I was asked by a friend what are the advantages of coilovers compared to new springs and or struts? I told him the major one was adjustibility but I couldn't really think of anything else. He is planning on Auto-X his car and is replacing the suspension setup. Would it be advisable for him to put on a set of decent coilovers or just replace the springs and struts? Thanks
-Andrew

Hey Andrew..

What kind of car in what kind of setting (SCCA/PCA/POC) ??. Some of the classes dont allow coil overs. The reason I switch to coil overs: when I run out of torsion bar rates.

I can buy 26mm bars that fit our control arms.. I switch to coil overs when I need something bigger than 26mm (pretty rare on 4cyl cars) but 50/50 when its a 9146 race car.


B

Hes running a Ford Contour SVT and he just wants to run it in scca on the weekends. Do you know if SCCA offers open runs for any car or are you automatically put into a class?
-Andrew

I'm guessing that a Contour has Macpherson strut type suspension. The only thing coil-overs will do for a street car is allow it to be lowered a lot without loosing suspension travel. Unless, he's looking to slam the car I'd just go for some Bilsteins or Konis and stiffer progressive rate springs that lower the car about 1.5 inches.

Thanks for the help. My friend decided just to replce the springs and struts.