OE Replacement OXR Series

Coilover is the abbreviation of "coil shock absorber" or "coil spring over the shock ". Coilovers are simply springs/coils that are placed on the shock absorber. The shock absorber is where the damping works. Some coilovers have damping adjustments (compression and rebound) that change their stiffness and can adjust the ride height, giving you the freedom to lower your car for the sporty lowered look. Lowering your car will also improve handling and reduce body roll.

The typical suspension system features a controlling arm, coil spring, and a shock absorber or a strut. The difference between a strut and a normal shock is that a strut carries some of the weight of the car. Most of the time, the spring is mounted on the strut. In case of any compression on the strut, or the spring, or both, the wheel moves upwards towards the body of the car. The mechanism of the coilover is similar. It has a longer coil spring that is coiled around the strut. For the upward movement of the wheel, both the shock and the spring must compress. The spring carries the weight upon compression while the strut transfers or damps the bouncing to the spring.

Coilover includes the shock/strut while lowering springs do not. Because of this, coilovers are often more expensive than the basic lowering spring kit. Performance is the next factor. The coilover will perform better for almost all applications. There are some cases like in drag racing where a lowering drag spring plus a drag shock will perform better than a coilover of around the same price. But notice that the top-performing drag suspension is also coilovers. Coilovers with their adjustability will most often outperform their basic lowering spring counterparts and net the user a better look.