Okay, I know this is probably ((most likely)) a very stupid question, but is air ride a good choice to do?
I was considering Adjustable coilovers when I switched from my summer tires ((17's)) back to the stocks in winter. But, with the kit I'm getting, the car is going to sit low already, and I'm afraid that with the adjustable coilovers I'm stuck with the height one way or another. But, with bags, I can at least adjust the height while I'm driving, and slam it when I'm not.
Alot of the people I talk to say it's a waste of money, and very ricey, on top of it being a b!tch to mod.
I know that it should be up to me and who cares what everyone else thinks, but I'm just looking for opinions.
I'm not going anywhere just yet
R.I.P. Jimmy "the Rev" Sullivan '81-'09
My opinion:
If you drive the car ALOT go with a nice coil-over system. I drive my cav alot and i hate my bags(going to be switching to coil-overs this winter). I miss being able to start the car and go and also not having to dick around with the pressures to get the ride height i want every time i go somewhere. I miss a decent ride and it is sad that i need my M62 to keep up with the LN2 in the Satch on the Jersey streets.
A good coil-over system will handle ALOT better than airride.
My ride height is as low or lower than most coil-overs and i never have to raise the car on the @!#$ty roads of PA.
My thoughts are: if you plan on building a show car that might get driven on the weekend, go ahead with the bags. If you plan on driving the car everywhere, autoxing, drag racing, or just enjoying a set of twisties go with coil-overs.
Tinkles
2003 Cavalier 1SV
Bagged and Blown
^^^^^every thing he just said. I drove mine daily for about 3 years with air. Just got a daily about 6 months ago, that is the reason i have a daily. The mornings you come out and it's like 10 degrees outside, you might as well call for a ride unless u got it parked in a garage.
dont get bags on a daily driver.... you'll bounce up and down around everywhere, and turning will suck all..
now if you did your homework and got the right size tires for the summer rims, you wont drop much at all droping rim size over the winter. you need to match the diameter of the rim tire combo with the stock rim tire combo (Google: tire size calculator), or your speedo will be off and you'll either have a nasty huge wheel gap and the body will sit lower (with tires that create a diameter smaller than your stock tire/rim diameter) or less wheel gap and the body will sit higher (with tires that create a diameter larger than your stock tire/rim diameter)
so if changing rims makes that big of a difference, you need to get new tires on your summer rims that match that diameter of your stock rim/tire combo.... or get your speedo calibrated every time you go back and forth between wheels.
example: my stock tire size -- 205/55R16 .... to put wider tires on, i had to go 225/50ZR16 to keep the diameter...
if your stock size is: 195/70R14 (like most non Z24/RS/Vert J-bodies) your rims should have:
--- 15" rims: 205/60R15 (.3% off) or 225/55R15 (.00% off)
--- 16" rims: 205/55R16 (.5% off) or 225/50R16 (.4% off)
--- 17" rims: 215/45R17 (.5% off) or 225/45R17 (.9% off) ---
205/40R17 is very popular, and very W R O N G --- (5.2% too fast... at 60 MPH on the speedo you're doing 56.9 MPH... your car will sit LOWER to the ground on the 17"s and will have an increased wheel gap)
--- 18" rims: 215/40R18 (.1% off)
--- 19" rims: 205/35R19 (.4% off) or 215/35R19 (.7% off)
--- 20" rims: 205/30R20 (.4% off)
those are your closest tire sizes to the stock diameter... if yours isnt that size on your aftermarket wheels, you should switch up to one of these sizes, or switch your stock tires to correspond to match with your rims and re-calibrate your speedo... then your car will not change ride height much on rim changes and you can lower with whatever you want.
--- Do it right the first time instead of compensating because you did it wrong and are trying to make it work...
Edited 4 time(s). Last edited Monday, November 09, 2009 5:38 PM
One thing i forgot to touch on is wheel offset. The wheels on my cav now have a 35mm offset and i needed to roll and pull my fenders to get them to tuck. You'll need a 42-45mm offset wheel if you dont atleast roll the fenders.
Tinkles
2003 Cavalier 1SV
Bagged and Blown
really just depends on what you want. as far as ride quality i think ride quality is fine as long as you set at a good point, too much air and it will get bouncy. just the right amount and it rides like most other cars out there. for daily driving i'd say your better to just stick with coilovers. allot less hassle. if you want a more of a show car, bag it.
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Agree with most of the above. If it is a show car sure bags are a great addition, however if it is your only set of wheels or your daily driver keep something that is more dependable like springs/coil overs. That way you don't have to worry about bags, lines, fittings, etc during your morning commute to work or school.
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