best coil-overs for drifring86

[rollamattae86]

hay guys,

i have just finished fitting my 4agze into my 86 and am planing it to be a car that i can use for drift days at the track about 2 times a year but i wont it for really good handling all round.
streeter by streeter said they could set me up with a package for $1750 but can someone give me idears that might be a cheaper way to go?

thanks,matt

[phrostbyte]

AJPS.

I've known Dave for a while now, probably your best bet to go for one of his setups. From what I've heard about Streeter, you'll be waiting a while...

www.ajps.com.au

Kev.

[Hen]

Do you need coilovers?

Custom wound springs at the rate you want plus a quality, well matched shock is just as good, and cheaper, for 95% of the population.

Read up on what's written around the place and make a decision yourself.

Hen

[rollamattae86]

hen,

are you saying that i dont need coil-overs,i have seen you drift and i wont the same handing that your car has,it dose not move.
what set up do you have? and how much was it?

[craigy]

Hen is correct, you dont need coilovers.

But they are handy for a few reasons..

1. You can cut them to a desired length to suit your shock insert (instead of using spacers in your macpherson strut)

2. Adjustable ride height, you can match ride height front to back as desired.

3. Spring stays captive at lowered ride heights.

Talk to paul from option1garage in queensland, they'll convert your strut excluding insert for $600.

They can supply koni adjustable inserts, but i think they're a bit pricy, but worth it. I run kyb short strokes and they seem to do the trick. I bought mine second hand for $120! (thanks jezz)

good luck

cheers
Craigy

[Hen]

Coilovers do have some advantages, however I think many people overestimate them.

I use Chokito HTS102s and custom wound 7/5kg springs, on the standard strut. And yes, I had to add a 2" ish spacer in the bottom of the leg.

You can also cut a normal strut body to suit short stroke. I've been meaning to, but have never got around to it yet.

Hen

[phrostbyte]

I myself am actually getting a coilover package from AJPS. In most cases you shouldn't bother, ie. if you are on a lower budget, some aftermarket springs, short stroking of the strut, short stroke hardened shocks and some RCA's will give you a very nice ride. I just like the idea of having whatever rate linear springs I want, captive. With a standard strut, the lower you want it, the more progressive rate you have to go.

Kev.

[Hen]

How do coilovers help your springs remain captive? Sure you can wind the spring platforms up til the spring is captive, but then you have just increased your ride height.

And if you want to keep your desired ride height you need to either go for a lower spring rate (so uncompressed length is longer) or shorten your strut body. Both options are available to non-coilovered struts too.

Have I missed something here?

Hen

PS, I understand on some S13 type systems, the bottom of the strut body is threaded into the hub, so ride height can be adjusted truly independantly of spring captivity. But you can't do this on a Sprinter strut.

[EVOSTi]

and even that is only available on probably 10% of the aftermarket coilovers for the silvia.

[phrostbyte]

After a huge thinking session that hurt my head, it occured to me that you are correct... My bad. Lol...

Kev.

[truenosedan]

Hi,

phrostbyte: thanks for the plug

rollamattae86: streeter is a dreamer, if you wanna wait 6 months for a rear wing he should have in stock...go for it....as far as coilover go....enough said
then you have to wait for his freight companies...which seem to lose EVERY SINGLE parcel he sends....

i help a few guys out down here, both on different budgets...
one has 8kg springs in the front, and to get the car to a decent ride height they are very uncaptive etc

as far as the coilover is concered... if you wind it right up till it is captive, the strut has been cut down 45mm so the car is already a lot lower than factory...plus i have different length springs on the shelf

if you are cutting down struts and not making them coilover then it seems like a bit of short cut for limited gain... as you still have the large spring perch, you still need to space them up and you dont have differnet spring rates available off the shelf...

as it was said... check out my site, speak to some guys that have them and make your own decision... thanks

[skaney]

I have some sprinter struts cut down and made into coilovers with 8kg springs + KYB shocks. They are really good on the street, little rough but so were my old tociko/lovell setup.
But on a large track like Malalla, and especially for drifting I have really found their limits in not too long a time.

Really twitchy and a tendancy to understeer.. If I was too keep my car I would be selling them and going to an S13 front strut setup like alot of the other AE86 drifters in SA. Probably render it useless on the street/hills but I have heard it makes high speed slides so much more smoother, and I have seen the direct improvment from alot of drivers just from switching to this setup for drift.

[phrostbyte]

Really twitchy and a tendancy to understeer..

Do you have any negative camber..? In my case with my old suspension setup, the second I got some negative camber, it was "good-bye understeer".

Kev.

[Stefan]

How do coilovers help your springs remain captive? Sure you can wind the spring platforms up til the spring is captive, but then you have just increased your ride height.

The single adjustable type do not, you are right - this is the big advantage of off-the-shelf coilovers that let you adjust the spring perch and overall strut length independantly (spring perch on threaded sleeve as per home-made coilovers, but entire strut case is threaded and lower mount can be wound up and down too).

Also helps with the problem of the problem of the insert rebound stroke length and compression stroke length changing with ride height adjustment - as far as I can tell, you can get that right with the correct length spring, then adjust ride height to suit.

[mrshin]

Making a corolla go around corners is much the same as any other car with basic strut suspension. Fit suitable springs, with decent shocks. Fit suitable bushes and alignment parts. Play with coathanger (anti roll bar) sizes to suit. Set up alignment, and corner weights if you're keen and have adjustment to suit. Enjoy.

Parts being shiny gives no advantage. Using struts from another car is pointless unless that strut gives you something genuinely useful e.g. different sized stub axle. Then again, a lot of the ideas stem from the same mentality that says 'AE86 is good drift car' - they need a fair bit of work before they can even THINK about doing anything sideways...

Have fun;-)