Which Coilovers Is Best?

[ADAMOD]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TEIN-SS-P-COILOVER-W-TOP-MOUNT-01-05-E46-M3-FREE-S-H_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em122QQcategory Z33590QQihZ009QQitemZ190189309937QQrdZ1QQsspagenam eZWD2V


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/00-01-02-03-04-05-E46-M3-BILSTEIN-PSS9-KIT-COILOVERS_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33590QQihZ005 QQitemZ150192469927QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWD1VQQtrksid Zp1638Q2em118Q2el1247

[Chaos]

At those prices? PSS9 hands down. That's a good price for the Bilsteins, whereas that Tein price isn't far off what you'd pay in the UK without worrying about shipping and import tax. (Security or bargain - your choice. :))

[ADAMOD]

I'm also thinking bilstein as the rear shock and spring are separate

[XKaLiBaR]

heres a little help for you

TCK

Advantages:
Quality Proprietary KONI dampers w/custom front housing (also D/A rear)
Infinite spring choices within capabilities of damper @750 pounds/inch
High quality lightweight Vogtland VVS wire springs
Springs can be changed out without needing to corner balance car again
High quality Teflon monoballs throughout where applicable
Complete kits with all needed components
Strong customer service

Disadvantages:
slightly pricier than competition (GC)
D/A rear shocks rattle
linear spring means it does not ride as well as KW

Target Market:
Three groups (determine by spring rate and shock selection):
1) Street drivers wanting a good ride, moderate handling increase, and a reasonable drop
2) Serious street/track drivers wanting to maintain civility
3) Pure track drivers looking for a significant handling increase without Moton expense


Ground Control

Advantages:
KONI dampers
Infinite spring choices within capabilities of damper @750 pounds/inch
Complete kits with all needed components
Very price competitive
Some innovative/unique product designs (sways, Front Control Arm Bushings)

Disadvantages:
Some KONI items off the shelf and or modified
Slightly worse ride than competition (TCK) at any given spring rate
linear spring means it does not ride as well as KW

Target Market:
Three groups (determine by spring rate and shock selection):
1) Street drivers wanting a good ride, moderate handling increase, and a reasonable drop
2) Serious street/track drivers wanting to maintain civility
3) Pure track drivers looking for a significant handling increase without Moton expense


PSS9

Advantages:
Dampers are good quality

Disadvantages:
Poor quality of standard progressive springs and fittings
Lack of rebound adjustability therefore springs limited
Incomplete kits (RSMs needed at a minimum – no camberplates)
Pricey when considered with incompleteness
Virtual lack of customer support from Bilstein
Poor resale

Target Market:
Budget conscious owners wanting a decent quality system with decent drop
but unaware of the benefits of the alternatives and/or of the full cost to make PSS9s a reliable setup


TEIN

Advantages:
High quality materials and manufacture
Complete kits with all needed components

Disadvantages:
Poor damping parameters at least for BMWs
Lack of spring choices
Poor resale

Target Market:
Blingers wanting a decent drop but heavily swayed by Fast’n’Furious set


KW

Advantages:
High quality materials and manufacture
Complete kits with all needed components
progressive springs means comfortable ride
Inox (stainless steel) shock body means no corrosion

Disadvantages:
Minimal spring choices
Progressive springs means car does not handle as well as linear spring kits-- GC and TCK

Target Market:
Two groups:
1) People wanting the lowest drop possible, regardless of handling tradeoffs
2) People wanting a reasonable drop and a better than stock ride, with a moderate street handling increase


H&R

Advantages:
Can’t think of any

Disadvantages:
All the disadvantages of PSS9 with very low quality dampers
Rear ride height adjustors continually fail

Target Market:
Nobody – this is crap!!


JRZ/Moton/ProTrac

Advantages:
Very high quality of manufacture and materials
Easy to get real world results from adjustment of dials
Very wide range of spring applications without revalving
Robust design means minimal rebuilds by race damper standards

Disadvantages:
Very high cost
Race quality components wherein all parts need be speced separately
must sacrifice civility to gain full benefit over traditional coilovers

Target Market:
Serious street/track or dedicated track drivers

AST

Advantages:
Very high quality of manufacture and materials
Easy to get real world results from adjustment of dials
Very wide range of spring applications without revalving
Robust design means minimal rebuilds by race damper standards
Good pricing for a race quality damper
Infinite spring choices within capabilities of damper
Complete kits with all needed components

Disadvantages:
New to US market

Target Market:
Jury still out regarding civility but definitely serious street/track or dedicated track drivers


Ohlins

Advantages:
Very high quality of manufacture and materials
Well damped as delivered from factory
Somewhat broad range of spring applications without revalving

Disadvantages:
Very high cost
Race quality components wherein all parts need be speced separately

Target Market:
Serious street/track or dedicated track drivers not caring about civility


Penske

Advantages:
Very high quality of manufacture and materials
Tend to be harsh on compression when delivered even if custom speced
Somewhat broad range of spring applications without revalving

Disadvantages:
Very high cost

Race quality components wherein all parts need be speced separately
Target Market:
Serious street/track or dedicated track drivers not caring about civility

[Chaos]

Not asure where you cut and pasted that lot from but I wouldn't agree with chunks of it - e.g. the 'target market' sections which are fully of assumption and biased rhetoric (Not written by someone who runs TCK coilies by any chance? :rolleyes:). Still, each to their own.

[peppernick]

I'll bite his arm off for the PSS9 ;)

[XKaLiBaR]

Not asure where you cut and pasted that lot from but I wouldn't agree with chunks of it - e.g. the 'target market' sections which are fully of assumption and biased rhetoric (Not written by someone who runs TCK coilies by any chance? :rolleyes:). Still, each to their own.

its from the m3forum. its a helpful insight to the coilovers and the difference between linear and progressive springs :)
what that didnt include is the new KW clubsport. which is the one i think i will be buying.

[Chaos]

Yeah, personal opinion is what it is really, what you get out of things like suspension is very much down to how you drive and what you can or can't interpret from it too. Not saying it's wrong, just that I haven't found the same as some bits and I didn't like and didn't agree with the judgemental comments about demographic.

Mattj runs KW I think, always seemed like competent kit. :)

[kpkpkp]

I with Chaos, I had Tein on my scooby - not good, KWs are pretty good but pricey - PSS9s are daddy and the forum that review is from is in the US - there PSS9s are totally different from ours - so dont go off their comments.

Kp

[Juber]

KW is amazing, Ask fas for his input on my KW varient coilovers!

Fair enough TT and M3 are different, but KW is very smooth and not harsh on the ride, and gives the insane handleing performance.

[robinh20mrv]

the kw3s i had on my m3 were SUPERB!!!

[Juber]

Oh yeah & Eibachs are made by kw

[XKaLiBaR]

the pss9 is different in the us? thats weird! just like the same weirdness of them having to press on the clutch to start ther car :D
KW i reckon is the best to go for. the lap killer supercharged csl on the nurbergring used the kw clubsports.

[Auryn]

im a bit lost on this one because comparatively speaking their unmeasurable against each other unless you have the exact same spring & damper rating on every unit with them all fitted to the same car driven around the same track by the same person.
Also you have different uses to take into account, yea PSS9's are awesome but if you never go on the track & dont drive that hard then there's other coilovers much more suitable.
I had my coilovers on the 5 bias set for brunty which i liked & kept as the daily setting, a mate of mine drove it & hated the way it felt & said he'd never have my suspension....funny thing is we're both running the exact same kit :)

[ADAMOD]

Ok now i'm really confused:confused: I think the kw's variant 3 would be the best hands down but i think they are exspensive, so what would be the next best kit after this one bearing in mind i want the hard/ soft adjustment front and back and probably road use only with maybe one or two track days a year

[Chaos]

For cost-effective coilies I'd go Eibach or Tein. I don't know where you live, but if it's in the south then I'm happy to show you around the latter and take you for a spin, and I'm sure that someone like Fas would meet up too so that you can get a flavour of the former.

[Auryn]

KW V3's are excellent coilovers but their more designed for track use than road use so the extra adjustment capabilities wouldnt be worth paying the extra for. KW V2's (i use them on my 5) are better suited for road/occasional track use than the V3's & then your in the same territory as the Tein & Eibachs.

Dan's kind offer of a ride is defo advisable as then you can 'try before you buy' & would personally be my next move :)

[Auryn]

No offense xcalabar but that list you posted couldnt be further from the truth if it tried & whoever wrote is has in my personal opinion never had any dealings with the kit/companies mentioned.
I deal with many of the companies listed on a daily basis and over a long period of time & i couldnt agree with any points mentioned about the companies themselves or their products.

[ADAMOD]

Dan thanks for the offer, i live in the south alrite of IRELAND!! But thats very kind of you. I'd like to go for the tein, Doe's the use of shock and spring in the one unit cause any issues, like spring rubbing body ( like it did on my old
escort cosworth till i battered the inner arch with a lump hammer ) or cracking
top shock mount or width problems as i will be running 10.5 x 20" wheels?

[beemarman]

I have KW v3 on mine and i find the ride quite firm for some reason. it was fitted by thorney motorsport, what i want is a comfortable ride but good handling. The handling is superb and the drop is nice but when i go over bumps in the road i can feel it big time especially when driving slow and the ride is also very bumpy sometimes. Not sure how it was setup but i did say i wanted a comfortable ride when i was having it fitted. What options do i have to get a better ride with the coilovers as i really dont want to go back to standard?

[Auryn]

you may need spaces on the fronts but it depends on your wheels & as for shock mounts id definitely upgrade to Rouge rears :)

What car have you got adamod? sorry mate im having a blonde day :p

[Auryn]

I have KW v3 on mine and i find the ride quite firm for some reason. it was fitted by thorney motorsport, what i want is a comfortable ride but good handling. The handling is superb and the drop is nice but when i go over bumps in the road i can feel it big time especially when driving slow and the ride is also very bumpy sometimes. Not sure how it was setup but i did say i wanted a comfortable ride when i was having it fitted. What options do i have to get a better ride with the coilovers as i really dont want to go back to standard?

On the V3's you have adjustable compression as well as rebound so you should be able to jack the car up & lower the settings quite easily, go for the compression first as this will make more difference than the rebound :) To be honest the V3's are a bloody nightmare to set up as there's just too much adjustment but you'll get there eventually :)

[phat///M3]

KW V2 end of.

[beemarman]

On the V3's you have adjustable compression as well as rebound so you should be able to jack the car up & lower the settings quite easily, go for the compression first as this will make more difference than the rebound :) To be honest the V3's are a bloody nightmare to set up as there's just too much adjustment but you'll get there eventually :)

:D :D easier said than done. Can i just take it to any garage and get them to do it or is it a specialist job?

[Auryn]

:D :D easier said than done. Can i just take it to any garage and get them to do it or is it a specialist job?

With the V3's you need someone who knows what their doing, where abouts are you & i'll see if i can recommend anyone :)

[beemarman]

With the V3's you need someone who knows what their doing, where abouts are you & i'll see if i can recommend anyone :)

Thanks. I am near Croydon so anywhere in south London is ok with me.:D