Coil Over

Looking for a coil-over system for your daily driver, but also want it to perform at the track? One of the most attractive features of the following options is their ride height adjustability. They feature an adjustable spring perch and a threaded shock body. You can thread the perch up and down, allowing you to customize how much lowering you prefer for each corner of the vehicle. These coil-over systems will also let you customize the tuck of the vehicle's corners. 
 

Below are my three favorite track-ready coil-overs available at Tire Rack:
 

Bilstein PSS10

H&R RSS ClubSport

KW Variant 3

Utilizing Bilstein's shock absorbers that are designed for heat dissipation and ride control, the PSS10 Coil-Over System adds a matched performance spring and threaded ride height adjuster to provide a complete suspension system for your vehicle. The system offers ten vehicle adjustment settings and includes numbered adjusters at the base of the shock body so you know exactly what setting you are on without counting clicks.

The RSS ClubSport Coil-Over Kit is designed for the committed motorsport enthusiast who's willing to relinquish some ride comfort in return for handling performance. The firmest coil-over in the H&R street line, the RSS is the choice for weekend track and club sport events.

KW Variant 3 Coil-Overs are state-of-the-art motorsport technology for proven performance on the streets. Independently adjustable compression and rebound damping allows for custom driving set-ups. The exclusive KW patented system has dual-level valves to provide the adjustment of the rebound damping (comfort) and the compression damping in the low-speed range. High-speed settings for driving comfort are preset by KW engineers.
 

To find the suspension component that's right for your car, shop by vehicle.

If you're wanting to close up that wheelwell gap, without sacrificing ride quality, a product like the Eibach Pro-Kit Spring Set would be a great solution. You'll see a mild drop in the 1.0" - 1.5" range which will improve the stance and handling while maintaining a near factory ride.

Are you ready to hit the track while wanting a wide range of adjustments (including your Ford shocks) for your vehicle? It may be time to explore a coil-over kit. Again, Eibach steps up to the plate offering drops adjustable between 1.0" and 2.4". The Multi-Pro Coil-Over (shown above) features a 10-way independently adjustable compression and rebound which allows for combinations that are near limitless to dial your car in perfectly.

Options are available for most years and models of the fifth-generation Mustang (2005 and up). 

Whether you're looking to buy shocks online or purchase a coil-over kit, shop by vehicle to find the right suspension products for your vehicle. 

The late model Ford Mustang is fast becoming an extremely popular vehicle for both customizers and enthusiasts. This is partly due to the volume of aftermarket parts available and the demand from consumers to set their Mustang apart from the crowd and show off their personal style.

In addition to custom paint jobs and aftermarket wheels (rims), many Mustang owners are opting to lower their cars for more aggressive handling and appearance. Due to the flexibility of the late model Mustang chassis, there are several ride height and stiffness options available.

Depending on the version of Mustang, there are several options for lowering from standard non-adjustable springs to fully adjustable coil-over kits. Coil-over kits offer the height and dampening adjustability that is not possible with a spring-only application.
It's important to note that when changing a vehicle's ride height, alignment adjustments will be needed for your vehicle. For lowering, this typically includes reduction in camber to counter the camber increase caused by shorter springs. For the newer Mustang, a set of camber bolts will do the trick for the front and an adjustable panhard bar or trailing arm for the rear.

When you're looking for Mustang shocks, springs, coil-over kits or other suspension parts for your ride, be sure to shop by vehicle to find the parts that are a great fit.

The last time you drove over railroad tracks, how well did your car respond? If it felt like your dampers were shot, it might be time to have your suspension components switched out. Or maybe your dampers aren't shot, but you'd like to change the way your car rides. Tire Rack offers a competitive selection of suspension components tailored to your vehicle's needs.

I personally found this out the hard way. While taking my wife's car, a 2004 Pontiac Grand Am, to get the oil changed, I noticed that the vehicle had a "bouncy" feel to it. The handling was very unpredictable and I could feel every imperfection in the road. 

In looking at damper options, we had our local mechanic install KYB struts in the front and rear of the vehicle. What a difference this made in the way the vehicle rides! One quick tip: always try and change out both the mounts and boots when replacing suspension components. Nothing like new products being held to your car by worn-out mounts!

For those looking to increase their vehicle's performance, consider the options available from H&R. They offer some of the best suspension components for improving handling and performance for many vehicles, including the 09 VW Jetta TDI. In addition to struts, take your suspension upgrade to another level with the H&R Coil-Over Premium Performance Kit. And to gain a better understanding on improving your vehicle's performance, read "Minimizing & Controlling Bounce."

After you've purchased suspension components and had them installed, don't forget to fill out our Suspension Component Survey. This will provide others with reviews and help them select the proper suspension products for their vehicle.

Fresh off installing the new OS Giken limited slip differential it was time to return to where our wheelspin issues first surfaced – Grissom Aeroplex in Peru, Indiana for the 2011 Great Lakes Divisional Championship. It was at this event last year that we discovered wheelspin with the OEM limited slip differential. So we thought it only fitting to head back to the grippy concrete to test out the new LSD.

With the new differential in place we noticed an immediate change in the feel of the car, with improved stability and traction from the Hankook Ventus R-S3 tires at the rear of the car. Slaloms felt more stable, and we were able to get back to the throttle sooner and harder than before. The change did bring with it moderate understeer during initial turn in and high-speed power-on sweepers. Team drivers Chris Harvey and John Rogers didn’t let this get in the way as they held down the class lead after day one, with just 0.050 seconds separating the two drivers with Rogers out in front.

We tried changing the rear anti-roll bar setting, but found it unsettled the rear of the car during corner exit acceleration. So to help get the rear of the car more involved in turning the car during initial turn in and power-on sweepers we decided to install stiffer rear springs. A Sunday morning swap of the rear springs on our KW Clubsport coil-overs in the paddock took about an hour, which turned out to be time well-spent. Both drivers felt the change, noting better initial turn in as the higher rear spring rates moved some work from the front to the rear of the car. Power-on understeer was virtually eliminated, with transitional balance still very stable. With both drivers adapting to the change, day two runs came down to fractions of a second to decide the winner. Harvey took advantage of a rerun to pass Rogers for the day, but it wasn’t enough to erase the deficit from day one. When the dust settled only 0.012 seconds separated the two drivers with Rogers taking the win.

Our next stop will be the Tire Rack SCCA Pro Solo Finale and Solo National Championship events in Lincoln, Nebraska just three short weeks from now. There we will put all of our work on the Mazda MX-5 project car to the test.

As we look through our comments in the log book, one that stands out is rear wheel spin as we try to accelerate to the next corner. We’ve worked on the KW coil-over suspension to try and increase rear end grip, and even tried different tires, settling on the Hankook Ventus R-S3. And while this has helped, at most event sites we can still slide the rear exiting medium to high speed corners, resulting in sideways motion without forward progress. A look at the data stream from our onboard Race Technology data logger shows the OE Mazda diff still allows some single wheel spin, and we’re getting inside wheelspin and not just sliding both rears.

So we turned to the guys at OS Giken, makers of some tricky driveline parts and the OS Super Lock LSD. This tunable limited slip diff allows the rear end to lock smoothly with power application, and can be tuned to have different lock rates during acceleration and deceleration.

To simplify our installation and allow us the opportunity to try some back to back testing, we sourced a separate diff carrier to install the Giken unit in. This allowed us to simply swap out the pre-loaded diff housing in about 2.5 hours, with the help of a co-worker’s lift. Some things shouldn’t be done on the garage floor.



















After a few break in miles, Project STR driver Chris Harvey joined the fun with the Windy City Miata Club to get an initial read on how the freshly installed OS Giken limited slip differential works. The competitors enjoyed great courses and lots of runs as they battled to reduce time throughout the day. Chris piloted the Project STR MX5 to the quickest time of the day for all Mazda's entered and 2nd overall for the event, just a few tenths behind a well prepped and driven BMW M3 running on ultra-grippy Hoosier autocross tires.

Next up for Project STR will be the SCCA Great Lakes Division Championship event held at Grissom AFB in Peru, IN, August 6th and 7th.  

Our lead project drivers Chris Harvey and John Rogers pointed the red Mazda MX-5 towards Toledo, Ohio for last weekend’s Tire Rack SCCA Northern States Championship. With lots of room, smooth concrete and high grip, this is one of the best venues east of the Mississippi. The two-day combined time event featured 50-second courses that were fast and relatively wide open – proven by our onboard Race Technology data logger that showed nearly 40% of each run was spent at full throttle, about double what we find at most events.

Until this past weekend, our car had displayed a tendency towards power-on oversteer at nearly every site we’ve raced at over the past year and a half. However, massive understeer was the story for us on day one. No matter how much we provoked it, the rear end would not slide and would lock down in transitions. This ultimately limited how early we could get back to the throttle exiting every corner, killing our speed at the end of each straight. The fast rev-happy Honda S2000 CR of Geoff Walker showed everyone in the 23-car STR field just how fast the class could go, leaving Chris and John in 5th and 8th place respectively.

After making some adjustments to our prototype KW Clubsport coil-overs, as well as our driving style, day two saw our car balance improve with the now rubbered in course. Rogers was able to post the third fastest STR class time of the day, with Harvey just a tenth of a second behind.

While sorting out the mystery understeer issue was somewhat frustrating, we learned and realized two things. One, we now have some tuning tools in our toolbox to solve future handling issues. And two, this is not Lincoln, Nebraska where the National Championship event will be held in just eight weeks. We’ll be sure to read through our logbook from prior trips out to Lincoln to better understand how to tune the car to optimize for Project STR's final 2011 event.

The late model BMW M3 comes equipped with a sport suspension system optimized for aggressive street driving. For drivers looking for improved track performance and the flexibility to adjust for reasonable street manners, upgrading to a fully adjustable coil-over kit is a great solution. 

A coil-over suspension kit incorporates precisely matched coil springs and dampers in a compact solution to provide maximum performance. In addition to improved handling, these coil-over suspension solutions reduce the unsprung weight of a vehicle. These improvements translate to faster lap times and improved daily driving comfort.    

Coil-overs can also be a great solution for lowering your car with upsized custom wheels (rims) and tires. The ability to fine tune the car's ride height can be a great way to overcome many challenging wheel fitments. 

There are several options including kits from KW and H&R that can adjust both the ride height and dampening:

H&R Damper Adjustable Coil-Over

H&R Street Performance Coil-Over

KW Clubsport Kit Coil-Over

KW Variant 3 Coil-Over

 
Search suspension components by vehicle to see which suspension products work best for your vehicle.

It's been a busy few weeks for Project STR as the summer race season has finally made its way to the Midwest with three back-to-back weekends of competition.

First up was an outing to the Tri-State Sports Car Club event at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, IL for a shake down on the installation of our new KW Clubsport suspension. Installation went well, but during the event driver Chris Harvey noticed some unusual handling characteristics. Investigation revealed that machining on one of the prototype rear shock mounts allowed the spring coils to come in contact with the shock body, creating a significant bind. Once back home, shimming the angle of the top mount canted the spring enough to clear the shock body, and solved the problem. We’re using the first prototype, so the final production piece will be corrected to prevent this from happening.

The KW Clubsport suspension was put to the ultimate test over the Memorial Day weekend as Harvey and co-driver John Rogers drove the car 600 miles to Lincoln, NE for the Tire Rack SCCA Spring Double Nationals with back-to-back Pro Solo and National Tour events. At the Pro, Rogers was quick early on, but faded on day two, slipping back to 7th, one out of the trophies. Harvey was able to capitalize on his day-two runs, jumping up to the 3rd spot, right behind the S2000s of Robert Thorne and James Yom.

Here’s a video look at the right side course on day two.     

At the National Tour event, rain was the story on day one, as the first two heats were run in soaked to just wet conditions. A drying course for our heat meant it would come down to the third and final run to get it done. Adding to the challenge was the sheer size of the course, lasting 75 seconds per run and covering the entire area normally devoted to two courses. Rogers struggled to find his rhythm in several of the four long slaloms on the course, slotting into the 16th spot out of 26 drivers. Harvey fared better, posting the 7th fastest time in the class, and the quickest for a 3rd gen Mazda MX-5 as the field tried to chase down the gaggle of Honda S2000s that lead the pack. Hot temperatures and high winds greeted our drivers on day two. In the end, our team wasn’t able to find enough speed to catch the leaders, with Harvey taking the 8th and final trophy spot and Rogers moving up one to 15th overall.

Back home in Indiana, Chris Harvey took some time to compete in the 19th annual Yokohama/Tire Rack/Windy City BMW Club Charity Challenge held at the Tire Rack test track. All non-BMWs are lumped together in the “everything else” class competing heads up with no index factor. Harvey put his local track knowledge to good use as he drove his way through the tight and tricky course set-up by the Windy City crew. When the dust settled Chris had the 3rd fastest non-BMW and the 4th fastest time of the event. Not too bad considering the cars ahead of him were rolling on sticky Hoosier R-compound tires, versus the Hankook Ventus R-S3 street tires currently on our MX-5.

Next up will be the Tire Rack SCCA National Tour in Toledo, OH over the July 4th weekend.

Memorial Day weekend 2011 will go down as the first time the SCCA has held a ProSolo and National Tour event over the same holiday weekend. We can’t think of a better place to host the event than the awesome Lincoln Airpark, home of the Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo Finale and National Championships. It appears many of our fellow Solo competitors agree, as the ProSolo entries capped out at 250 and the National Tour count has topped 300 competitors. It is an incredible turnout and testament to the enthusiasm within the Solo community despite high fuel prices and the still recovering economic conditions. 

With the big event just around the corner, the Tire Rack/Grassroots Motorsports Project STR team of John Rogers and Chris Harvey have continued the development of the 2010 Mazda MX5. First up, was the addition of Design Engineering, Inc. (DEI) Reflect-A-GOLD heat reflective material. We wrapped out a cold air intake tube, O2 sensor wires and plastic exhaust outlet hole with this state of the art polymer to help ward off heat from the engine compartment. Its self adhesive backing makes it easy to install just about anywhere.

Next up was some fine tuning to our exhaust system. In 2010 we installed a STR class legal, PPE header, mid-pipe and resonator and capped it off with a Goodwin Race muffler. 12,000 miles and lots of hard use had taken a toll on the resonator, so we decide to explore other options. We tried the simple solution first, just replacing the resonator with a straight pipe, but the resulting resonance in the cabin was too much for our eardrums to handle on the long drives to and from events. A call to Burns Stainless was made and an Ultra-Light muffler was quickly on its way. We replaced our old piece with this unit and noticed an immediate drop in the exhaust tone and weight. It's quiet enough we can bolt on a lightweight turndown in place of the Goodwin muffler and leave a few more pounds behind in the paddock.

To take care of our suspension needs in 2010, we installed an off the shelf, KW Variant 3 coil-over system with Hotchkis anti-roll bars. This set-up carried us to ProSolo and National event wins as well as bringing home hardware from the ProSolo Finale and National Championships. The street oriented spring rates coupled with KW’s wide range of valving adjustments performed better than expected on the Solo course and gave us a comfortable ride home.  For 2011, we decided to turn up the volume a bit and assist KW with the development of a more aggressive system for Solo and track use. Stay tuned for driver impressions and track results as we get some seat time on this newly installed, prototype set-up.

ProSolo event competition will take place on May 27-28th with the National Tour running on May 29th-30th. You can find live results and a link to streaming audio at www.sololive.scca.com .

A cold air intake system can increase your vehicle’s horsepower while improving the engine’s efficiency by relocating the filter to the outside of the engine compartment and delivering cooler air inlet temperatures. Reducing restrictions in the air intake will help create more horsepower and torque.

Purchasing an air intake system along with other upgrades such as a coil over kit can increase your vehicle’s performance. And to ensure optimum engine performance, consider the intake systems available from AIRAID. With the introduction of SynthaMax filters, AIRDAID’s complete line of intake systems provide long lasting quality with high-tech filtration technology.

Shop by vehicle or contact one of our sales specialists with questions you may have about tuning your engine.

Coil-over suspension kits represent the top end of the suspension market, giving the driver the most flexibility in adjusting both the ride height and "firmness" of the shock absorbers to fine tune the handling of their vehicle. Sounds like a great option to have right? Well, the answer lies in how and where you drive your vehicle.

The first thing to remember is that any component that lowers the ride height of your vehicle will affect ride comfort (see a previous blog post titled "What Should I Expect from Lowering Springs?"). Even the most modest lowering spring (1.0" of drop or less) will affect ride comfort, but any coil-over setup will have a much more aggressive spring rate which translates to a firmer ride. In my mind, the coil-over suspension is intended for a driver that wants to maximize the handling of the vehicle in "track" conditions and also have the flexibility to adjust ride height (and damping rates) to suit track conditions. If local road conditions are poor, coil-overs will make a rough ride even rougher!

Eibach Multi-Pro Coil-Over R2

KW Variant 1 Coil-Over

The Eibach Multi-Pro Coil-Over R2 and the KW Variant 1 have the least "aggressive" spring rates, which will minimize the change to ride comfort but still improve handling and allow you to adjust your ride height for the perfect stance.

Bilstein PSS Coil-Over Kit

KW Variant 3 Coil-Over

The Bilstein PSS Coil-Over Kit and KW Variant 3 represent the elite in coil-over systems and provide the greatest range of adjustability for ride and ride height.

Check out our full line of coil-over systems!

Need to improve the cornering and handling on your Chevy Camaro? Tire Rack has a number of solutions in our performance suspension product lines. Ranging from complete systems (springs, bars and dampers), or single components you can lower and firm up the suspension to dramatically improve cornering and handling while also improving the stance of the car. 

Tire Rack did some testing in various configurations. Starting with a spring swap, we found an increase in handling with a mild firming up of the ride. A very nice modification but still quite tame. From there we went to a complete upgrade in springs, dampers and roll bars. This improved all areas of ride control and responsiveness, making us wonder why original factory set-up wasn't like this. We also tested a coil-over system for those wanting complete control of the set-up. Read Suspension Component Test Results.

Options are available for model years 2010 and 2011 in most engine and trim levels.

Shop by vehicle to see which suspension products are best for your vehicle. 

Tire Rack driver Chris Harvey pointed the Project STR Mazda MX5 550 miles south to Blytheville, Arkansas for our first SCCA ProSolo event of 2011. Co-driver John Rogers was tending to One Lap of America event duties so Chris was on his own to dial in the car and take on the solid, 12 car STR class field.

The Friday test and tune course was put to good use as adjustments were made for the unique and tricky concrete surface. Using our tried and true Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Spec tires, KW Variant 3 coil-overs and Hotchkis anti-roll bars, the set-up was tweaked to remove some persistent oversteer we encountered. Nice gains were made on the clock and confidence was high going into Saturday’s first heat competition.

Long time SCCA National level Solo driver Darrin Disimo put down the fastest right side time while Chris followed-up with the quickest left side time during first heat competition runs on Saturday morning. Darrin’s co-driver and car owner, Dave Marcus showed flashes of speed on par with the front runners, but cone troubles pushed him back in the running order.

An announcement was made by event officials after the first heat that all three heats would be run on Saturday due to the strong possibility of rain during the normal Sunday morning final heat. That’s all the inspiration the STR drivers needed to push extra hard in the second heat in search of every bit of time they could find on course. Darrin came out swinging, putting down the quickest clean right side run but ran into cone troubles on the left. Chris answered with a half second improvement on the right side but then ran into red light troubles on his final two runs of the heat to nix any further gains. Once the math was done, Darrin held onto a solid .658 second lead, as the drivers headed into the third and final heat of the event. Dave Marcus cleaned up his first heat cone troubles to move into third, just four-tenths off Chris’ pace.

Tensions were high and some class leading competitors were observed doing rain dances as the final heat runs began late Saturday afternoon. Lots of bandwidth was being used as competitors kept one eye on the sky and another on the weather radar as rain clouds were building to the west. The course remained dry and fast until the STR competitors were directed to the starting line. The skies were dark as the ProSolo starting lights came down on the class leaders. With the wipers coming on and lightning in the distance as they rounded the half way point, Chris and Darrin charged through the finish each finding time on course and Chris closing the overall gap by two-tenths. The drivers then switched sides only to find the lightning closing in and the sprinkles turning into a steady drizzle. Once the drivers launched onto the course, it was clear the concrete had lost some grip and no additional gains would be found. As Darrin and Chris crossed the finish line for a second time, Darrin claimed the event win as the skies fully opened and soaked the course to prevent hope of improvement for the remaining two runs. 

The weather at the Tire Rack headquarters in South Bend, Indiana is finally turning as we head into May, this will allow for additional tire testing and suspension work as our search for additional speed continues. Our sights are set on the next major event for Project MX5, the 2011 Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo and National Tour in Lincoln, Nebraska over Memorial Day weekend. Chris and John can’t wait to have another crack at the ProSolo Finale and National Championship event site.

I recently installed a great set of coil-over shock and springs in an effort to improve handling and my car's look. While the decrease in gap from the top of the tire to the bottom of the fender lip looked great, I found after inspection that my rear tires were very close to rubbing the fender lip in the back.

What to do? ROLL THAT FENDER !

Tire Rack sells a great tool that when used with an industrial heat gun (and patience), got me out of the jam I was in.

The fender lip rolling tool features an adjustable arm and a non marring roller that will slowly bend the fender lip up and out of the way for additional clearance. It is essential to use a heat gun to keep the paint flexible enough to avoid cracking as the metal is worked.  

You can see detailed instructions on the tool in the User's Guide. (PDF)

If you've recently installed bigger wheels and tires, or lowered your car like I did then you may want to consider picking this tool up!

Looking to take your performance vehicle to the next level on the track or at the next autocross event? Designed with the enthusiast in mind, Hotchkis Sport Suspension Competition Anti-Roll Bars improve handling and reduce body roll via a more aggressive rear bar set.

One advantage of running a thicker rear bar vs. stock is added over-steer, which maximizes the vehicle's race tires for on-track performance. The Hotchkis bars can also be used if your vehicle currently has lowering springs or a coil-over kit.

Popular Applications for the Sport Anti-Roll Bars

Model	Year	Front Diameter	Rear Diameter
Chevrolet Camaro	10+	32mm, 1 Position	25mm, 3 Positions
Nissan 370Z	09+	35mm, 1 Position	27mm, 3 Positions
Infiniti G35	08+	35MM, 1 Position	27mm, 3 Positions

Start shopping by vehicle, brands or product categories from our Suspension page to see which suspension products work best for your vehicle.

Additional information:

"Understanding Basic Suspension Terminology"