Hey im looking to get a good drop but also keep good handling and have a decent ride. Im also turboing my tc in Feburary so im looking to get input on what i would should go with. I know coil over kits vs. full suspension. Im just curious though am i going to be able to get an agressive look with full suspension. Also, ive been told not to get lowering springs on stock struts do to having issues with the bearings and bushings wearing out and having issues in the future. Can anyone please give me there input it would be a great help!

 

The main issue one will have with using lowering spring with stock struts is the life of the strut will be reduced. The lower the drop the less they'll last. All else with bearings and bushings is dependent on wheel width and offset and the car's ride height. When doing springs and struts you are mismatching brands that most likely won't work with each other, there's someone that can help discuss on this. With coilovers everything is set to match with each other, spring rate and damping. Exactly what are you looking for out of the setup, is the car just a daily, maybe take it to a track here and there, etc.?

 

Bearings and bushings won't get worn out because of springs. Your struts will get worn out. I have no clue what you mean by "Full Suspension" since lowering springs are not full suspension. Full suspension means full sway bars, springs/struts or coils, and full bushings. Read up on this forum, and learn what is what, then decide what you need for your setup.

 

full suspension? LOL

 

i think he means aftermarket shocks and springs.

coilovers are a lot easier to deal with and most of the time better overall.

get one with damper adjustable and camber plates on top.

 

Coil overs are not always better overall. Generally they are a lot easier and can be cheaper then some setups. But if you go with a company like Rokkor or Raceland that offer the cheap coilovers, well just read the threads about them. It appears that most of the time people blow the struts from them pretty quickly.

 

True coilovers are generally better than a strut and spring setup in the performance category, however. Coilovers will never be as comfortable as a strut and spring combination. And by true coilovers, I mean shocks/springs that are made by a reputable company. Raceland aka Riceland and Rokkor are complete garbage. You don't ever want to go that route. Don't ask me why they are bad, just trust me.

Things to think about:

1. Any drop will make your tC look more aggressive than before.
2. Legit coils=more money
3. Coils height adjustable.
4. How are you going to turbo your car if you have absolutely no knowledge on suspensions...

Just do more research.

 

A "coilover" vs a spring and strut setup does not make the difference in ride quality. Techincally, the car comes with "coilovers" by design. Coilover just means the strut is mounted within the spring.

What you get with a coilover, and what most mean when they use the term, is adjustability (at least on a decent set). And decent ones are geared towards handling, meaning very high spring rates.

But if you are not going to compete with the car, corner balance it, tune in the suspension, etc coilovers are generally a waste of money if you can find the drop and rates you want in a set of springs and struts.

 

Coilovers are by no means cheaper unless you get crap like raceland. Decent quality coilovers (Tein ss-p falls into decent, but that is about it, when you talk handling) run $1500+ and really good ones can run $5000+

 

i dont think many of us are going to drop 5k on this car. if we could then i would probably have ended up with a different car.

DOMO. u should at least say something like raceland coilovers didnt do very well on compression test and consistency.. not trust me...
i remember reading some stats on a bunch of coilovers.

raceland is only height adjustable.
affordable coilover range would be like megan..ect (dont want to say the rest since their not as reputable in the past.
ranceland if your going cheap. but they do work nicely for the money.

 

People having squeaking, clunking, needing to add washers as spacers, blown struts in a month, etc are all you need to say about racelands... same experience a lot of other car communities have always had with them. They are cheap, period.

Cant find the spring rate info on the megans, so it is hard to say how well their setup is.

You want about 45% - 50% more spring in the rear of the tC than in the front due to weight distribution and the motion ratio differences between the mcstrut setup up front and the wishbone in the rear.

 

megan is 10k/8k if i remember correctly.

 

If the fronts are highe rates than the rears, they are not the right setup for handling.. .so I would check to be sure. There are some others (the regular Stance coilovers are one) that do this as well.. I guess because having softer springs in the rear makes the car feel smoother over bumps. But it is not a great setup for handling.

8k/10k (f/r) would be an ok setup, but the opposite I would not want if I was aiming to really improve handling.

 

I was looking at spring rates of some coilovers and noticed some had the rear at a softer rate. Not what I was wanting. Of course my coilover choices for what I wanted to do was to be able to slam, independent height adjustment(to not affect spring preload), and damper adjustment, build quality. If it came with upper camber plates that would have been just a bonus, as cam bolts can be had to help with setting alignment. I don't have to ride slammed through the rest of the cars life, I just like that I can do that and the car ride well, of course handling is diminished, but I'm not going to be going all out carving corners like that, would be sweet though.

 

Im not to sure about your statement, that cars technically come with coilovers by design. Struts are affiliated with the stock suspension and shocks are with coils. Struts are a structural component of the suspension where shocks are not.

ASE book
"A strut and a shock do the same thing, but the strut has mounts for a spring around it, and a shock is only bolted to the frame and lower control arm."

Not trying to start an argument, im just simply stating what I understand. For all I know, I might have missed something. But I do agree with a majority of the other things you said.

 

Neither of those statements say anything about a coilover.

"Coilover" under most definitions, means a "Spring over a strut". Adjust ability can vary, but that is the basic definition. So basically any car with a spring over strut layout is technically a "coilover".

Most times though we refer to a coilover as an aftermarket suspension (with a spring mounted on its strut) with adjustability in the ride height at minimum.

The motion ratio (And by effect wheel rate) on the rear of the car and the cars layout warrant the higher rates in the rear.

 

If you're just doing an appearance drop, my personal experience with my xA racer & research says Eibach Sportlines.
They state that they are designed to work with factory dampers, which they do.
I used them that way for a year, before I upgraded to Koni Yellows, transforming the ride from responsive to raceable.
I briefly used H&R Race springs with the Konis & the difference was barely noticeable over the Sportlines. Not really race springs...

I will be more serious with the race setup with the tC & won't be using Sportlines - only because they don't make high enough spring rates. (The Ground Control setups actually use Eibach race springs anyway...)