Change over to Coil Overs?

GNICETRY

Cat&wife post starter
Joined
May 26, 2001
Anyone with experience with both. I have SPC lowering springs and a good shock. Just was wondering it was worth changing over. Have BFGoodrichs on it. But I do want the best possible handling. What are your thoughts? Also are any brand better? I heard the Viking/UMI ones have a better bracket for shock placement (rear). Also different kits for different heights? One kit says 1" drop another 2-3" (rear)?? Looks like front can be dropped 3"
 
I don’t have any experience with coilovers on a G-body, however on other stuff I went coilovers because stiffer springs or lowering springs were not available.
One advantage of coilovers I see are the price of springs if you you want to change rates and the ease of changing them if you want a different setup for drag racing vs. autocross, not to mention the ease of changing the ride height.
If you’re happy with the ride height some double adjustable shocks might be worthwhile.
Just for reference the standard Regal front springs are 350 lbs/in. I couldn’t find info on the rears.
Regals with the touring package (T types, turbo Ts and GNs) have 422 lb/in front springs and 118 lb/in rear springs.
The UMI Performance front springs are 600 lb/in and the rear are 130 lb/in.
I don’t know if you have the SPC spring rate info.
That’s all I have.
 
I don’t have any experience with coilovers on a G-body, however on other stuff I went coilovers because stiffer springs or lowering springs were not available.
One advantage of coilovers I see are the price of springs if you you want to change rates and the ease of changing them if you want a different setup for drag racing vs. autocross, not to mention the ease of changing the ride height.
If you’re happy with the ride height some double adjustable shocks might be worthwhile.
Just for reference the standard Regal front springs are 350 lbs/in. I couldn’t find info on the rears.
Regals with the touring package (T types, turbo Ts and GNs) have 422 lb/in front springs and 118 lb/in rear springs.
The UMI Performance front springs are 600 lb/in and the rear are 130 lb/in.
I don’t know if you have the SPC spring rate info.
That’s all I have.

Looking at the paperwork for my Ridetech coil over setup they use 8" long 700# rate springs for the front and 12" long 150# rate springs for the rear. It's a bit stiff but handles great. Ride height measuring from the ground to top of the arch of the wheel well is 24.75" on the front and 25" on the rear. IIRC stock ride height is around 27" +/- a few tenths front and rear. My car is also on 255/35/18 front and 275/35/18 rear tires.

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Moog 5660 front coil springs from an S-10 are 600 lb-in
Moog CC651 are a variable rate cargo coil for the rear.

Both install directly without modification to the car, lower it about 1", and work great if you don't need the kind of adjustability a coilover provides, and they're a fraction of the cost. I ran them with the Bilstein HD6 dampers for over a decade until I finally got to a point where I finally needed the adjustability of a coilover and a high end double-adjustable shock.
 
Anyone with experience with both. I have SPC lowering springs and a good shock. Just was wondering it was worth changing over. Have BFGoodrichs on it. But I do want the best possible handling. What are your thoughts? Also are any brand better? I heard the Viking/UMI ones have a better bracket for shock placement (rear). Also different kits for different heights? One kit says 1" drop another 2-3" (rear)?? Looks like front can be dropped 3"
I do.
What exactly are your goals?
You can pm me if you like
 
My goals are I just want the best handling possible, street driven only, possible 1/4 in the future. I drove in my firend's C5 ZO6 with coil overs (and other stuff) and I was really impressed. I KNOW its a C5 ZO6. But it is looking that the coil over is able to adjust easily for ride height, regarding the spring-I'm not the most concerned about that. I really have to get double adjustable shocks so I could really fine tune it. But I was researching that some coilovers have brackets that move the shock over for better geometry. Plus I have 3" tails and the coil overs would give me more clearance. Plus minor on the list, they look pretty bada$$ from the rear. Just my thoughts.
 
My goals are I just want the best handling possible, street driven only, possible 1/4 in the future. I drove in my firend's C5 ZO6 with coil overs (and other stuff) and I was really impressed. I KNOW its a C5 ZO6. But it is looking that the coil over is able to adjust easily for ride height, regarding the spring-I'm not the most concerned about that. I really have to get double adjustable shocks so I could really fine tune it. But I was researching that some coilovers have brackets that move the shock over for better geometry. Plus I have 3" tails and the coil overs would give me more clearance. Plus minor on the list, they look pretty bada$$ from the rear. Just my thoughts.
I've set them up with bilstein shocks correct springs and drop spindles and stock sway bars and a few other bars and it corners like it's on rails with the right tires.
 
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