I bought a 06 CSM tC stick and there have been debates which to put on a tC. Coils or springs? Which would you go with? I live near the city so there are bumps.. And what would be a safe height to go low with?

 

Only you know the area where you drive and determine how low you can go with the ride height. I'm on adjustable coilovers(B&G RS2) so that's my vote. I make it around fine with the fenders sitting on top of the tire(I'm on 18x7.5 wheels with 225/40 tires though). I plan on getting lower in a few months though, so I'll find out how I'll manage then.

 

Springs tend to ride better IMO since they are designed/engineered to ride at a specific height whereas coilovers ride at various heights. I am speaking in general though, a $3000 set of coilovers are where this stops being relevant. But I can say that in my experiences, springs ride better than cheap coilovers, I.E. Tein basics, Racelands

 

Most coils come with adjustable dampening, thus giving the usuer the option to adjust the harshness of the ride. With my Function and Form II's I can set them to be super soft and feel mostly like stock. Coils also give the adjustability of height, and are designed to take a good deal of wear and tear. Springs are designed to ride at a certain height, and generally give you a rougher ride due to higher spring rates. This also tends to wear out your struts quickly. If the car is a DD or you don't intend to track it at all, I'd stick with springs. You'll save money going with springs, and get the look you likely want. Or you can go ebay coilovers if you like. P.s. this has been discussed a lot, search.

 

coilovers

 

We got pretty bad road here in New Orleans! pot holes every where! I mean huge huge pot holes, bumps every where on the street, you can never avoid it with Coilover! I just had to switch out my Raceland Coilover with TRD Springs + TRD Struts. Just too tired of repairing the lip from scraping the ground, and break my front bumper mounting bracket, it's just cost too much to maintain the car with it too low, I recommend not to go any lower then 1.5" if it's a daily driving car which you don't plan to go to track, auto-x or even street racing...

but again if you do have the money to spend! you can get those high end coilover setup, you can have it adjust to any road enviroment you may have without any issue. it's all depends on your budgets!!!

 

My debate is between TEIN springs or Raceland coilovers. I won't go no more than 2.0".

 

H-Tech is a good choice, it's kinda of between ride quality and slammed, but with that drop if you go with springs with a set of nice struts you'll be more happy with it.

 

Why springs? I drove a 08 tC that is my friend's with raceland coils 2.5" drop and it was nice and stiff

 

with my Raceland setup with about 2.2" F, 2.0" R drop it's nice cornering and stiff for city drive if the street are nice! I don't feel really safe when fast cornering on ramp entering frw, and they're bouncy which makes it feels unsafe most of the time. Don't expect much of driving quality with Raceland! only if you just want your car slammed for the looks!!! again this has been stated in many other thread...

 

stiff doesn't mean ZOMG IT CAN HANDLES THE CORNERS, and after awhile you get tired of bouncing around.

 

^ yeppie...

I kinda forgot the feeling with OEM when cornering, but I always feel unsafe when cornering with RL. many times that I got a oem car tailgate my a$s when i'm trying to fast cornering entering the freeway. I feels really unsafe if I have to push it harder I might be ending up smashing into the ramp. I would rate it under OEM spec for handling due to 1 of those Mazda MX looks to be stock and a few other import with stock suspension, could pass me on the ramp entering the freeway but one lane nothing they can do....

 

I'm running Function and Form Type II's and definetly can feel the handling improvement, but I haven't pushed it much at all.

 

I like that!!

 

this is the cost for going low!



two front bumper mounting bracket $60 from dealer and bondo to fix the lip...

 

I would go with springs its a better ride

 

for DD get springs

 

I think there are a few other questions you should place into consideration. Are you are going for looks or for performace (form > function or form < function). Also, how much do you want to invest in to your suspension? Will you be tracking your car?

I say if your car is a daily driver, you don't really need to invest in a set of coilovers.

 

I would go coils because I had tein s tech springs on stock shocks and it was beautiful but after I installed megan coilovers on the car the steering response was amazing I have never had such a sensitive steering response and love it.

 

So I went from Raceland to TRD Spring & Struts, notice about 10-15% different, no more bouncy, but very stiff=bumpy in the front. My wife still complaining about the bumpy ride. notice better cornering vs. raceland. overall I should of go Raceland > STOCK! will make the wife happy and less to spend. this review is for those of you who looking for stock feels.