Best Coilovers For circa £1000

[Chris205]

I really can't live with the ride height of the trophy any longer, even with the mark fish springs it doesnt look low enough for me.

I'm after a Coilover that will offer good drivability even when low, I'm not talking silly low but around 40-50mm all round. I will be using a whiteline adj Rear ARB aswell as fully poly bushing the suspension components.


I was thinking of companys like Bilstein, kw, H+R's etc so any previous experience with these company's would be great. I've used KW coilovers in the past and have used billie shocks on my 106's so know they're good.

Another dilema is rebuilds, I dont want something that is going to need a rebuild after 10-12 months use, car will be getting driven daily with a good rinsing on a weekend, possibly looking at getting on track aswell so a fully adjustable damper would also be handy.

Any help appreciated.

 

[Fletcher]

H&R's would fit the bill nicely IMO.

 

[Gally]

Where's Roy?

 

[fUbAr]

Scotland will recommend KW.
Fred will recommend Billies.
Everyone else will recommend H&R.

 

[Gally]

I recommend standard.

Or drop it on it's arse, make it undriveable then come back in 3 weeks and complain it's "A bit harsh".

 

[fUbAr]

I recommend standard.

Or drop it on it's arse, make it undriveable then come back in 3 weeks and complain it's "A bit harsh".

Indeed. We fit into the 4th opinion.

 

[Chris205]

I recommend standard.

Or drop it on it's arse, make it undriveable then come back in 3 weeks and complain it's "A bit harsh".

Dropping it 40-50mm will not make it undrivable in the slightest, I'm not after putting it into the ground, otherwise I would just buy some cheap coilovers and completely ruin the car.

As for a 'bit harsh' the sachs set up doesnt exactly offer the most comfortable ride.

One of my Sach's has just started to let go so now seems a perfect oportunity to test out some of the better makes of coilovers on the clio. I ran the vmaxx on the ph1 and the damping/spring rates were a little soft.

In my eyes I have two options: Buy a good quality set of coilovers or refurb the sachs and go mark fish spring set up, unpinned front dampers and koni revalved rear dampers by mark fish. Either way both set ups will cost around £1k+

If the coilovers work out to be a bad decision I will just go with the mark fish set up and live with the ride height knowing I have the best possible set up on the car.

 

[Kam.]

Bilstein B14's work very well and are just under your budget. They are not adjustable in damping but thats not a bad thing. Its all done internally. All the new kits come with Eibach springs which are superior to the old H&R's.
If you can extend your budget then the KW variant 2 coilovers are very very nice

Kev

 

[Silent_Scone]

B14s

 

[Chris205]

Do you think I could get anything that would perform as good if not better than the trophy but on the desired ride height drop?

I dont want to sacrifice looks for handling tbh as the trophy is one of the best cars I've driven on the limit, it could just do with being a bit more planted and lower.

 

[Chris205]

Bilstein B14's work very well and are just under your budget. They are not adjustable in damping but thats not a bad thing. Its all done internally. All the new kits come with Eibach springs which are superior to the old H&R's.
If you can extend your budget then the KW variant 2 coilovers are very very nice

Kev

Just had a look at the website kev, doesnt appear to be anything from kw or bilstein for the 182 cup and trophy due to the hub spacing

 

[-J-]

I run KW V2's on my cup with a Custom ARM, Great set up IMO and would reccomend it

 

[Kam.]

Just had a look at the website kev, doesnt appear to be anything from kw or bilstein for the 182 cup and trophy due to the hub spacing

Good point. Theres me not paying attention. Personally I would get a set modified to fit as the best manufacturers seem to not want to do limited parts for the rarer cup suspension.

 

[jack_kemp]

From what I've read, KW seem to be the best rated for a compromise between comfortability on the road and performance on track.

Nobody mentioned Ast? Why's this?

 

[sideways danny]

AST's are a fair bit more expensive. Excellent though.

KWs are nice for that budget. Leagues ahead of H&Rs (which run Bilstein shocks )

 

[Chris205]

The thing that put me off AST's was most I've seen have to be rebuilt every so often, is this more down to heavy track use or not being suitable for the road?

I think Kw V2's sound like the ones to go for, do you think Kw would custom make me some v2's with the correct cup/trophy hub spacing?

 

[sideways danny]

early ASTs had a couple of teething problems. Broken helper springs (just run without, they're coilbound as soon as you put weight on them) and some over tightened locking platforms

It's not too hard to modify the bolt spacing. They might do you some if you ask

 

[Sir_Dave]

Arch gap FTW.

 

[Simon@SprayShack]

Well ive had 2 kits on my Clio 172........so heres my comments.

GAZ, excellent ride height adjustment (can go SUPER low), poor build quality, poor damping adjustment (its just a shitty finished bit of metal on the fronts sticking out the tops), decent handling can be VERY VERY hard at the rear. (They also leaked after 5000 miles and had to go back)

KW Var 2's, excellent build quality (good quality damping adjustment screws), absolutely superb ride, can be nice and hard ride, *negative* there is not much adjustment for height on the rear (which doesnt bother me, as i dont like the wheel under arch look).

For this reason, KW gets my vote. I was 50:50 on Blistens as have i have the factory fitted optional upgrade Blistens on my Supra, and after 15 years they are still leak free and handling is still superb. So either KW / Blisten and i dont think you can go wrong........

Si