Coil Over Shocks
- Thread starter Shel_B
- Start date
Google says.....A coilover suspension is installed when you want to lower your car and/or achieve sportier handling. In addition to flexible lowering, most coilover suspensions also have other adjustment options. In addition to the hardness, the driver can often also adjust the rebound or compression damping....That was easy.
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
Getting the old Camry ready to autocross Shel?
New wheels, coilovers, strut brace a while ago...
New wheels, coilovers, strut brace a while ago...
I'm not even sure I know what autocross is. I'll have to look it up.
I've wanted lighter-weight alloy wheels since I purchased the car, and when it's time to replace the rubber I'll get new wheels.
I've no interest in coil-overs, just curious about 'em.
I dropped talking about the strut brace because of the negative comments I got when I expressed an interest in them. However, I did order one but have not yet installed it.
Oh, I must've missed that one! What was the concensus? I've never found anything bad about strut tower braces but I'll be the first to admit the only cars I've installed them on were probably pretty much rusty and flexy already and the brace helped restore them to their normal handling.
The standard MacPherson strut is a coil-over-shock design
as well as double wishbone suspension
But the aftermarket hijacked that term to include any adjustable height suspension.
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Google is sort of wrong... yes, you lower the car (or raise the car), but you perceive the handling to be sportier because you dumped a lot of money on it, but you really screwed up your suspension geometry, especially your roll center. It's done more for looks than anything else.
One of the original intentions for adjustable height suspension is for autocrossing, where you corner balance the car with the driver in it, to optimize its weight distribution, but the car will look funny.
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
I think the median of the comments was that for your car and driving you may or may not notice anything different but it certainly won't hurt anything.
for functional upgrades.Wait until you start asking about K&N Cold Air Intakes....
These are my favorite wheels for a Camry. Available on Tirerack.com, Enkei Performance PX-10 in gloss black or gunmetal grey. Weigh in at 16.6 lbs, $165 per, 16x7 with a 38 offset.
Those are some that I'm considering. I've been happy with Enkei in the past.
Coilovers just give adjustability over a standard strut/shock + spring. There are several types with varying levels of adjustability. Some have a set damping rate with an adjustable spring pearch that changes ride height based on spring preload. Some have a separate adjustable body for ride height (while keeping preload adjustment), and some of both types previously mentioned add compression and/or rebound damping. Most folks are buying coilovers to simply lower their car and want the adjustabilty vs. the set ride heigth (that may not suit them) of lowering springs. They are not corner balancing and fine tuning suspension for track use. I run a "cup kit" which is a set of performance dampers and sport (read "lowering") springs to get the same effect for less $$$ and fuss.
I saw a '10-11 grey Camry LE with the gloss black PX -10 wheels and it looked great. Just made the car imo.
That won't happen. I went through my K&N phase in 1993 and after a while dumped the filters and went back to stock and never looked back.I think the median of the comments was that for your car and driving you may or may not notice anything different but it certainly won't hurt anything.
Wait until you start asking about K&N Cold Air Intakes....
B/c strut braces really don't do a thing - most of what you read is placebo. Modern vehicles have a taut unibody that this will do v. little to improve.
A coil over shock is simply a nice compact package.
The idea that it is magically better, is utter nonsense. In fact, the shock's bushings now have to be able to hold the vehicle's weight at that position. Meaning the bushings are going to be stressed.
Here is a setup where the spring does not attach to the shock body, and instead just nestles neatly into a spring perch on the lower control arm.
The shock is just centrally located, making things compact.
The idea that it is magically better, is utter nonsense. In fact, the shock's bushings now have to be able to hold the vehicle's weight at that position. Meaning the bushings are going to be stressed.
Here is a setup where the spring does not attach to the shock body, and instead just nestles neatly into a spring perch on the lower control arm.
The shock is just centrally located, making things compact.
And a very simple coil over setup (motorcycle, but cars are much the same)
You can see how the bushing might get really stressed:
You can see how the bushing might get really stressed:
The typical bar between the strut towers and across the trunk aren't reducing understeer like they are advertised. I'm sure there is some measureable reduction in body flex (tiny) but whether some dude driving his car on a highway on ramp will ever be able to actually benefit/feel it is a highly suspect to me.
That's a pretty wild bar setup there.
I had a strut tower brace on my old 88 Camry, taken from a ES250, which did make a noticeable difference in chassis rigidity up front.
On my MK4 Golf, I had a WRDusa rear stress bar, it definitely helped to get rid of the rear body flex (and squeaks, that was common on the MK4 Golf/GTI), not to mention I also had a Shine Racing Real Street Suspension on it at that time.
On some performance trims of sedans, they put a rear seat chassis brace and got rid of the split folding seats.
You would think engineers with supercomputers doing modeling & simulation of the unibody know something, at the manufacturer level, likewise, the suspension geometry M&S before the aftermarket comes in and ruins the suspension geometry for perceived improved performance (lower center of gravity isn't everything)
I've heard of folks reporting chassis bracing reducing creaking on some cars.
Shine setup was supposed to work well. Not to low to upset roll center. Lower isn't always better for sure.
