Advise needed between AirRide vs Coilovers?
 

Posted this over in pro-tourning but thought I'd post here as well in case some people here would have additional input.

Okay I'm fairly new here as I picked up my first project car a few months back. It's a '69 Firebird I picked up from a guy who needed to sell as he was moving and didn't have space for all his cars. He had already started the body work and replaced some typical rust areas by cutting out the small sections and replacing with new sheet metal. The car is stripped so I was able to look at the floors in the front and the trunk which are solid.

It came with a 350 motor which he told me he had fired up, so we made sure to get it running so we could check the compression to see whether I could run this while I worked on other aspects of the car first to get it on the road. Down the road I will swap the motor, but I haven't decided on a stroked 400 or an LS3 swap. Either way, I'd like to swap to a manual tranny down the road as well. Hopefully this won't be to difficult. Other things I'm thinking about are mini tubs, 4 wheel disk brakes, posi rear end which may need to be replaced if I end up doing the mini tubs.

Right now I have been reading up to get an idea on where I wanted to go with the suspension. I would really like to go with an AirRide setup but I have never driven a car with this setup so I'm trying to get some pro's vs. con's between the AirRide setup and a coilover setup. At the moment I am obviously considering Ridetech for both but am also looking at the other options for a coilover setup. I'm interested in the ride quality, dependability, difficulty of installation for AirRide and handling for aggressive driving. Is the added cost worth it for the AirRide or is it more dependent upon preference?

In the beginning this will be mainly for a street setup but I would like to possibly look at some autocross events in the future. I don't want to purchase something that I would then have to replace, which is why I am looking for input. I'd like to start putting together my order for the front/rear suspension soon. I hope to have the motor/trans out this weekend and then have the bottom and subframe media blasted to make sure I don't have any issues with areas I can't currently see. I have already decided to replace body mounts with Global West solid mounts and will also look to install subframe connectors as well, once I decide if any one is better than another.

If anyone has recommendation on the best place to order these parts as well as other parts down the road (engine/trans, posi rear, gearing, etc), and that can offer suggestions throughout my build process that would be great.

Any other input of aspects I haven't thought about would be great as well. I'm trying to search and read as much as possible to determine the path I want to follow. I'm not made of money so this will happen in stages, but I would much rather save money to get the best possible setup rather than replace something down the road.

thanks, Jake

ride quality when setup correctly should be similar. difficulty of install is bolt on the coilovers and go or mount and plumb an air system that may or may not leak depending on how well you put the lines together, not to mention cost. I have nothing against air systems but for plain dependability and cost reasons I would run coil overs.

Coilovers - Pros - less expensive...easier installation [no compressor system to install]. Cons - no ride height adjustment...no weight change compensation...no spring rate tuning without changing conponents.

ShockWaves - Pros - ride height/spring rate adjustments can be made for handling tuning and/or aesthetics with the push of a button. Cons - The ShockWave units themselves are slightly more expensive, and the compressor system will add $1500-$2500 to the overall system - The ccompressor system installation will take an additional few hours to install.

Leaks? Only if you do a poor job of installation. We use DOT approved airline and bubble tight solenoids. Handling? An airspring can be a significant tuning tool...almost to the point of being an unfair advantage. As with any tool you must educate yourself just a little about how to use this tool effectively. Most give up and use coilovers.
Ride quality? We can make a coilover ride almost as well as a ShockWave...until you change the load in the car...people, luggage, fuel, etc.

If you want simple and inexpensive...coilover. If you want no compromises...Shockwave. Also, know that our coilovers and our ShockWaves share the exact same shock cartridge...the coilospring and the airpsring unit are interchangeable.

My last couple of road course/autox cars [48 Hour Camaro and the 33 Ford] have been coilover...just because thats what we were trying to promote. This year...my Mustang is on triple adjustable ShockWaves. It is reasonably fast.

Um -- yeah, last time I saw it run AutoX....it did OK! :)

The mustang will reappear in its newly revised form at Nashville Goodguys in 2weeks. Still on shockwaves. And faster.

Love my shockwaves and the adjustability. I went with an AirPod so the install was relatively simple. Ride quality is better than the QA1's I had before the shockwaves.

Perfect ride height, never scrapes because I can bump it up a few inches with one push of a button. Plus I can lay it out when ever I want.

Would do it again without hesitation.


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