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Best budget coilovers for DD + occasional track
I've used the search function and google, which is how I came up with the list below. I would like people's opinion on what is the best budget coilover (roughly 1200 or less) for a daily driver with the occasional track day (HPDE).
- I would like to have adjustable dampers but if a non adjustable damper set is of higher quality I would choose those. - Spring + shock combo is out of the question as height adjustability is a must - Focus would be the best quality for the price range Here are the coilovers i've found, if you anyone knows of additional options with my criteria please let me know BC Racing BR Series Function & Form type 2 K Sport kontrol pro Stance GR+ tanabe sustec S-0C Tein Basic Thanks! :thumbup: UPDATE 9.4.16 I can't believe it's been 5 years already. I do still have the 350z although it mostly just sits in the garage. I take it out once a month or so for a 30 mile loop so stuff doesn't gunk up, dry up, seize up etc. I try to do 4-5 HDPEs a year and will do more with time/money permitting. Since the original post i've installed a set of Eibach pro kit springs on the OEM shocks and taken it to about 10 track days. They performed decently enough on the track I guess and on the street they were great. After ~10 track days and ~100k miles the OEM shocks finally gave up and started leaking so it was finally time for an upgrade. My top priorities were price and reliability + brand reputation/safety. I can't really justify spending much more than 1k since the Z is just a toy at this point and because the car is basically slowly being modded to just be a track car (Open track days not serious competition) I value reliability and safety over more features/bells and whistles. To be honest I was pretty open on whether or not the kit needs to have adjustable dampening or height. Building on my previous research (from 5 years ago) I poured through 100s of posts and compared dozens of spring/shocks specs and narrowed it down to the few options below. Tein Basis - height adjustable coilovers, no dampening adjust, linear spring rates ~500-600 dollars - These were a top contender due to the low price, reputable brand name and the fact that the spring rates are linear which I much preferred over progressive spring rates. BC coilovers BR type - height and dampening adjustable coilovers, linear spring rates ~1000-1200 dollars - On paper these coilovers ticked every box and should be perfect but maybe it's the "brand snob" in me or maybe it's just because I don't have any experience with the brand to make a more informed decision but eventually I wrote these off as well as all of what i call the "2nd tier brands" like Ksport, Stance, Megan etc. Tokico DSPEC spring + shock kit - non height adjustable, dampening adjustable, linear spring rates. These were actually perfect for me, a matched spring and shock set with adjustable dampening for around 600 dollars! But unfortunately these were discontinued years ago and i couldn't find any for sale @ 600 dollars. I did find a set on ebay for around 1200 which I almost bought. Koni yellows - No introduction needed for these benchmark shocks. These would have been a no brainer if I already had a set of linear spring rate springs. But because I was adamant on having linear spring rates it would mean I would have to buy a new set of springs as well as the Konis which were already ~800-900 bucks. KW1 - Height adjustable, non dampening adjustable, progressive spring rates, ~1800 dollars. I've read nothing but good things about KWs and was willing to blow my budget to get them but they come with progressive springs. In fact the vast majority of kits come with progressive springs which made my search all that much more difficult. I know you can buy linear spring replacements but then that would really be blowing my budget out of the water. To be honest, there are probably plenty of kits that are of good quality and would work for my requirements.... but like many of you, I have limited first hand experience with different brands. The average person probably have only purchased and installed a handful of brands over the years on various cars they've owned.... anything beyond that they are relying on what their friends tell them or *gasp* internet hearsay. So, what did I finally end up going with? Bilstein PSS B14s - height adjustable, non dampening adjustable, linear spring rates front and progressive spring rates rear, ~1200 dollars. I would have preferred linear spring rates BOTH front and rear but i guess i was willing to accept progressive spring rates in the rear. So what made me decide on the Bilsteins? Well, my "specs requirements" were pretty open so it all came down to price + reputation/reliability/safety. Once i narrowed down the list the main deciding factor was basically brand reputation. I know that brand name isn't everything BUT in the absence of additional first hand experience or much "verified" second hand data it's what people tend to rely on to give them the "warm and fuzzys." There were other reputable brands on my short list but Bilstein is one of the very few brands where you basically never read any negative reviews about. Some might prefer other brands but my experience is that Bilstein is pretty much universally accepted as a company that makes a "good product." Initial impressions from some street driving and canyon runs are that the coilovers feel great but I haven't had a chance to try them out on the track yet and I know that what may seem awesome on the street are in fact "not up to task" on the track. Maybe in a year or so after i get in a couple of track days i'll update this post again :rolleyes: Side note: the Bilstein housing is aluminum unlike the steel OEMs so DO NOT use the OEM torque specs.... it was pretty painful to have to re thread one of my brand new coilovers because i made that mistake I know this is a super long post but hopefully it will be helpful to other Z enthusiasts :icon38: |
+1 For BC
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I second the OP's request for help on what is a good trackable true coil over for under 1200. (even tho i may not be the most popular guy on the forum lol)
i am leaning towards fortune auto coilovers and KW's. look into these. i like. |
not stance... not to many happy reviews after few years of owning them.
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I have Stance. I'd recommend BC.
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Koni shocks and Nismo T2 springs, D Specs and some other springs . Either of those two combo's will give you a better damper than cheap coilovers and will probably be cheaper. Or double your budget and get something quality if you want coilovers.
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So stance isn't good? Realistically I wouldn't be doing any fine tuning with these coilovers, the main purpose would just be the height adjustability and handling improvement over OEM. In terms of quality i'm just looking for a well made set that won't fall apart/have shocks blown/stuff coming loose etc etc.
and before anyone says, "well you can just get any random set then"... what i would like to know is if sets A,B, and C are all 1000 dollars, which one is best in terms of quality? thanks |
Originally Posted by terrasmak
(Post 9262418)
Koni shocks and Nismo T2 springs, D Specs and some other springs . Either of those two combo's will give you a better damper than cheap coilovers and will probably be cheaper. Or double your budget and get something quality if you want coilovers.
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have you looked into Fortune Auto?
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1. what tires are you using
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Buddy of mine has the bc's and he loves em...then again he just slammed his car so IDK how they are as far as performance. I will say adjusting them is nice and easy as the antennae thing pops right out of the top of the strut tower.
Good to hear about the stance....I thought they were decent but guess others are saying different. |
Originally Posted by CTZ860
(Post 9262670)
Buddy of mine has the bc's and he loves em...then again he just slammed his car so IDK how they are as far as performance. I will say adjusting them is nice and easy as the antennae thing pops right out of the top of the strut tower.
Good to hear about the stance....I thought they were decent but guess others are saying different. |
Originally Posted by Z1 Performance
(Post 9262660)
1. what tires are you using
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FWIW I installed a new set of BC BR series coilovers on my Z last weekend and have driven the car maybe ~100 miles. Stiffness set about in the middle, maybe a few clicks toward soft, and it's just slightly more harsh of a ride than my OEM shocks + Hotchkis springs setup. No weird noises either. So far, so good.
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konis on eibach pros. best for DD and occasional track. Leave the cheap coils for others.
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Originally Posted by terrasmak
(Post 9262418)
Koni shocks and Nismo T2 springs, D Specs and some other springs . Either of those two combo's will give you a better damper than cheap coilovers and will probably be cheaper. Or double your budget and get something quality if you want coilovers.
is anyone running a good track setup that can also be a good dd, that they like? please post the setup so everyone can copy it. its what we all do with rim/ tire sizes. |
^ I am wondering the very same thing.
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the reason I ask the tires is because it makes a huge difference as to what spring rate you can actually make use of. All this stuff goes hand in hand in hand. And it all starts with your tires. V12's are a grippy street tire, but not a true track tire. For a typical HPDE, and what you can/can't do during those events, and for this weight car, they work "ok" and are priced well. I would not expect them to last true track events though. Even on lighter cars, they get eaten up quickly
The other consideration is what type of track days you're doing, and how often. If you're talking a couple events a year, there is no point in going with a setup that is focused more towards track, as it can be un-necessarily uncompromising on the road. The setups that do a truly admirable job of dual duty, where they can be dialed down for street comfort and dialed upt to take advantage of an R compound tire, get to be about 3 x (and up) the proposed budget. All you're going to get from a thread like this, unfortunately, are a bunch of +1's from guys who have likely only used the setup they have on their own car, or their friends car. Most people have not had the chance to truly put a wide variety of these through their paces. They are going to think their setup is the best because their car feels firmer than before, so they are going to say it improved handling. I won't pretend to know what a Fortune Auto, or K Sport feels like, looks like, or anything else, as they just aren't on my radar at this point. The market is already saturated with low priced coilovers, because the manufacturers and distributors have realized that this is what the customer base buys. They buy it based on price, and because of all the other internet high fives people post. Unfortunately in todays performance parts market, marketing wins over all else. Give out enough free sets, and you create buzz. They try to dress them up with shiny colors, or springs from a specific brand to help the marketing side of things. I've stopped paying attention as it seems a new brand pops up every day. One day, if time and money allowed, I'd love to take each one, shock dyno test em, cut em open and see what makes them all tick. But it's not a practical test at this point I have used the BC's, and at their price point, and at their lower damper settings, they work decently enough for street use and maybe a track day or 2 (fun, club type stuff). I've used the Tanabe SOC, and overall prefer those to the BC. Tein has their new Basis setup out, haven't tried it yet. True handling prowess on these cars comes from way more than just your spring/damper selection, and you'll easily spend more on the ancillary parts, getting the geometry right, than you will on these low priced dampers. Begging the question, how far are you willing to go for the goal? |
After reading Adam's post I feel I should follow my previous post with a disclaimer: Don't read my input as praising the BC BR coilovers relative to any other aftermarket coilover system, as I have no experience with other systems. My only reference points are OEM shocks and springs, OEM shocks and Hotchkis springs, and BC BR coilovers. For my goals, which were adjustable ride height and slightly stiffer ride versus my Hotchkis spring setup, the BC product is sufficient so far. I don't ever track the car nor do I plan to, so a budget coilover system that will see relatively minimal abuse seemed like the right choice for me. I'll be updating my review as time passes so I can comment on durability, any strange noises or other issues that appear.
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Originally Posted by Z1 Performance
(Post 9263884)
the reason I ask the tires is because it makes a huge difference as to what spring rate you can actually make use of. All this stuff goes hand in hand in hand. And it all starts with your tires. V12's are a grippy street tire, but not a true track tire. For a typical HPDE, and what you can/can't do during those events, and for this weight car, they work "ok" and are priced well. I would not expect them to last true track events though. Even on lighter cars, they get eaten up quickly
The other consideration is what type of track days you're doing, and how often. If you're talking a couple events a year, there is no point in going with a setup that is focused more towards track, as it can be un-necessarily uncompromising on the road. The setups that do a truly admirable job of dual duty, where they can be dialed down for street comfort and dialed upt to take advantage of an R compound tire, get to be about 3 x (and up) the proposed budget. All you're going to get from a thread like this, unfortunately, are a bunch of +1's from guys who have likely only used the setup they have on their own car, or their friends car. Most people have not had the chance to truly put a wide variety of these through their paces. They are going to think their setup is the best because their car feels firmer than before, so they are going to say it improved handling. I won't pretend to know what a Fortune Auto, or K Sport feels like, looks like, or anything else, as they just aren't on my radar at this point. The market is already saturated with low priced coilovers, because the manufacturers and distributors have realized that this is what the customer base buys. They buy it based on price, and because of all the other internet high fives people post. Unfortunately in todays performance parts market, marketing wins over all else. Give out enough free sets, and you create buzz. They try to dress them up with shiny colors, or springs from a specific brand to help the marketing side of things. I've stopped paying attention as it seems a new brand pops up every day. One day, if time and money allowed, I'd love to take each one, shock dyno test em, cut em open and see what makes them all tick. But it's not a practical test at this point I have used the BC's, and at their price point, and at their lower damper settings, they work decently enough for street use and maybe a track day or 2 (fun, club type stuff). I've used the Tanabe SOC, and overall prefer those to the BC. Tein has their new Basis setup out, haven't tried it yet. True handling prowess on these cars comes from way more than just your spring/damper selection, and you'll easily spend more on the ancillary parts, getting the geometry right, than you will on these low priced dampers. Begging the question, how far are you willing to go for the goal? |
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