I think that the look is more of a driving factor for the average coil-over consumer than any other factor. Although nobody may be able to look and know exactly what the drop on the car was, the fitment that you can get with any set of wheels and tires can be much more specific than any particular spring. Now am I saying you can't get a good look out of springs? Of course not, you just can't tailor it like you can with something that is adjustable.

I think that if you are track savvy coil-overs offer a lot of performance advantages that you can't get from a spring and damper combination. Although a very small percentage of people out there take the time to corner weight their cars, this is a extremely advantageous performance enhancing tool that can really only be done with an adjustable suspension. And although you can get dampers which are adjustable separately, there are very few dampers out there which can be purchased for a specific application like the Mustang that will have a wide variety of adjustments, and even fewer if any at all which will be compression and rebound adjustable. Now should the average consumer go for anything like that? Of course not. These are parts which appeal to a very small percentage of the consumers out there.

Obviously each part is going to be better use in certain applications as well. Whether you are looking at a drag or a road race setup is going to be extremely important when choosing any suspension components as the demands placed on your suspension are going to be totally different between those two applications.

As for the spring rate, you made a very good point that is traditionally overlooked. The springs for any consumer level vehicle very rarely have a linear spring rate, which means that their rate is a function of stiffness and free height. As these springs need to be compressed a certain amount to attain their rate, the original height of these springs in conjunction with their rate does indeed effect the ride height of the car. But there are plenty of manufacturers out there who simply run a smaller spring with a higher rate in order to attain the same ride height. This is why from manufactuer to manufacturer you find differences in ride quality. Logically if everyone made springs with the same length and number of coils they should have the same rate, but with small changes in materials and designs they aren't all going to be the same. Close yes, but not equal. Because of these differences, pairing any set of springs with a set of dampers will yield results that aren't going to be as effective as if the dampers are valved with the specific spring rates in mind. Now once again...will the average consumer tell the difference? Probably not, but that doesn't mean that it isn't there.

Basically Al we are making the exact same point. The products which are marketed to everyone, aren't for everyone. There are upsides and downsides to every single part that you can put on your car, some are just more obvious than others. I think that they key when selecting any aftermarket component is judging all of the impacts that it will make to your vehicle dynamics and then weighing the pros and cons of those impacts. Not everything is going to be advantageous. I think that we are just trying to outline the way that the products work in order to educate everyone on what they really do, and how they do it. That way each suspension purchase can be made knowing what the full impact of every component is going to be. They shouldn't buy anything just because someone said it was good, they should get it because they know WHY it is good.

My little sisters boyfriend just dropped $4K on parts for his Evo. Intercooler, piping, exhaust, blow off valve (ugh), injectors....etc. I asked him why he didn't buy any type of engine management and he said he didn't need it. I asked him what injectors he got and he didn't know what size, or why he even got them. He said the guy who sold him the parts said buy this stuff and you will make this much power. Why it makes the power, he doesn't know. How it makes it...what each part does....nope...It seriously makes me sad. His car is awesome, yet he just bought stuff becuase he thought the parts were cool. I don't want to see that here. This forum is a huge source of educational info on everything under the sun. Take your time, read everything, and learn before you leap. The parts may fit your car, but that doesn't mean that they fit you.

Jon

 

Yep, it would seem we are in agreement! [sm=icon_cheers.gif]

 

Thank you ,Well put couldn't have said it better myself

 

I think buyin coil-overs for the Mustang is pretty pointless except if you were taking it to a road course.

 

Thanks for your opinion but if you read the original question, I am not asking which is better or whether I should run coil-overs vs. springs and dampener's simply asking if anybody is running this set up