TAEnvy

iTrader: (2)

What do you guys think of the Coilovers from UMI. Click HERE
I don't understand some things, Do they lower the car? Are they just for the front, if so where do i get rears? Will these be good for a car set up for the road course and Auto-X? And lastly will they perform on par with Koni SAs and DMS springs?

Chaotic Firebird

This website has a better description of that coil-over set-up.

http://www.tbyrnemotorsports.com/lt1catalog.html

Click on Suspension to the left, and scroll down until you see Hal Shock Generation F.

Hope this helps some.

TAEnvy

iTrader: (2)

Does it lower the car?

JustAnIlluzion

iTrader: (60)

yes coilovers are adjustable to lower the car exactly how you want it. my buddy lowers his dsm in the summer with them and raises his car above stock height for winter.

Chaotic Firebird

But I've also heard that the HAL shocks aren't that great. If you do a search for HAL you can read posts where people don't like them.

They are mostly for drag racing and not road racing. Heard they aren't that comfortable either.

Foxxtron

iTrader: (1)

You've pretty much got the idea, however where are you going with the vehicle? Are your the priorities to handle better or to get better 1/8 or 1/4 miles times? I ask this because people sometime switch interest eventually.

Are you also aware of how you should really lower the vehicle for optimal handling? If so, what are the other things you should do, and how do you perform them?

If it were up to me, I'd start with Koni SA's with stock springs all around. Yes, it seems crazy, but if you can't answer the two later questions easily and haven't much seat time in a stock suspension vehicle (yes, it's important) then you might be setting yourself up for modifying for the worse, even with the "best" parts.

sills1

iTrader: (1)

So if I got this right, Coil overs will make your car ride rougher than stock, while allowing you to lower it and raise it at will?

Chaotic Firebird

Pretty much.

Foxxtron

iTrader: (1)

Having CO's doesn't make the ride rougher, having a lower ride added with an appropriately higher spring rate and appropriately valved shocks give the suspension less of a travel, so when it comes to bumps of an equivalently higher suspension, the suspension has less of a stroke. What will really make the ride worse with any lowered suspension (CO or "non-adjustible ride height)is not having the appropriate shock piston travel combined with too low of a spring rate plus too little valvings (both bump and rebound). This results in bottoming out the shock piston, which can lead to a serious amount of damage, and most manufactuers don't warranty this type of error.

If you notice about some of the "streetable" CO retrofit sleeves, they don't have nearly the amount of adjustment that some other threaded sleeved shocks have and for good reason. If there is too low of a ride height adjustment, the Lmin can be exceeded and either the shock will excessively hit or rest on the bumpstop, or even worse, the piston will bottom out.

TAEnvy

iTrader: (2)

So what is the over consensus on these parts? Koni SAs and DMS springs or these Coilovers? for a Auto-X and RR car.

Foxxtron

iTrader: (1)

Another thing to consider when getting coil-overs is other factors that have as much or even more importance than ride height alone. Cornerweights and Crossweighting. The properly manufacured aftermarket replacement springs (i.e. Hotchkis and/or Eibach Pro-kit and NOT Sportlines) usually have this factored in.

I know that I've stated this before, but I still to this day come across many who have CO kits installed and can't figure out why they have too much oversteer in one turning direction while have too much understeer in the other. For dedicated drag-racing, this is totally different and the physics don't deal with practically little turning while competing.

AFA my 2 cents are concerned, be cautious when buying ANY coil-over because what you feel on the bottocks is totally seperate from what the vehicle is capable of.

Foxxtron

iTrader: (1)

How much experience with seat time do you have?

EDIT: Going by consensus is a dangerous game. If you have little or no seat time, the very first thing to do with a car that will eventually see AX is to start with a good shock alone. Yes, if you must, start with a Koni SA with stock springs and stock sway bars, because you can practise to get the "stock" vehicle to it's limits, then you'll have a much better idea to mod from there. Don't like the adjustment settings? Then you can practise with those parameters alone just to get an idea of what is useful or not, then if you shall choose a performance replacement spring, you'll know really what to look for.

BTW, I really don't recommend HAL's, especially for what you're trying to get into.