after spending that much money. But like you said, once I set them I didn't touch them or corner balance them.

 

Worth what?

 

To answer what in fact I'm actually looking for: I really just want something that's going to be stiffer than stock and handle better while offering me the exact drop that I'm looking for (since I'm not sure exactly how big this drop is, the idea of height adjustable coilovers is appealing to me). I'm certainly not trying to build a track car so I don't need ridiculously stiff springs, and although it will see occasional track days, it is primarily going to remain a street car. I understand how difficult and expensive it is to make significantly more power than it has stock, so I've grown to like the idea of making the car handle and corner much better than stock as an alternative.

I've been holding off on buying anything new for the car for a while now, so that when I did finally decide what I wanted to do next (in this case suspension work), I didn't just go for the cheap route just for instant gratification. That said, for me personally I'm really beginning to believe that decent coilovers would be worth the extra $400-$600 over a shock/spring combo. My Z has a stock body currently, so who knows how my mind would change as far as a perfect height should I starting adding aftermarket body parts.

Hope this information helps