What is the Difference Between Coilover Suspension and Regular Suspension?
2 Answers
Here are the differences between coilover suspension and regular suspension: 1. Height Adjustment: Coilover suspension allows for height adjustment and damping adjustment, making it adaptable to more road conditions; regular suspension does not offer this feature. 2. Origin: Coilover suspension originated from racing. Initially, manufacturers prepared numerous suspension setups to match drivers' habits and track conditions. Each adjustment required replacing the entire shock absorber or spring. Thus, coilover suspension was developed, allowing damping adjustment via knobs and spring preload adjustment with just one set of suspension components. This saves costs and speeds up tuning, leading to its popularity in racing and modification. Regular suspension, on the other hand, stems from the simplest automotive suspension systems. 3. Functionality: Coilover suspension offers adjustable ride height, shock absorber compression and rebound damping, and spring preload.
I've been into car modifications for almost ten years, and the biggest difference between coilover suspensions and regular suspensions lies in adjustability. Regular suspensions come with fixed height and damping settings from the factory—they're comfortable but lack personality. Coilovers, on the other hand, feature threaded spring perches that let you adjust ride height like turning a screw, achieving that killer low stance. You can also fine-tune stiffness separately—I stiffen them for mountain runs to nail corners, then soften them for city driving to glide over speed bumps. But poor tuning can mess with handling, and those threaded perches need frequent maintenance, making them way more high-maintenance than stock setups. Regular shocks are hassle-free and durable, but coilovers transform your car into a personalized driving machine.
