New Forum Sponsor - Coiloverkits.com

[CoiloverKits.com]

Camaro & Firebird V6 Owners,

My name is Tim Griffith, I'm a suspension expert with Coiloverkits.com. We're new here and just started sponsoring the Camaro V6 forums and couldn't be happier to be here! If anyone has any questions about coilover suspension please feel free to reach out and I'll be glad to assist in any way I can. I'm excited to share my knowledge with everyone and even more excited to learn new things about the Camaro and Firebird chassis as I'm sure many of you are experts in your own way. I welcome any and all questions and/or information that would be useful to you guys. If you have any ideas on posts you'd like to see from me please be sure to share them with me and I'll work on making the posts.

Please check out our site www.coiloverkits.com and let me know your thoughts.

Again, I'm extremely excited to be here and can't wait to learn and help others learn new things about coilover suspension.


Regards, Tim Griffith

[ssms5411]

Welcome to the site.

[LETZRIDE]

Welcome to the site Tim and thanks for your support!

One of the things we get asked a lot on our social media is what is needed to get a nice lowered stance on the 5th / 6th gen Camaro's. Is it just springs/shocks or coilover kits or is there a correction to suspension geometry that needs to happen as well.

I know us 4th gen guys aren't overly familiar with the IRS suspension setups. For us 4th gen guys to lower our cars, an adjustable panhard rod should be used to re-center the rear axle. Also most will find a benefit to installing lower control arm relocation brackets to help combat wheel hop.

[CoiloverKits.com]

Thanks so much guys! We're seriously excited to be here!

Regards, Tim Griffith

[CoiloverKits.com]

One of the things we get asked a lot on our social media is what is needed to get a nice lowered stance on the 5th / 6th gen Camaro's. Is it just springs/shocks or coilover kits or is there a correction to suspension geometry that needs to happen as well.

In the most general sense, coilovers are absolutely the way to go when it comes to lowering the car. I’m 39 years old and come from a time when coilovers were $2000-$3000 a set so lowering springs were really all I could afford for my street cars. Back then there weren’t 100 different coilover brands out there and the brands that were available catered to the road and drag racing guys, which is one of the reasons they were so expensive. But nowadays with advances in technology, manufacturing, and shipping logistics, we now have a plethora of coilover options out there, from mild to wild, and everything in between.

You can absolutely get a lowered stance with some lowering springs but they’re so hard on the OEM shocks that I don’t recommend them. The only time I recommend lowering springs if you’re also going to buy aftermarket shocks that are engineered to be paired with the lowering springs. But at that point, you might as well buy coilovers because you’re going to be looking at the same if not a higher cost than a decent set of coilovers. I’ve personally used lowering springs on a few different cars, and all of them suffered from poor performance and premature shock failure, so I don’t recommend them.

With that said, coilovers are definitely one of those things that you get what you pay for, so you have to spend a little money to get a decent set. What that price level is isn’t exactly clear nowadays because there are so many different brands available but in my opinion, you really start getting into the good coilovers around the $1000 mark. Don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t mean that a $500-$600 set of coilover isn’t good, they probably are, but they’re good relative to their cost. If you buy a $500-$600 set of coilovers you have to keep in mind that they’re “affordable” coilovers and probably won’t last as long as say a set of $1200 coilovers.

I’ve done quite a bit of testing on the 5th & 6th Gen Camaro’s and for this conversation pertaining to a street car I can’t think of anything in terms of the suspension geometry that would need changed. If someone has a different opinion on that for a street car please share as I would love to explore that.

So in my opinion, I personally feel that a decent set of coilovers is the way to go for lowering the car, while still keeping it fun and comfortable to drive. The first time I tested a set of coilovers on the 5th Gen Camaro I was absolutely blown away by how great the car felt and how comfortable it was drive. It was one of the biggest differences I’ve felt when going from OEM to coilovers on any car I’ve ever driven/tested on. If you guys haven’t driven a Camaro with coilovers on it yet then I highly recommend it.

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks!

[LETZRIDE]

Thanks for clearing this up. I will point our followers to this thread when I get asked the question.

I wish we could run full coilovers easily on the 4th gens…

[FirebirdGT]

I wish we could run full coilovers easily on the 4th gens…

Define "easily"

F/R coilovers for 93-02
UMI
Spohn
RideTech
KW Suspensions

[LETZRIDE]

I thought we had to weld some pieces in the back to run coilovers out back?

I had coilovers in the front. Adjustable ride height was a fantastic feature

[ssms5411]

I haven’t found coil overs for the rear, I run QA-1s all around, but the rear isn’t a true coil over. Can’t adjust the height.

[FirebirdGT]

Both UMI and Spohn have bolt-in rear coilovers.

[ssms5411]

[QUOTE=FirebirdGT;n1578280]Both UMI and Spohn have bolt-in rear coilovers.
Found them, over a $1000 for the rear, I’ll pass , they say bolt in , looks like alot of pieces to bolt in. Haven’t seen them on a F-body yet.

[CoiloverKits.com]

Anyone have pictures of their front and/or rear OEM 4th Gen suspension so I can check it out? I have zero experience with that chassis and would love to have some OEM pics to look at. If you have some please shoot them over or post them up. Thanks!

[CoiloverKits.com]

Also, let me know if any of you guys are in, or know someone in the Orlando, Florida area that has a car they can loan out for testing, and I'll get with BC Racing about making a kit for the 4th Gen F-Body. I've worked with them a lot over the years and have a good relationship with them so if there is a way to make a "bolt in" kit and there's someone local willing to let them use the car for testing, then I'd be glad to reach out and get a line of dialog going.

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks!

[LETZRIDE]

I have a photo of the K frame out, but no photo of the suspension setup as a whole since I am apart at the moment.

[CoiloverKits.com]

I have a photo of the K frame out, but no photo of the suspension setup as a whole since I am apart at the moment.

Awesome, that's a start. If anyone else has pictures of their OEM suspension please post them up. Thanks so much everyone!!