Suspension Gurus: Coilovers .VS. Strut/Shock

[kevinatfms]

B8's and the H&R or Swift springs is an excellent combo. The B14 kit is amazing for the price and I have confirmed with Bilstein the spring rates and damping are the exact same between the two kits. They didnt specifically state it but i believe the threading on the front damper body and rear perch adjustment is longer/lower for the ST model as its already lowered from the factory.

With that, id still suggest the B8's w/ lowering spring combo(Swifts are my preference). Its a no fuss setup. Throw it on, set the toe(camber is perfectly fine without crash bolts or top hats) and just drive the thing.

 

[djlawson17]

B8's and the H&R or Swift springs is an excellent combo. The B14 kit is amazing for the price and I have confirmed with Bilstein the spring rates and damping are the exact same between the two kits. They didnt specifically state it but i believe the threading on the front damper body and rear perch adjustment is longer/lower for the ST model as its already lowered from the factory.

With that, id still suggest the B8's w/ lowering spring combo(Swifts are my preference). Its a no fuss setup. Throw it on, set the toe(camber is perfectly fine without crash bolts or top hats) and just drive the thing.

I’m definitely leaning towards this setup! Would I need to buy anything extra other than the springs/shocks themselves? Or can I use all of the OEM hardware from my current shocks?

 

[Wes7]

I’m leaving my stock FiST suspension alone, but from previous experience with other cars, I’d say to get B8s and springs. For your application, the only advantage of coilovers is ride height adjustment - and you will probably only use that once.

Top hats seem cool, but on a street-only car, they are unnecessary. I had coilovers with spherical bearing top hats on my WRX, and they introduced quite a lot of noise. A lot of the cheaper coilovers with top hats don’t use the best bearings, and they can fail and get noisy.

Do some homework on service life too on the options you are considering. Rebuildable is nice, but it is a pain in the butt to send off your suspension if it is your only car. LA doesn’t have the best roads, and bumpy / potholed roads can blow out coilovers pretty quick. On my WRX on crappy Dallas roads, I needed a rebuild within 25,000 on two of my coilovers.

 

[djlawson17]

I’m leaving my stock FiST suspension alone, but from previous experience with other cars, I’d say to get B8s and springs. For your application, the only advantage of coilovers is ride height adjustment - and you will probably only use that once.

Top hats seem cool, but on a street-only car, they are unnecessary. I had coilovers with spherical bearing top hats on my WRX, and they introduced quite a lot of noise. A lot of the cheaper coilovers with top hats don’t use the best bearings, and they can fail and get noisy.

Do some homework on service life too on the options you are considering. Rebuildable is nice, but it is a pain in the butt to send off your suspension if it is your only car. LA doesn’t have the best roads, and bumpy / potholed roads can blow out coilovers pretty quick. On my WRX on crappy Dallas roads, I needed a rebuild within 25,000 on two of my coilovers.

Thank you for the advice! I’m definitely leaning towards the Bilstein B8/H&R’s. Not too expensive and will get the job done performance wise and aesthetically.

 

[PunkST]

Yes you can re use the oem stuff. In fact i suggest just getting new oem upper strut bearing/tophat/mount assemblies to pit on the b8 and drop spring combo. Those parts take a beating and do wear down.. Bonus is if you have a problem swapping back to an assembled stock strut assembly is super fast.

 

[pinchvalve]

I ran Koni Yellows on stock springs for a few years, then with Swift Type R springs, and now am moving to coil-overs. What I found is that the Koni's with stock springs and a rear bar are the best bang for your buck you can get. Great ride quality, easily adjustable up front, and plenty of suspension travel for PA's cratered roads. The Swift Rs are a great lowering spring, amazing street ride, awesome on the autocross course, but very low. I could not run them without securing the felt and plastic within the fenders to keep from rubbing. Even then, big bumps caused scrapes. I am going to a coil-over because I want to drop it when I am racing and running low-profile tires on 16" wheels, then raise it when I run my snow tires in winter.

 

[djlawson17]

I ran Koni Yellows on stock springs for a few years, then with Swift Type R springs, and now am moving to coil-overs. What I found is that the Koni's with stock springs and a rear bar are the best bang for your buck you can get. Great ride quality, easily adjustable up front, and plenty of suspension travel for PA's cratered roads. The Swift Rs are a great lowering spring, amazing street ride, awesome on the autocross course, but very low. I could not run them without securing the felt and plastic within the fenders to keep from rubbing. Even then, big bumps caused scrapes. I am going to a coil-over because I want to drop it when I am racing and running low-profile tires on 16" wheels, then raise it when I run my snow tires in winter.

I’m running 16’s as well! Do you still have that setup? I might be willing to take them off your hands

 

[M-Sport fan]

I had coilovers with spherical bearing top hats on my WRX, and they introduced quite a lot of noise.

I can vouch for this as I had a set of Bilstein, alloy body, race coil overs with Hyperco springs on them (built/valved by LG Motorsports), with spherical bearings front and back, on a 4th gen LS1 Z28.
Even on relatively smooth roads that thing sounded like someone was under the hood, and in the hatch with an effing JACKHAMMER, and that even after upgrading to super premium, top drawer, delrin/teflon lined spherical bearings on them.

I finally sold that setup, and put a Ground Control coil over conversion kit over Koni Sport double adjustables which used the factory mounts-DEAD QUIET except for on horrid roads.

 

[Dpro]

I can vouch for this as I had a set of Bilstein, alloy body, race coil overs with Hyperco springs on them (built/valved by LG Motorsports), with spherical bearings front and back, on a 4th gen LS1 Z28.
Even on relatively smooth roads that thing sounded like someone was under the hood, and in the hatch with an effing JACKHAMMER, and that even after upgrading to super premium, top drawer, delrin/teflon lined spherical bearings on them.

i finally sold that setup, and put a Ground Control coil over conversion kit over Koni Sport double adjustables which used the factory mounts-DEAD QUIET except for on horrid roads.

Because both ST and KW are Koni style shocks ( KW used to source their internals from Koni) I picked ST’s for my car, Over a gas monotube shock. Gas Monotube shocks need to be tweaked hard for street use and are better suited to track unless one springs them softly.

 

[kevinatfms]

I’m definitely leaning towards this setup! Would I need to buy anything extra other than the springs/shocks themselves? Or can I use all of the OEM hardware from my current shocks?

I would get everything and just keep your stock front struts together. They cost about $100 total for all the little things required.

I will see if i can dig up the thread that has all the part numbers. That way you can just assemble them outside the car and swap them in a day.

Its the top hats, bump stops, dust boot and spring rubbers for the front. The rear is just the bump stops and top hats.

 

[CFRmotorsports]

Is there any suspension gurus that can answer a couple of my questions?

I’m very indecisive on what suspension set up I want to go with my FiST.

———————————————————
Background: I am an independent college student, so I can’t afford to spend $1,700 on some KW V3’s. My FiST is my main commuter for going back home which is a 3 hour drive one way. My car sits for the majority of the week, but it is my “daily driver”. I have no interest in tracking/autoX my FiST. Maybe the just the occasional canyon run.

I’m mainly just looking to lower my FiST for aesthetic purposes. I’m new to the car scene so dampening isn’t too important for me, and I understand I drive a “sports” car so if the ride is a bit harsh so what?
———————————————————
Goal: Lower my FiST while getting the best bang for my buck.
———————————————————
Options:
1.) Bilstein B14 ($799) or Bilstein B14 (PSS) ($920)
*What is the difference between the two?*

Pros:
- Affordable
- Bilstein (Reputable/Quality)
- Height Adjustability

Cons:
- No top hats (?)
- Will need to purchase new OEM components such as bump stops (right?)
——————————————————
2.) Bilstein B8/H&R Sport Springs

Pros:
– Most Affordable Option
– Bilstein/H&R (Reputable/Quality)

Cons:
- Non-Adjustable
- Same Cons as B14’s
——————————————————
3.) Fortune Auto 500’s Coilovers

Pros:
- 5 Year Warranty
- Height/Dampening Adjustability
- Fully Rebuildable/Upgradable
- Replace OEM Components
- Reputable/Quality

Cons:
- Most Expensive Option
- Possible Overkill for what I need?
- Long wait period to be built
- Will most likely not utilize all of the dampening features
———————————————————

Let me know what you think would be best and feel free to chime in your own experiences.

Thank you so much for reading and replying to this thread!

Cheers!
- DJ

Imo Coilovers are worth it for a number of reasons, adjustability is nice from not only how soft or stiff you want the car, but what height you want the car at too. You will prob never be able to outdrive a good set of coilovers like FA’s. And you will have room to grow into them. So I would vote option 3. I am going to be putting up a set of eibach pro kit installed on stock struts with 18k miles on the sale page hopefully Tommorow as well. Hop this helps!

 

[djlawson17]

Imo Coilovers are worth it for a number of reasons, adjustability is nice from not only how soft or stiff you want the car, but what height you want the car at too. You will prob never be able to outdrive a good set of coilovers like FA’s. And you will have room to grow into them. So I would vote option 3. I am going to be putting up a set of eibach pro kit installed on stock struts with 18k miles on the sale page hopefully Tommorow as well. Hop this helps!

Thank you! I might pick up those springs you’ll have for sell!

 

[CSM]

I would get everything and just keep your stock front struts together. They cost about $100 total for all the little things required.

I will see if i can dig up the thread that has all the part numbers. That way you can just assemble them outside the car and swap them in a day.

Its the top hats, bump stops, dust boot and spring rubbers for the front. The rear is just the bump stops and top hats.

Any luck finding that thread?

 

[HBEcoBeaST]

Any luck finding that thread?

The Bilstein coilovers I have require the same hardware as the Bilstein struts when swapping out. Get the parts mentioned in this article and you'll be good

http://stratifiedauto.com/blog/making-your-fiesta-st-handle-even-better/

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[CSM]

The Bilstein coilovers I have require the same hardware as the Bilstein struts when swapping out. Get the parts mentioned in this article and you'll be good

http://stratifiedauto.com/blog/making-your-fiesta-st-handle-even-better/

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

Yes familiar with this. Thank you for sharing, great article from Stratified.

There was a thread here somewhere where someone listed all of the parts, including nuts/bolts/hardware, line by line with the part numbers listed. Was hoping for that. Buddy is installing coilovers soon and asked me if I had those.