Coilovers VS Springs – Who Is The Winner Of This Duel?

So, you have been thinking of installing a suspension mod and you can’t decide if you should go for coilovers vs springs?

• What Are Coilovers
• Coilover Benefits
• Do Coilovers Reduce Weight?
• Disadvantages Of Coilovers
• Coilovers Suspension Price
• How To Install Coilovers DIY?
• What Are Lowering Springs?
• Lowering Springs Benefits
• Disadvantages of Lowering Springs
• Lowering Springs Price
• How To Install Lowering Springs DIY?
• Coilovers vs Lowering Springs
• Conclusion

Well, let me tell you that you are at the right place. We are going to answer all of your questions in this article. Since you have decided to do a suspension mod it is also a good idea to look online and learn which mod is the best mod. What are the pros and cons of coilovers and also pros and cons of springs.

Although these mods are similar, they are very different in practice. With lowering springs, you are lowering your car. That means that it can go lower or higher. Hence, you don’t enjoy the ability of adjustable coilovers.

With coilovers you have all the freedom in the world and you can do whatever you like with your car. You can adjust the suspension in any way you prefer. Road, track, race, you name it, coilovers got it.

In this article, we are going to cover everything you need to know when it comes to coilovers vs springs. What are car coilovers? What are springs? And what role they play? We also going to take a look at which mod is better for your budget and also for your purpose. You probably don’t going to need expensive coilovers if you want to show off with your low stance. We are going to cover everything when it comes to springs vs coilovers. So, if you want to learn more about your new mod, follow along till the end!

What Are Car Coilovers?

Car coilovers are one of the best suspension mods on the market. They should not be confused with shocks. Because shocks come in two pieces and that is the shock absorber and the spring.

The coilovers come in an all-in-one package and they include everything. A racing shock and a racing spring. These coilovers are made for racing and they offer huge adjustability. You can set them up in any way you want. Low or high, it doesn’t matter.

In order to set them up, you only need one special wrench that is included with the package and that’s it. You have the setting that you need. You can go all day race on the track and still enjoy later your car on the road. They can make your suspension from stiff to very comfortable and enjoyable ride.

This mod is good to combine with a strut bar and a sway bar. These suspension mods will make your front-end stiff and your car will handle like it’s on rails. We discussed what are car coilovers, now let’s see what are their benefits.

Coilover Benefits

We discussed what are coilovers now let’s see what are pros and cons of coilovers. The coilover benefits as we mentioned above are immense because this mod brings a lot on the table. This mod will make your driving experience unique and will boost you with high confidence while you are driving.

Adjustable coilovers will make your car safer and will better handle on the road. These coilovers will make the car like its running on rails. Also, these adjustable coilovers can be set on any ride height you prefer. If you are driving in the winter, you can tweak them to drive higher so your bumper doesn’t catch the snow.

In summer you can lower your car down to improve your downforce and make your car stick to the road in order to catch those tight corners. The adjustability of coilovers is immense.

So, are coilovers worth it? Of course, they are worth it. You can get a decent brand for not a lot of money. We are going to cover the costs of a pair of coilovers later in the article.

Also, the cool factor of coilovers is immense. If you are running coilovers you are going to be one of the most popular guys in your local car community. Especially if you are running some expensive coilovers that look amazing.

Do Coilovers Reduce Weight?

Yes, they are, they will reduce the weight compared to a stock suspension for more than 20 pounds. And that’s a lot of weight if you ask me. 20 pounds means a quarter of a second more on the race track. That improved performance will also going to make you quicker in the straight line, especially if you are running your car on your local drag strip.

The coilovers will make your car stay in line and they will help in handling all of that torque from your engine. This means that your safety will be the number one priority, and that’s why these suspension upgrades are for. So, coilovers vs springs? If you want to save weight coilovers all day in my opinion.

Disadvantages Of Coilovers

Although the benefits of running aftermarket coilovers are immense there are still some downsides with this mod.

One of the downsides is that your car drive will stiffen up and you will start feel bumps that you never felt before with your stock suspension. Even small rock chips will make your ride a little bit bumpy and you will feel all the road debris.

Another downside with this mod is that these coilovers tend to suffer a lot during the winter. Their adjustable threads are known to develop rust. This is one of the disadvantages of coilovers.

If you run coilovers during the winter if your coilover threads are not protected you are going to have some hard time.

When spring hits, you are probably won’t be able to move your threads and readjust them. Adjustable coilover threads will develop rust and will be hard to readjust.

In order to prevent this, you should grease your coilover threads nicely and get them coilover blackets. The coilover bankets will make sure that no moisture gets inside the grooves and cause rust. In the spring you can remove them and enjoy them as you like.

Another of the disadvantages of coilovers is the price. Something that we are going to cover next.

Coilovers Suspension Price

Coilover suspension price can be a big obstacle when it comes to getting a pair of coilovers for your car. Some people do not have the money to spend on a pair of coilovers. In this case you can opt to get a pair of used ones. Just make sure that they are in good condition and the grooves are in mint condition.

A pair of new ones can cost from $700 up to a few grand. Depending on how much do you want to spend on your new upgrade.

There are also some cheap coilovers that can come at a price of $300 to $500. But I wouldn’t recommend these because of their low adjustability. They just don’t have the options that premium coilovers have and they do not offer that premium feel.

Another downside is that they tend to develop leaks and they start to leak from the seals. This can also be a pain to replace because not many of the producers do not offer a guarantee with their products. So, to be on the safe side it’s best to go to the more expensive route.

How To Install Coilovers DIY?

Installing coilovers is a pretty straightforward business and isn’t anything complicated. You just need the right tools for this job. And that is a power tool or wrenches, and a spring compressor.

Step 1

In the first step, you need to jack up your car and remove the wheel.

Step 2

Get a compressor spring in order to compress the spring. This is needed because the compression spring is exposed to a great amount of pressure.

Step 3

After you compress the spring, now it’s time to unbolt the bolts on the strut tower and the bolts on the spindle.

Step 4

This step involves removing the old stock shock.

Step 5

In the last step, you need to mount the new coilover and bolt everything back in place. Then mount the wheel and adjust the coilvoer by your preference and you are good to go.

This is a fairly simple guide and basically, that’s the whole procedure, you also have an install manual in your coilover package for reference. Now let’s discuss coilovers vs springs.

What Are Lowering Springs?

Lowering springs as their name says are springs. They replace the factory springs with a custom aftermarket spring. This spring is shorter and lowers the stance of the vehicle.

That’s their main purpose, to make your car look cool, but still keep your stock suspension components like the shocks.

With lowering springs, you are going to have a stiffer ride, very similar to running on coilovers for a fraction of the price. And you are asking yourself. If I can do this for a fraction of the price why just don’t get lowering springs instead of coilovers?

Well, the answer is simple. With lowering springs, you can’t customize your ride. There are zero customizing options. Just like with the stock suspension. Your car will drop an inch or two depending on the lowering spring that you get and that’s it. You can’t go up and you can’t go down.

They are also fairly inexpensive and you can even fabricate your own spring from your factory springs pretty easily.

Lowering Springs Benefits

Lowering springs benefits are a few. Namely, with installing lowering springs you can play with your ride height.

You can lower the car and improve the stance. The car will look more aggressive and more muscular. They are good for improving the looks.

You will also get a stiffer ride and you will start to feel the small bumps on the road. This can be good and bad at the same time. You will feel more connected with the road, but that also brings discomfort. Similar to coilovers they will both stiffen your ride quality.

Disadvantages Of Lowering Springs, Are lowering springs bad?

So, what are the disadvantages of lowering springs? Are lowering springs bad? No, they are not bad at all. For their purpose of lowering the car, they are pretty decent and work perfectly.

But you should remember that these lowering springs still use factory shocks. And these shocks are not racing shocks like the ones found in the coilovers.

Also, there is no adjustability. You are basically stuck on one setting and that’s it, you can’t go lower or higher. This makes the lowering springs not good if you want to bring your car back to factory spec. You will have to replace them again.

Lowering Springs Price

Lowering springs are extremely affordable and you can get them for a good deal. They can go from $100 up to $300 for beefier springs.

You can also fabricate your own springs. You only need to cut your old springs and that’s it. Very simple, and it’s going to cost you zero dollars.

Or you can go to your local junkyard and get used springs for a fraction of the price.

How To Install Lowering Springs DIY?

Installing lowering springs is a pretty straightforward job. It is very similar to installing coilovers, there is only one step that is different. But we are going to get through all of them to simplify the procedure.

Step 1

Jack up the car and remove the wheel.

Step 2

Get a spring compressor and compress the spring

Step 3

Unbolt the shock and remove the spring from the shock assembly.

Step 4

Decompress the old spring and compress the new one.

Step 5

Place the compressed spring in the shock assembly and bolt the shock to the shock tower and the spindle.

Step 6

Since you have mounted the new spring and bolted everything. Now it’s time to release the stress of the spring. Mount the tire, lower the car and you are good to go. You have a perfectly stanced vehicle.

Coilovers VS Springs Who Is The Winner?

The winner of this duel is a no-brainer. The coilovers are the best mod to have, lowering springs do not even come close to the coilovers.

Lowering springs do not offer any adjustability. You cannot increase or decrease the right height. They are also lacking all of the other options that coilovers have. And that is better shock absorption and increased stability.

The coilovers also increase the center of gravity and reduce the body roll. Making the car stable in high-speed cornering.

On the other hand, if you are looking to lower your stance, the lowering springs are a perfect mod for you. They will lower your car down and will make it look mean and aggressive for a fraction of the price.

Lovering Springs vs Coilovers For Daily Driving?

This is a good question, and my answer is neither of them. With both of these mods your ride quality will stiffen up and you will start to feel every bump on the road.

Coilovers are better because you can increase the ride height if you want to improve the daily driving experience. But nothing replaces the stock suspension and comfort.

That’s why when you are installing these upgrades you should keep this in mind and be aware of these consequences. Your ride quality is going to suffer from both of these mods.

Conclusion

In this article, we have covered a lot when it comes to coilovers vs springs. And the clear winner as we said is the coilovers.

Coilovers vs springs is a no-brainer, to be honest. Coilovers offer a lot of adjustability and you can customize them in any way you like. Springs on the other hand offer one setting and that’s it.

So, whichever mod you choose to do think first about the goal that you want to achieve. Thanks for the reading and have a good day.