How To Select The Right Coilovers For Your Car

A Guide To Picking The Right Coilovers For Your Vehicle

Selecting coilovers is a big deal for anyone modifying their car. This is a big modification that will give you some of the biggest changes for your vehicle for the amount of money spent, and that's why picking the right ones is so crucial.

Right off the bat, though, what do coilovers actually do? Well, when done correctly, they can give you better ride height and better handling - when done incorrectly, however, you can actually ruin the overall driving experience of your vehicle, so to make sure that doesn't happen to you, we've put together some recommendations and guidelines to help you on your search.

With all that in mind, whether you're a seasoned vet in the car world or a rookie just getting your sea legs, come with us below as we show you how to find the best coilovers for your car, guaranteed!

Table Of Contents

-What To Consider When Looking For Aftermarket Coilovers

-How To Find The Right Coilovers For Your Budget

-Best Coilovers In Tier One: Between $650 and $1000

-Best Coilovers In Tier Two: Between $1,000 and $2,200

-Best Coilovers In Tier Three: $2,200 And Above

What To Consider When Looking For Aftermarket Coilovers

We're assuming first off that you already have the car you want to modify, or at least know what you want. Without that, we really can't help you - but if you've got your vehicle in mind, the next thing to consider is what you want to do with the car.

It's safe to say that most of you reading this will fall into one of four categories for using your car:

1. The first, and most popular, is daily driving - you have a fun car that you drive every day and you want to make it a little cooler with a lower ride height and improved handling. Both of these can be achieved with a good set of coilovers.
2. The second category is a show car - going this route, you'll probably sacrifice some driving comforts for looking good at the show and going en route to the show, but your key attributes to look for will be ride height adjustment and any camber plate adjustment to dial in that perfect show fitment.
3. The third category is gonna be a track car, where handling, durability, and adjustments for fine tuning will be the key attributes to look for. In order to get the most out of your chassis and coilovers on a track car, you'll want custom spring rates, damping, and even some external reservoirs, which are going to help with cooling the shock fluid.
4. The fourth category is a mix of two or even three of the above categories, and if that's the case, compromise is super important. You're probably gonna need to make some sacrifices somewhere, so just think of how cool everything is gonna look and perform when everything is set up, and you'll be just fine.

How To Find The Right Coilovers For Your Budget

We've gotta go back to reality for a second, though - sorry. We need to talk about finances, and more specifically, we should mention your budget money and how that factors into your coilover buying decision. Unless you're like Elon Musk levels of rich you probably don't have to worry too much about budgeting, but for the rest of us, it's a fact of life, and that needs to be considered when you're making your final purchasing decisions.

If you do want to stretch your budget a bit, though, we do offer financing as low as 0% if you qualify, so if you want to get your coilovers now and pay them off later, that's certainly an option that you can take.

With that in mind, we've put together our list of the best coilovers in three pricing tiers, from $650-$1000; $1000-$2,200; and $2,200 and above. So whether you're just starting out and want something relatively inexpensive, are trying to stay at the meaty part of the bell curve, or really want to splurge for something with a bit more bang, we've got what you need below.

Best Coilovers In Tier One: Between $650 and $1000

We'll start with the tier one price range, and these prices will be great if you want your car to be a mix between a daily driver, show car, or a little bit of both. With coilovers in this price range, you'll get some damping adjustment but no custom spring rates - you can also expect some rebound adjustments too. In this range, you can also get away with some track duty.

We'll start our recommendations with the MTS Technik Street series of coilovers. They're kind of a new kid on the block, but this is a brand that you really shouldn't ignore - they use Eibach springs in these coilovers, which makes them a really good bang for the buck. MTS Technik started in Europe, but made its way over to America about a year ago and we've heard nothing but good things since.

The Tein Street Advance Z line of coilovers is next, and this is for anyone looking for some JDM cool points on a budget. We like these coilovers for daily driver setups since they're known to be durable at this price point, but that does come with a sacrifice in adjustability. Remember that we talked about compromises before - well, ride height is adjusted by moving the spring setup up and down instead of the body, so if you do go low, expect the ride to be harsh.

Evolved Autosport is the last brand in the tier one category - we actually developed them through MAPerformance and they are pretty new to the scene, but these coilovers are already one of the best and most affordable in the business. These can be adjusted to go super low, and you'll also get damping adjustability for a driving experience that's perfect for everything from daily driving to autocross.

Best Coilovers In Tier Two: Between $1,000 and $2,200

Tier two is quite the step up from tier one in terms of price, but at these price points you'll have plenty of great performance to look forward to. Most of these coilovers will have great adjustability and tuning, along with custom spring rates to help you do everything from daily driving to hitting the track.

BC Racing has a number of options within this price range, with their BR Series to the DS Series and all the way up to their ER series. The BR Series is the most popular and most affordable, offering 30 clicks of damping adjustment, camber plates, and custom spring rates along with swift spring upgrades. It only gets better on the DS Series, because then you get better valving and damping; the ER gives you further adjustment in external reservoirs for better cooling. We'd go with the DS Series for its ability to hold up better under abuse, but any BC Racing coilover would be great.

Fortune Auto is next, and it's one of our most popular options in the aftermarket coilover game. These will be great for daily driving options and can go hella low for you show folks, along with withstanding plenty of abuse on the track. Fortune Auto coilovers feature height adjustability, digressive pistons for better damping, and great response to bumps including camber plates and custom spring rates.

Finally in this category, let's talk about ST Suspension. ST is part of the KW family of products, and it benefits from some serious German engineering, but at a lower price point than some of the KW options. The ST XTA series will get you riding right in the street, looking good at the show, and performing great on the track - they don't go quite as low as BC or Fortune Auto options, but there's plenty of customization available for show guys.

Best Coilovers In Tier Three: $2,200 And Above

Finally, we've gotta talk about anything over $2,200 - this is where your really well set-up daily drivers come into play, and also dedicated track cars. In the show scene, these can give you some massive cool points, as they build on top tier two options like BC Racing and Fortune Auto, only with some added benefits.

KW Suspension is first on our list, all the way from its Street Series up to the V4 lineup of coilovers. At this price point you'll have a great daily driver and an epic track machine with the right supporting modifications. KW has crazy amounts of R&D in their products, and they can consistently make small tweaks to their lineup to keep things as good as they could be - these aren't cheap, but you won't ever be let down by these.

Tein is coming back for our Tier 3 list with their Super Racing coilover kit. This is perfect for the track nerd, since you get external reservoirs at a reasonable price along with the adjustability you expect from a true track coilover, with camber caster rides, height damping compression, and rebound adjustments - the Super Racing kit is super slept on, and gives you some serious bang for your buck.

Ohlins closes up our list here with its Road and Track coilovers - they're pretty darn good both on the road and the track, like the name suggests. Ohlins has some great dual flow valve technology, which lets you quickly change the stiffness of your shocks from Street mode to Track Weapon mode - you also get some extreme durability with these to withstand whatever you throw at them.

Shop All Coilovers For Your Car At Fitment Industries

So that about wraps up our list of the best coilovers for your car, but keep in mind that this is by no means an exhaustive list. We invite you to check out our full coilover store and see which one is best for your vehicle type and what you want out of your ride, both in terms of performance and price. As always, we offer financing, free shipping and quick delivery on all in-stock items, so come find your new favorite set of coilovers today!