Kid Turbo - Coilovers

Slammed for the show

Are you looking to lower your ride, tighten your suspension, or improve your car's handling? Coilovers might be just what you need! Think about it -- those factory springs and struts on your Civic were designed for comfort, not performance: they're supposed to carry Granny to church and the grocery store, not haul ass down the quarter mile. On top of that, they might be starting to sag after a few years of service, and sooner or later your ride will suffer.

So, what can you do about it? Aftermarket lowering springs lower your car's suspension by half an inch to two inches, improving the stiffness of your ride and creating a lower center of gravity for greater handling stability. Lowering springs are a good low-cost choice for daily drivers who are looking for a lower look and a better ride than stock.

If you are a car show junkie or a weekend warrior at the track, you might want to look into coilovers. Besides even

Coilovers make any car look good

more lowering -- as much as 3 full inches lower than stock -- coilovers can make your suspension stiffer than lowering springs can. You adjust your suspension using a special set of wrenches supplied with your coilover set. Coilovers are for casual racers who need to stiffen their rides for a launch, or for people who want to slam it to the ground at a car show while still getting a great daily ride.

You've probably noticed by now that there are dozens of coilovers on the market. Where do you start? Well, as with so much in life, you get what you pay for. The craftsmanship and overall quality of a set of, say, $300 coilovers is going to be much higher than for a $100 set. Not to mention the $1000+ coilovers that feature fully adjustable ride height and shock dampening. Spec-wise, the biggest difference is going to be in the spring rate -- the better coilovers will be much stiffer. A good set of coilovers benefits from a lot of research and testing rigidity, bound, rebound, and other factors. In short, your ride will be more smooth with every dollar spent. If ultimate performance isn't that important to you -- or if you're sick of eating ramen noodles because you spend every penny you have on your ride -- even a cheap set of coilovers will get you the droolworthy look you're after.

And of course, girls dig it

Even if you're saving bucks wherever you can (after all, that's why you're shopping at the SCO Store, isn't it?), it makes sense to pay a professional to install them for you. On a scale of 1 to 10, installing coilovers rates about a 6, but it's a dangerous 6. It's not like that shift knob you installed in 3 minutes last week. Coilovers, like all suspension components, work under tremendous compression and an incorrect installation could damage your car or cause very serious injury. That ain't no Slinky you're messin' with, bro'!

So, for $100 to $300 you get a better-handling ride, you get to adjust your suspension height to better suit your taste, and your car looks way cooler. Compared to the $200 or so you'd spend for an average set of lowering springs, coilovers just make sense from a pure bang-for-your-buck perspective, and you get a lot more versatility.