The Debate Continues - Air Ride vs. Coil Overs - Tell Us Which Side You're On

[chanathon]

Like everyone else has stated, it all comes down to how the car is set up and the vision the owner has in mind. I've
been static forever then switched to bags then went back to coils. I had a bag over coilover setup and it was just too soft for my platform but that was probably due to incorrect dampening of the shocks. I'm now on aircups and feel like I got the best compromise of both worlds.

[mikey G]

To me, as with a lot of things in life, it seems that the grass is always greener. We get backs and miss how our cars handle so we go static and are limited to where we can drive. I really think the direction air is going, there will be a setup in the (near) future that can accompany both adjustability, and ultimate ride quality. But for now, ill stay static. As it was mentioned before the customization of spring rates and valved right cars just feel right.

That being said I would love to go Air in my daily just so I could have attachments for tools for my little detailing business

[aLaFleur]

It's all personal preference really... There's no right answer that someone else can give you about what type of suspension to put on your own car.

[Yezzz]

Everybody prefers something diferent. But to be honest, The ''hatred'' against airride, or saying that it isn't ''pure'' enough is useless. I you like coilovers, than drive coilovers, but don't be a b*tch about it when someone else drives over a speedhump because he has airride and you cant.
I hope that when I have a car, that I can afford the suspension that I find to fit the car.
And if I dont have the money, I can aways cut springs

[Average_Jerk]

I lean towards static. I dont have anything against air. but I like the feel of coils vs air. better driving experience I guess?

Whilst I do prefer static, if I were to lower my current car right now it would have to be air or else I would never be able to get my car out of my parking garage. Fucking exit ramp is like 90* straight up lol

[puggernaut]

I just filled in the survey. My opinion is that air suspension is excellent in terms of adjusting height settings and on a daily or show car it is ideal.

I'm in the process of fitting air ride to my E28 (or at least will be when everything arrives) and it is expensive I'll be honest. It was on coilovers before but I couldn't comfortably carry 3 passengers without the wheels rubbing or the car catching things, especially on my new from BMW m-tech front splitter which was gut wrenching! Hopefully the new setup will change this.

My mx5 is on coilovers and I feel they suit the car. Especially as a short amount of time allows me to change the car from this:



to this:



And vice versa. I agree with your opinion on performance cars with air Mike, definitely just seems out of keeping with the nature of the vehicle, especially in the case of an E46 M3.

[Nicolaus Pro]

I've never owned a bagged car.

All for the reason that the whole point we do this "stance" stuff for is to look cool right? Why would you only wanna look cool when parked? I've yet to see a bagged car look as good rolling as it does parked.
And you people are right, a properly set up car on coils >...... everything


I have the same argument for winter wheels.

[Nick475]

i think being able to drag your car down the highway with air would be pretty darn fun, and it would be much more comfortable for daily driving. but you feel much more connected to your car when you are on coilovers IMO.

[scweet14]

all my cars have been static, and i don't imagine a change anytime soon. love being static

[Byron]

As Nic said, the reason we are part of this website is because we like cool looking cars, and bagged cars only look cool some of the time. It's a circle really, people get bags so they don't ruin their car, then they drive the car low so they still seem cool and end up ruining their car anyways. I couldn't even guess as to the amount of bagged cars I've seen with screwed up fenders from people showing off.

And the general principal of how a bag works is backwards to how we need our suspensions to function. The lower you go, the softer the spring rate of the bag is and the more the car hits. If you run aggressive offsets so your car sits on the wheels when you air out, you need to drive the car around super high.

Then there's clearance issues, the amount of plumbing and hardware, loss of trunk/wherever space, and the cost. Even a DIY kit (that will end up riding like crap) costs way more than a quality set of coilovers would.

And all that doesn't even touch on how they ride and handle. I've yet to ride in a bagged car that rides better than a car on a good set of coilovers, and that includes high end model-specific kits and even oem equipment. That's not to say they can't ride well, just that they're not quite as good. And they will never handle as well as a equally setup car on traditional springs.



Cheap coilovers are even worse though. Literally the easiest way to spend money to ruin your car is to put cheap coils on it. They ride like crap, they handle worse, they're poor quality, and they give good parts a bad rap. If all you want is to go low, do yourself a favor and cut the springs.

[Oh, Word?]

Just did the survey. I've had coilovers in my last three cars, the first of which were cheap coils. Left a really bad taste in my mouth. Next car I spent a fair amount more on coils and it was night and day different.

My current car I have mixed feeling about. It's a 2013 fiat abarth. My first thought was coilovers but because of the way the rear suspension is designed I could never get the rear low enough to be happy with it. So I looked up air ride and there's an airrex kit but it's super expensive and if I did air the little trunk space I have would be gone. There are people that have modified mk4 kits to fit but that requires a lot of modifications.

Not sure which way I'll end up going.

[244Brick]

I beg to differ on Air ride quality. My Airlift hi damp suspension rides excellent in corners and for everyday driving. MY friend ashton(frs bc racing) and I were cruising down the back roads and surprisingly the car handled extremely well... giving at the time my wheel setup was 9j/10j on 215/35 tires with -6/-11 degrees camber

[[666]]

It's really just about what's best for your build and lifestyle. For me there's no need for bags on my cars, so they wouldn't get much use. Most of the roads in this city are reasonably low friendly and the ones that aren't can easily be avoided. Currently I commute 30+ minutes to work every day, including a railroad crossing on my way home, and one hell of a curb on my driveway, but I still get away with being static.

I will say, however, that bags will always win on the cool factor, no question. But the bragging rights go both ways because whenever you see pictures of a static car hardparking you know one thing: they actually drive at that height. To me being low is about driving low, that whole "low is a lifestyle" thing. Mad respect to all those killer bagged cars out there. But it kind of bums me out every time I see a bagged car air up in order to drive away.

So I'm torn. Both ways get the job done, and that's all that really matters.

[cobrawannabe]

I don't foresee myself ever bagging a car that I plan on driving hard consistently, but bags certainly have their place.

[driftsucky]

For me, it comes down to a few different things. Years ago, it used to be the cost of entry of both systems. A proper bag setup is expensive. However, at this stage in the game, a nice static setup can run you quite a pretty penny as well.

That said, I prefer static for my cars because both of their purposes lean towards a static setup over a bagged setup. My G35 (pictured below) is being setup more and more for drifting each year (and at some point will probably be a full on track car). I'm aware that I can drift with bags, but it seems like a waste of time and effort to implement such a system when a solid static setup works just fine.

On my 300C, it's a family hauler. That means, groceries, kid eqimpment, suitcases, etc...So, to do a trunk setup the way I'd want to for air, I'd loose a great deal of function on my vehicle. That's really my big thing to sticking with static. I'm sure I'd COULD make a air ride system work, but I'm not really sure I'd want to go through all of that trouble JUST to do it. Add to that the extra added cost, and it's a hard sell...for me at least.