FT-86 Suspension Upgrade: Springs or Coilovers?

[ft86girl]

Springs or coilovers for your FT-86 suspension upgrade???

If I'm only driving this car in the summer, coilovers for sure - would definitely give me a stiffer ride and increase my cornering/handling when I take my FT-86 to the track. I would also have the ability to raise and lower the car depending on where/what type of driving I was doing.

If I have to drive the FT-86 year round, I'd go with springs... love the look of a lower stance, but don't want to have to deal with coilovers seizing up due to corrosion from salt and the rest of winter

[Dakkon]

Springs, just because I don't care for the stiffness of Coil-overs, and I don't see myself using this to drift or do insane cornering. Least not where I live, but I'd love to have the aggressive stance. But even still, the car itself the way it sits is extremely nice, might not even bother with suspension.

[FT86'er]

Coilovers without doubt. Why not just buy the whole package and have the liberty of raising or lowering the car more if need be.

[Paul]

Not sure that I will have to lower it given what we have seen from early pictures. Looks to be at a perfect height.

[ft86girl]

Coilovers without doubt. Why not just buy the whole package and have the liberty of raising or lowering the car more if need be.

+1 Especially if you want to upgrade your tires - go to a bigger or smaller rim, you'll be able to adjust your ride height accordingly.

Not sure that I will have to lower it given what we have seen from early pictures. Looks to be at a perfect height.

Just remember, those pics are the FT-86 Concept. No doubt the production model will have a higher ride height

[HachiRoku]

Coilovers FTW!!!

That will be the first suspension upgrade for my FT-86. I assume that the handling will be quite amazing, but coilovers will provide the added stiffness that my FT-86 needs on the track.

[JonFT86]

Another vote for coilovers here. Save yourself money in the long run from replacing struts that blow out because they aren't designed properly for the springs you use with them. Set of lowering springs + a pair of replacement struts = cost of coilovers (sometimes coilovers are less)

[ft86girl]

Another vote for coilovers here. Save yourself money in the long run from replacing struts that blow out because they aren't designed properly for the springs you use with them. Set of lowering springs + a pair of replacement struts = cost of coilovers (sometimes coilovers are less)

Very true... I learned that the hard way but luckily no other major damage due to blown struts. If only I had been given the proper information at time of installation, I would have just saved up and opted for coilovers in the first place... You live and learn, right?

[Junior]

Just remember, those pics are the FT-86 Concept. No doubt the production model will have a higher ride height

If the ride height stays the same as the concept (and I hope it does!!) I will keep it how it is. Assuming it does not, I will need to save for coilovers to match the height I guess.

[ft86girl]

Let's hope that the ride height remains the same as in the FT-86 concept. I doubt that if it does change that Toyota will have a ridiculously large wheel gap... that way, you can still have the FT-86 look good when you get it and then adjust accordingly once you've saved up for the coilovers

[Victor]

Coils FTW!

[SpeedRacer]

Coilover suspension is a no brainer in this type of application. Given that it is a Toyota product I assume to see multiple after market companies offering different setups for us. I don't think asking for 3-4 different coilover setups is asking too much

[vertical_vs]

i think people here are forgetting that the concept version comes with adjustable height suspension stock.

as long as toyota keeps this in the production model i'm sure most people will keep the stock suspension.

[MaxRPM]

i think people here are forgetting that the concept version comes with adjustable height suspension stock.

as long as toyota keeps this in the production model i'm sure most people will keep the stock suspension.

I think Toyota will keep it in, but it just won't be enough for most of the tuner crowd that wants to mod their FT86. Might be okay for the casual driver that doesn't want to or can't afford to put in a coilover system.

[txmatrix2nr]

I mean if the spring perch is adjustable from the factory why bother with coilovers. Just change the spring rates. Has anyone here ever replaced a damper on a coilover system ? Trust me they're not cheap.