coilover anyone?

[douglas vincent]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ksport-C ... dZViewItem

looks like I would like some money.... too buy it!

[klaxed]

I wouldn't mind some cash for some either.

[NuclearBacon]

woah those look like mine...

[ej22t kid]

the pictures don't match and seems too good to be true if you know what i mean.

[jamal]

no thanks.

Without opening these "cheap" coilovers up, there's no real way to tell what their quality is like and where any shortcuts may have been taken to get to that price point. Most of us in the Group B have little to no experience with the cheapies and are only going off of the assumption that these things have to have some corners cut in order to make that price point. These corners can be a lot of things, material quality, precision in parts manufacturing, etc. From a basic retail viewpoint I think we can roughly estimate that the $1000 cost roughly $3-500 wholesale. Coilovers in the $2-2500 dollar range cost about $1200 wholesale. That's a pretty huge difference. Obviously some costs can be eased by the basic design of the coilover.

Let's look at the fabled independent from ride height "dual" adjustable coilovers. With a simple swap of the lower leg, or main body (these do just screw together) you can apply that same damper cartridge to hundreds of different makes and models. And that is what many of these manufacturers do. They use one or two damper cartridges and install them in different "bodies" and, voila, you have a new coilover application with little to no customization for that application (valving, etc.). With non-independent from ride height adjustable coilovers such as Bilstein, KW, Whiteline, Moton, etc. the strut/shock body has to be custom fabricated for each application. Granted there are some standardizations in tube diamters, etc. but for the most part because you can't simply raise or lower the entire strut body/camper cartridge up and down a threaded collar. the manufacturer actually has to spec, for example, a piston rod length that is appropriate for that application. They have to fill the oil and vary the gas pressure for that size strut. Granted this isn't a debate on which type of coilover style is better, but just be aware that the manufacturers of these independent ride height adjustable coilovers have done a great job of marketing this as a "performance feature" and not as the economical solution that it really is. What you do get with the more expensive solutions is, at the minimum, the ability to have your valving custome tuned for your needs. That's a big deal if you are serious about your equipment. The second is precision manfactured parts. Oftentimes the shim stacks employed by the cheap companies are frankly of inferior quality with inconsistent thicknesses and widths and pliancy compared to high quality spring steels employed by the top brands. When I revalve Group 4's I have to measure each shim to make sure its the proper one. Each shim spec is very exacting and when I've measured a shim that is supposed to measure 30mm x 12mm x.25mm it is that measurement (give or take a 100th). The orifaces on the bleed bolt assemblies are precisely machined, and open and close just as precisely. What do all these ingredients add up to? A more precisely reacting and tuned piece of equipment that will react consistently over a longer period of time.

However, will your average joe be able to tell the differences between the two types, expensive and not so expensive? Maybe. Depends on your sensitivity. Once client went from a Ground Control/AGX setup to the Group 4's and was immediately impressed with how much smoother and suppler the ride was, while still being more controlled and flatter cornering than his previous setup.

Is it worth the extra cost? Definitely not for some. Are you just paying for a name? a little bit. But with those good names comes quality engineering and materials and that is oftentimes in the guts and you can't see that.

there's been a welcome change on NASIOC where people are trying to get noobs to honestly look at what they want vs what they need. the fact that people are accepting that a good strut/spring combo is all they need is great to see. The push from some members to educated new folk to the eccentricities of the Impreza format and what is needed to reach "ultimate performance" is also great to see. Once manned with the information on what it takes to make an Impreza handle the best it can, its then up to the end consumer to decide how much of that "ultimate performance" he really needs and purchase things accordingly. Its been said over and over, suspension tuning is all about compromises, but with the proper info you can decide at what point of that spectrum you want your car to sit.

taken from here:
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthr ... ?t=1121958