What to look for and WHY: Coilovers

dP3NGU1N

So I'm sure many of the veteran forum fiends are sick and tired of these coilover threads from noobs (such as myself) that simply ask: "WHICH ONE IS BETTER!?"

Every coilover brand has their own PR documents stating what a great suspension system they have and how revolutionary their technology is. Furthermore everyone on the forum has their own favorite brand of coilovers and opinion on which one feels the best. I have yet to hear someone buy a set of $1500 coilovers and say that it was worse than stock.

Which brings me to my point. I don't just want to know about people's recommendation. A quick search will yield a ridiculous amount of threads with dozens of different answers. I want to know WHAT TO LOOK FOR. What MAKES a coilover system better than the other. Why is Tien better for one application and Apexi better for another?

I think it would be really helpful for everyone if we could educate noobs (once again, such as myself) on the merits of a proper coilover system and also what makes one more expensive than another.

Now I know that suspension setup is different based on application so lets get views on them all:

DRIFT
TIME ATTACK
AUTO-X
STREET (your average road warrior)

Are all coilovers within a price range acceptable and it simply depends on how you tune it? Is the price difference simply because of adjustability?


Now I'm aware of another thread with a lot of technical information on coilover construction and it had a lot to say regarding street vs. track coilovers regarding mono-tube vs. the other kind (can't remember off the top of my head). Though the technical aspects of the contruction of a coilover was exhaustive and interesting, it's been difficult for me to apply that knowledge toward an educated purchase when actually choosing a coilover brand.

I apologize in advance for the broken thought process, I'm just typing all of this out as I go. I will come back and edit when appropriate.