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I am considering getting some eibach lowering springs but was wondering about coilovers?
What's the difference, ride , height etc...

In effect they are just different words for the same thing.

It really depends upon whether or not you wish to replace your shock absorbers, coil overs do springs don’t.

Package deal vs individual components.

Ricmondo wrote: Fri Nov 23, 2018 11:04 am In effect they are just different words for the same thing.

Not really the same. A coilover includes a spring, but a spring is only a part of a coilover.

Andy1273 wrote: Thu Nov 22, 2018 10:09 pm What's the difference, ride , height etc...

Among car enthusiasts, "coilovers" refers to a suspension kit which includes both springs and shock absorbers with height adjustment of the spring seats. There are also sports suspension kits with lowering springs + sports shock absorbers with fixed spring seats (similar to the factory parts), and kits with just lowering springs.

A lowering spring kit provide a fixed amount of lowering and usually a stiffer spring rate to compensate for less clearance. This is the cheapest but the least recommended option because you are still using the factory spec shock absorbers which are not matched to the stiffer spring. This is not optimal for ride and handling. Plus you are stuck at the fixed amount of lowering without any adjustability.

A complete sports suspension kit with both lowering springs and shock absorbers is a bit more expensive, you still get a fixed amount of lowering but the benefit is that the shock absorbers are matched to the stiffer spring rate (or at least they should be, provided you buy a quality set of a reputable brand). This gives better ride and handling, but you are still stuck on a fixed amount of lowering.

A coilover kit gives you matched springs and dampers (again, provided you buy a quality brand; there are a LOT of cheap low quality coilovers out there that give you adjustable lowering but a horrible ride) but you also get continuous height adjustment so you can dial in just the amount of lowering that you want.

Both sports suspension kits and coilover kits are also available in versions with adjustable shock absorber stiffness. These are more expensive than reqular ones.

(Side note: strictly speaking, coilover is a setup where a shock absorber runs through a coil spring ("coil over damper") which includes the MacPherson strut front suspension commonly used in cars today, for example the front suspension installed from the factory on the Polo is a coilover setup, even though there is no adjustability whatsoever. The rear suspension setup of the Polo 6R does not have the shock absorber running through the coil spring and is strictly speaking not a coilover setup, even if you install a "coilover kit" with height adjustable spring seats. However I mentioned before, the word "coilover" has a different meaning among car enthusiasts today, it usually refers to a spring+shock absorber kit with adjustable lowering.)

I do not disagree with anything you say indeed it is precisely what I said albeit expressed less concisely, I did explain that a spring is just a spring whilst a ‘coilover’ includes a shock absorber.

The term coilover was first used by US Hot Rodders,and has crossed over via lazy journalists into everyday use in UK.

To be absolutely correct the terminology would be coaxial spring damper units but again that can cover a variety of different set ups.

The difference in ride height, ride characteristics etc depend upon spring rate, coil dimension, shock absorber valving and general characteristics, bump stop configuration etc.

I think it is important that the tyro modifier appreciates that there is more than one way to achieve the same result and is not seduced by commercial claims and persuaded to spend a lot more money to achieve the same result.

The ‘coil over’ package solution is probably easiest if you do not have specialist knowledge but not necessarily best nor generally the cheapest.

cheba wrote: Fri Nov 23, 2018 10:22 pm
(Side note: strictly speaking, coilover is a setup where a shock absorber runs through a coil spring ("coil over damper") which includes the MacPherson strut front suspension commonly used in cars today, for example the front suspension installed from the factory on the Polo is a coilover setup, even though there is no adjustability whatsoever. The rear suspension setup of the Polo 6R does not have the shock absorber running through the coil spring and is strictly speaking not a coilover setup, even if you install a "coilover kit" with height adjustable spring seats.

Does a coil-over kit for a Polo include additional strengthening at the rear mounting points? In the standard setup the weight of the car is supported by the rear sub-frame/chassis with the springs being beneath the car. In effect the mounting points in the wheel wells are just to attach the dampers and as such were never designed to bare the weight of the car. Switching to coil overs means the full weight of the car is supported at a single point in the wheel well which was never intended to bare the full load. I would imagine there's real potential to do long term damage to the structure of the car.

I really don't see the point of coil overs in a road car. The whole point is so that you can adjust the preload on the spring and tweak the damper settings. Great for on the track when you know what you want and what road conditions to expect. For road use there is little point, slightly lowered and a little stiffer is all you are ever going to need. All the folk I've ever known fit coil-overs on road cars play with them for a couple of weeks, until the novelty wears off and then forget about them. Then leave them at one setting for the rest of their lives. So in essence they just paid over the odds for something that look pretty and gives then bragging rights down the pub. Plus you're going to need to inform your insurer as coil-overs are generally classed as "Non-standard/modifications"

wolfie wrote: Sun Nov 25, 2018 9:02 am

cheba wrote: Fri Nov 23, 2018 10:22 pm
(Side note: strictly speaking, coilover is a setup where a shock absorber runs through a coil spring ("coil over damper") which includes the MacPherson strut front suspension commonly used in cars today, for example the front suspension installed from the factory on the Polo is a coilover setup, even though there is no adjustability whatsoever. The rear suspension setup of the Polo 6R does not have the shock absorber running through the coil spring and is strictly speaking not a coilover setup, even if you install a "coilover kit" with height adjustable spring seats.

Does a coil-over kit for a Polo include additional strengthening at the rear mounting points? In the standard setup the weight of the car is supported by the rear sub-frame/chassis with the springs being beneath the car. In effect the mounting points in the wheel wells are just to attach the dampers and as such were never designed to bare the weight of the car. Switching to coil overs means the full weight of the car is supported at a single point in the wheel well which was never intended to bare the full load. I would imagine there's real potential to do long term damage to the structure of the car.

I really don't see the point of coil overs in a road car. The whole point is so that you can adjust the preload on the spring and tweak the damper settings. Great for on the track when you know what you want and what road conditions to expect. For road use there is little point, slightly lowered and a little stiffer is all you are ever going to need. All the folk I've ever known fit coil-overs on road cars play with them for a couple of weeks, until the novelty wears off and then forget about them. Then leave them at one setting for the rest of their lives. So in essence they just paid over the odds for something that look pretty and gives then bragging rights down the pub. Plus you're going to need to inform your insurer as coil-overs are generally classed as "Non-standard/modifications"

What I tried to explain in the last sentence of my side note earlier was that the Polo 6R doesn't have true coilovers at the rear, even if you install a so called "coilover kit". It still uses the same layout as the factory parts with the shock absorber mounted in the wheel well and the spring beneath the car. Adjustability is achieved by an adjustable spring seat which sits either above or below the spring (the Bilstein kit that I have have it above the spring, other manufacturers have it below the spring).

Personally I went for a "coilover kit" because I wanted the ability to adjust them to get just the amount of lowering I prefer. After a couple of adjustment during the first weeks, I haven't touched them since, but I have adjusted them to the height that I prefer. On my old car I was running much lower, and then I was raising it for the winter and lowering it for the summer. This was a pain to do every time, because threads tend to sieze and it takes a lot of effort to adjust them after they've been sitting for a while.

The whole point is not that you can tweak the damper settings, because most "coilover kits" don't have adjustable dampers, only the more expensive ones do. I imagine that once you have your preferred height set, adjustable dampers are a much more useful feature because the damper adjustment tend to be accessible with the car standing on its wheels, so you can easily change the damper settings for special situations such as a track day.

For sure you can't go wrong with a good fixed height suspension kit, then you won't have to worry about doing any adjustments since they are set up from the factory. The downside is that you are stuck on that amount of lowering.

I've fitted the low version H&R lowering springs to my GTI. Did the job perfectly. Lowered to make it not look like a monster truck any more but not silly low, it looks good. I have the DDC or DCC or whatever its called fitted to mine which basically means I have the sport button. If you have the sport button and just get lowering springs then make sure you have the mag ride calibrated as otherwise you're going to be bouncing around all over the place and regretting the decision. Cheap and easy option if you've got the expensive suspension as standard. Hope this helps