Hey all,

I would like to lower my car this april, but would like some advice from those more experienced.

I have an 04 Sunfire, with a bomex bodykit and other lil toys as a daily driver. I live inToronto, and do bi-weekly drives north to go snowbaording. As driveablity is a key in my decision making process, i have decided to go with coilovers so i can adjust height as needed.

The car is driven pretty easily, and other then a single day "high performance driving school" this summer, the car will rarely be driven hard.

So here is where i need the advice, which set-up would you recommened, price being almost as important a factor as higher end performance

1) Tein basic kit

2) Tein pro kit

3) Koni yellows with ground controls

Thanx in advance for the input.

Cheers, Jay

By pro-kit I assume you mean the Super Streets?

If price is a big concern you obviously would want to go with the Basics, but if you're willing to spring a little cash go for the Super Streets due to the pillow-ball mounts and dampening control alone. Not to mention the ability to add the EDFC down the line when funds allow.

I had the Basics though and loved them, no complaints. If you're looking for a setup that bolts right up with the exception of swapping on the stock mounts, Basics are great. I honestly enjoyed the dampening they provided as is and it was definately responsive when driven hard yet handled everyday driving just as well.

Nothing bad to say about Konis/Ground Controls....but all the work you'll have to go through assembling/installing this setup could be a deciding factor for you. That's their huge downfall IMO now that we have bolt-in coilover kits available. Do you really want to hollow out your stock front struts and deal with installing an insert? Drilling the sleeve of the rear mounts out to a 1/2"? Dealing with the front strut mount hassle?.............etc.

what is the advantage of the pillow ball mounts, (excuse my ignorance)?

also, do the basics and super streets allow for the same amount of drop?

i wont be auto-xing so im not sure how valueable the dampening control is to me

The pillow ball mounts don't have the "give" rubber factory mounts do, thus giving the car more control in cornering, acceleration, and even braking to some degree. Due to that they don't fail as rubber mounts do either.

I believe the Super Streets allow you to go lower, as to why, no clue.

Also many people are not satisified with the rear drop the Basics give either, and a couple others and myself have ordered 1" shorter springs to correct that and level the car. From a performance aspect though the drop is fine, I ordered the shorter springs merely for looks.

If you're the "get in the car and just drive it" type of guy, I also would agree that the dampening control probably isn't of much value to you.

^ like mentioned if your looking for price then either the basics or gc/koni setup is what you want. both will be roughtly around the same when all said and done. the question you have to ask yourself now is, do you want a full assembled set up like the basics or do you want to take your time assemble the gcs and konis and then hack up your front struts to make the konis fit up front? granted the konis take some work to fit but i personally like konis so i dont have a problem with it. they only make sleeves for our cars so you have to use the factory knuckle.

i think i will go with the basics, seems like the most suitable setup for my usage, but i may get the lowering springs in the back to drop it a lil more, as the precious search function has allowed me to stumble upon this

yea i didnt know about that either til i read up on them some more

The Tein Basics are a really good price im my opinion, i will be purchasing a set hopefully within the next month. They seem like a really good setup and i believe you can purchase pillow ball mounts (for an extra cost) if you wanted them too.
Checkout www.gravanatuning.com if you haven't allready they stock the basics and other setups too.
Another set-up that is on Gravana is the Gravana coilovers, mrsp is around $1500 but they have them for just under $900.

Hope this helps


(99 - Sunfire - Red - 2200)(95 - Cavalier z24 - Purple - 2.3 quad four)

the basics seem like a really good choice, if i needed to adjust my ride height i more than liekly would of went with the basics myself.. if i get another J for a daily i will be getting the basics...


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