Dropzone Coilovers

1QUICK4 · 06-08-2004

What do you guys think of Dropzone Coilovers?

I need new suspension for my AWD beater. They're only $125 on Ebay new so I know they're not that great but I was wondering if anyone has used them before with a decent strut and if they liked them.

Thankx,
-Brian-

Sticky Rice · 06-08-2004

well I have never used drop zone before but I think that most coilovers ride the same(Shitty). If your looking to only get the low look, then yeah coilover is the way to go, but if you looking for performance wise, I would suggest that you just throw in another $100 and get some nice lowered springs. I learned my lesson the hard way by buying cheap shit. $150.00 Weapon-R double spring coilovers, after a month I had to replace them. After that I purchase a combo deal on ebay for Tokico shocks/springs for about $350.00, and now it rides great. But good luck on your buy.

:secret: Oh yeah, if you decide to go with coilovers, watch for them pot holes!!! :naughty:

**Shane@DBPerformance** · 06-08-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by Sticky Rice@Jun 8 2004, 08:30 PM
I would suggest that you just throw in another $100 and get some nice lowered springs.

Usually coilovers cost more than springs. A terrible set of springs will be cheaper than an equally terrible set of coilovers. Good coilovers cost $$$ though. The only half way decent kind of coilovers for under $500 are the Ground Controls. If you want true coilovers your going to spend $800-$2000.

**Kracka** · 06-08-2004

My GC's are great for handling, but have a very harsh ride. You can custom select the spring rates when ordering them though. If you are looking for something cheap get Progress springs, they are about $150 and rode/handled really nice in Rabe's car. Pro-Kits are also great spring, but will set you back $200-250.

illz · 06-09-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by TalonTSiDude@Jun 8 2004, 10:05 PM
My GC's are great for handling, but have a very harsh ride.  You can custom select the spring rates when ordering them though.  If you are looking for something cheap get Progress springs, they are about $150 and rode/handled really nice in Rabe's car.  Pro-Kits are also great spring, but will set you back $200-250.

shocks affect ride quality more than spring rate, believe it or not. there are dsms with 800lb front and 600lb rear springs with custom valved shocks that ride great, even over potholes and crappy roads

**Kracka** · 06-09-2004

Don't go too far with your statement there Mr. Sick. Since only about .1% of us can afford and/or are willing to shell out the bucks for custom-valved shocks I won't even give them consideration. I have AGX shocks and yes, adjusting them either harder or softer does play a large role in how the car rides, but you also must remember if you go too soft the shock will no longer be able to control the spring and you will end up bouncing your way down the highway...go too hard and the shock can not react quickly enough to absorb the energy from hitting a large crack/pothole on the road. This is one of the great things about progessive springs (Pro-Kit, Progress, and a few others), the harder you push them the more agressive they become. Take a nice gentle corner and they'll feel like stock, but take a clover-leaf at 70 mph and they'll become the firm foot underneath your car. Shocks more or less just control how quickly/slowly the spring can compress/expand. In my opinion, when choosing a suspension setup you should first decide which spring you want, then choose the shock that would be the best fit for that application. There of course are many more factors that contribute to handling such as suspension geometry, chassis rigidity, anti-swaybars, braces, bushings, tires, wheels, brakes, and the list goes on.

illz · 06-09-2004

nah, i disagree. i'm not talking about buying huge money shocks to tame high spring rates, i pointed out the 800/600 as an example of high spring rates not dictating harsh ride. progressive springs are not wise as the dampers are not progressive -in conjunction-. you want a shock that is valved to handle the spring rate range you're looking at. konis for example are best in the 300-500lb range, with 550lb being their recommended upper limit. konis also have lower high speed compression, which handles bumps/potholes better than the japanese shocks like KYB - japanese roads are incredibly well maintained and potholes/uneven surfaces aren't really an issue there - most japanese shocks have higher high-speed compression resistance. the adjustments or ride-affecting factors are not as simple as how soft or hard your shock settings are - each shock design yields a different response curve - they are not linear through the range of shaft travel or linear over the range of shock shaft compression speed, however they Are designed for linear spring rates, with the exception of some coilover setups where the valving is tailored to the progressive spring used in that application. a much better approach to buying springs and shocks is to first determine if you can afford a properly valved, tested-and-tuned-on-your-model-car coilover setup, like RRE's custom valved JIC FLT-A2 setup. Most of us can't, or don't want/need to spend $1800 on suspension. That being the case, look at the best shock you can afford, before buying springs. Get something like a Koni or Bilstein with lower high-speed compression resistance for our crappy roads. Run them on stock springs, get a feel for the car. Put on your thicker rear swaybar, get a feel for how much it lessened understeer. Look at your stock spring rates, and the ratio of front to rear rate. Adjust the ratio, stiffening the rear in proportion to the front, to move the car from heavily understeering to a somewhat more neutral balance. Don't go overboard, cause you're driving on the street and you don't want to spin when you push too far (like an S2000 does with stiffer springs), understeering is safer. With a 1" rear bar and stock front, I found 500f/350r a good compromise between understeering and spinning if I push too hard on a cloverleaf

dunno, just what i've learned playing around. i tried a handful of spring rates in the rear, you can get hyperco springs for like 50 bucks and it's easy to swap them out to test. just make sure if you get ground controls you don't get the GC front upper mounts. You'll want different front upper mounts than stock for sure, you gain about an inch of travel by changing them out, but you'll want something like RRE's spherical bearing upper mounts, as in the front when turning there are side loads on the shock shaft, it needs play to do more than point straight up. The lower the car, the more side load there is, and that can kill shocks.

illz · 06-09-2004

also, truechoice revalves konis to your specs for very decent prices

Sticky Rice · 06-09-2004

I think your all forgetting that he wants to only spend $125.00 on the suspension.

**Shane@DBPerformance** · 06-09-2004

Just get a hacksaw then.

**Kracka** · 06-09-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by ecoli@Jun 9 2004, 10:47 AM
Just get a hacksaw then.

Ogie style.

Sticky Rice · 06-09-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by ecoli@Jun 9 2004, 09:47 AM
Just get a hacksaw then.

lol..

illz · 06-09-2004

well, if you can only spend $125, might as well pocket it and hacksaw them. cut stock springs would probably handle better than $125 grab-bag ebay coilovers

1QUICK4 · 06-09-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by Sticky Rice@Jun 9 2004, 05:26 AM
I think your all forgetting that he wants to only spend $125.00 on the suspension.

Actually I was just wondering if anyone had used the DropZone Coilovers. Thanks for the info everyone, I think I'm going to go with an Eibach ProKit springs and Koni's or AGX's.

I'm not to picky on the ride quality, I'm just looking to tighten the beast up a bit.

Thanx,
-Brian-