Which should I get ? Car is going to be set up for street and strip. This isn't my daily although, will be doing some fishing around town for a few back road and street races.

 

There isn't truly a lot of differences. One of the main reasons people tend to go for coilovers is height adjustment. They allow the customer to set the car at the desired height rather than counting on springs to place it where they want it. However with the spring options anymore you can usually find a height you like in most cases.

For a performance standpoint for us we now have easy spring changes if needed. Coilover kits use 2.5" standard ID springs, this means there is many rates and lengths available for all types of handling and driving. You can easily change a spring rate where you couldn't on a big spring car. Shocks are easily changed too. With our coilovers we give you a bearing to bearing mount in both locations. This means with some measuring you can pretty much run any race style shock you want.

Now most people aren't changing shocks and springs on a regular basis so that info might not pertain to you but I feel it is good info to know.

For some street and strip use we can set you up in a coilover kit designed by us that uses Viking brand shocks. The shocks are double adjustable and the range of adjustment easily covers street and strip and even some handling. We can make recommended rates and your height can be set where you wanted. A full kit, front to rear would be $1,150-1,300 depending on which exact kit. Just an option, with good shocks and springs you can still end up in that same price range.

I hope this helps some,

 

Pretty much. Coil-overs are still dampers, and springs. You gain height adjustment, the ability for rate changes. And depending on the kit, like ours you get rid of all the rubber bushings and make taking the front shocks in and out easier.

Of course, you get what you pay for. There are some coil-overs that are cheaper than others, with cheaper dampers that don't last or perform as well. So you have to decide just what you want from the suspension, what you are willing to pay for your need, and where the dollar to option value falls on your scale. Kind of like buying a new car. We all like options, but options cost money, right?

How the dampers are valved is critical to the mission. When Ryan, Ramey and I were working on the UMI/Strano kit I specified things that Vikings can't do. The damper itself is very different, and the valving is very different. And our stuff drag races just fine as the range of damping we have is massive, turned down weight transfer isn't a problem.

Now there the issue really lies is in the definition of what you are doing. You say street and strip. But also 'fishing' around with back road running. Well, between street, strip and backroad running that's pretty much everything. Which to me indicates that you could use a setup that is very flexible and well rounded. But that flexibility and ability to do a lot of things, and do them well doesn't come from lesser dampers.

 

Not much to think about really as we sell Viking, Afco,and Strange coil over kits to street/strip customers on a regular basis, most shocks we do sell go to cars regularly driven on the street.

If you can afford to go coil over it will always be the best way to go. We all feel that we are going to do simple mods and after owning the same chassis for ten years I can't recall how many springs I have changed out. All due to constant updating over the years. With lowering springs it isn't as easy to do.

Due to the high cost on such items we allow layaway on everything we offer. We understand how hard it is to afford the hobby we all love.

 

Quick question about the UMI/Strano coilover kit, how much ride height adjustment is allowed? I am currently running the Koni/Strano setup and while its great at the track, during cruises I find myself avoiding speed bumps and sharp crests because my TSP duals will scrape. If I could lower the car down at the track then raise it back up again for the ride home that would be perfect.

So roughly how much ground clearance will I gain from a Koni/Strano car to the highest setting on a UMI/Strano car?

 

Let me address the idea of moving the car up and down for events. While you can, that's not recommended, at least by me, for two reasons. If you are doing a handling car, you will have/want the car corner weighted and moving it will mess that up. The other issue is simply that in the front, you alignment changes with height. So if your camber and toe are set for the lower height, they are different taller. And vice-versa.

Now if I was a "salesman" and not a setup person I'd pat you on the back and say GREAT IDEA. But, the reality is there are pitfalls.

how high and low can you go? I haven't ever tried all the way up or down, but based on where my car is, and how much stroke is left on the shock and where the springs are sitting on the shock body, I'd hazard a guess that you *could* go from stock to probably 2.5" down anyway. Not that I'd recommend that.

 

Additionally, if you want to be lower still for some reason, well... I can supply shorter springs, but it's really, really not recommended and I cannot, and I'm sure Ryan will agree, that we can't stand behind a setup run with shorter than specified springs if something gets hammered from the car being slammed.

The springs are PLENTY long enough to keep the car high if you want.

 

Yes I'm not the type to slam my car I don't see the point in that not only that but I have true dual exhaust that dumps out under the car and I have to have good clearance for them not to scrape or get messed up by a huge bump or speed bump a lot of those here in California.

 

Well I'm sure I can come up with a way to mark the ideal height of each corner when it comes time to hit the track. But for daily driving and weekend cruises I don't really care about having the perfect castor or toe angle. As long as it tracks straight and doesn't scrape my exhaust I'm happy.

 

Ok, but don't underestimate the change in toe. If it's right for one height it'll be off for the other. You certainly can do what you want with height, but the idea of these isn't so much to change them all the time, but to find the ideal.

 

FWIW I only dropped my car .75" on the UMI/Strano coilovers. Part of the reason I went with them was that I could run the setup fairly close to stock height and not stress a ton about crappy roads.

 

Coil over conversion is always your best bet, and will get you the full adjustability that most seek when it comes to a good working chassis. Cost isn't much of an issue when comparing just adjustable shocks and some aftermarket stock location springs.

Your best bang for the buck is the MWC/Viking coil over conversion package and then Afco is also a great high quality package as well.

Get with us, we will be sure to let you know about what's available and the costs vs benefits of each product. MWC has 1000s of customers over the years with great results from the performance gains.

 

I run QA1 coilovers and couldn't be happier

 

I ran MM C/O's with Bilstein Sport shocks running there valving specs on my Terminator and while they were okay they didn't impress me as much as I thought they would. Adjusting the ride height was nice but if I was going to do it again I would just go with quality shocks/springs on a Mustang. The front C/O's had some noise and ckunking issues.

Buy these cars aren't Foxbody based cars and their suspension setup is total different and in fact it uses a front C/O from the factory. With that said adjustable C/O's left a bad taste in my mouth so with my Camaro I just went with quality shocks and springs. Been very happy with them.

 

I just completed a coilover conversion (Viking from MWC) and I couldn't be happier. The car looks great and feels like a new car compared to the worn out stockers I replaced!