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GC coil overs worth it?


turbogrill

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Hi,

 

We are currently running cut springs and KYB shocks in our car. It handles OK, much better than we thought. 

 

I am very tempted to do the GC coilover and camber plate route. Besides lowering the car a little what would be the benefits? Be able to corner balance? Stiffer springs? More balanced car?

 

 

Alternativy I could spend the money on aftermarket control arms that gives me more camber.

 

Points is not a concern.

 

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We went from cut springs and kybs to a set of yonaka coilovers on our Mazda 626. The yonakas were WAY better. Likely a similar overall spring rate (though I have NO DATA to back that claim up!!!) but the damping was way more controlled. We had much less consistency previously and I feel like the rear ended was "bouncy" (over sprung and underdamped) and seemed way more twitchy). Ability to precisely adjust height is a bonus too. The yonakas were cheap so I'd say definitely worth it. 

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Depending on how accurate you are, cut springs may give you different spring rates.  One wheel may lock up before the other on hard braking.

 

If I drive a regular street car on the track I will keep it a couple of feet from the track edge for a margin of safety.  If the car is weight balanced with coil overs I have supreme confidence in it and will try to be within inches of the track edge and can hammer the brakes while feeling like it is optional to even have a hand on the steering wheel, it is that much better and braking is arrow straight.

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Coilovers let you do a few things. 

 

1st is ride height adjustment.  Is your car too low or too high?  Want to add some rake to the car for balance or aero reasons?  DO it!

2nd is corner balance.  This can help you dial in your chassis.  Or, it can be used to mask issues with the suspension (careful!)

3rd, is the ability to bring a few different spring rates with you to the track. This can help you dial in the car better.

 

Camber plates can help a few ways as well.

1) Remove rubber from the top of the strut (rubber can tear and allow your strut to go through the hood in some cases)

2) You can dial in camber and castor independently.

 

We run coilovers and do not have camber plates.

 

We just slot the top of the strut tower where the stock mount bolts on and just move it around.  We then clamp it where we want and sometimes tack weld it to keep it in place.

 

Rob R.

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I second everything from Rob above.  I've run GC coil overs for a couple years, and love them.  It was like driving a completly different car from cut springs.  They are easy to adjust and GC was great to work with.  Quick answers and quick delivery.  

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Thanks!

 

Seems like GC is the way to go.

 

45 minutes ago, TiredBirds said:

FWIW Bilsteins is the fix, and you won't take the points hit.

 

What do you do about stiff springs, from what I understand Bilstein is limimted to about 300 lb/in. I would like to run much higher than that, but I guess revalve wouldn't fit into the 2x rule.,,

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5 minutes ago, turbogrill said:

Thanks!

 

Seems like GC is the way to go.

 

 

What do you do about stiff springs, from what I understand Bilstein is limimted to about 300 lb/in. I would like to run much higher than that, but I guess revalve wouldn't fit into the 2x rule.,,

well we run a Gen III F-body so Moog has a ton of options and they all fit the "stock" rule.

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1 hour ago, turbogrill said:

Thanks!

 

Seems like GC is the way to go.

 

 

What do you do about stiff springs, from what I understand Bilstein is limimted to about 300 lb/in. I would like to run much higher than that, but I guess revalve wouldn't fit into the 2x rule.,,

 

Depends on the Bilstein, I run way more spring than that with a Bilstein strut and it works great. The other thing that makes coil overs so attractive is the low cost of 2.5 inch springs, you can get almost anything you want at a very good price so you can experiment.

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On 10/6/2017 at 11:35 AM, mhr650 said:

 

Depends on the Bilstein, I run way more spring than that with a Bilstein strut and it works great. The other thing that makes coil overs so attractive is the low cost of 2.5 inch springs, you can get almost anything you want at a very good price so you can experiment.

 

I did the same thing on the Beetle the Bilstein worked great and why give up the points of a real coil over. I buy used coil springs from ebay and just keep them on hand. plus I use  rubbers like this to dial in the car. I converted the rear to use them to with jacking bolts. This  let you scale it in no time at all

Bob Mann

www.DRVOLKS.com

bobtec@comcast.net

drvolkslogo.jpgtdtuninglogo.jpg

 

s-l500.jpg

TSMP_CHUMPCar_WS_20170902_CS2_5763.jpg

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On 10/8/2017 at 8:14 AM, DRVOLKS said:

 

I did the same thing on the Beetle the Bilstein worked great and why give up the points of a real coil over. I buy used coil springs from ebay and just keep them on hand. plus I use  rubbers like this to dial in the car. I converted the rear to use them to with jacking bolts. This  let you scale it in no time at all

Bob Mann

www.DRVOLKS.com

bobtec@comcast.net

drvolkslogo.jpgtdtuninglogo.jpg

 

s-l500.jpg

TSMP_CHUMPCar_WS_20170902_CS2_5763.jpg

What is that? 

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