The Coilover Upgrade Guide for the Hyundai Genesis Coupe. The Genesis Coupe is a fantastic and quick sports car, whether equipped with the 2.0T or the 3.8 V6 engine. With a few performance engine mods, these cars can be quite fast while remaining nimble and agile in terms of handling. However, after you’ve installed all of your engine mods on the Gen Coupe, you may still be looking for something to put a smile on your face. Upgraded coilovers are one of the best Gen Coupe performance mods in terms of handling and overall street and track performance.
Coilovers not only improve the appearance of your Gen Coupe by lowering it, but they also provide better handling and cornering, less body roll, and a smoother or more enjoyable ride. When considering coilovers, there are several factors to consider, the most important of which are your goals. This guide will cover the fundamentals of coilovers as well as various important topics such as spring rates, dampening, and tube design. In addition, we’ll discuss the best Gen Coupe coilovers for stance and style, street performance, hybrid street and track use, and dedicated track use.
The Fundamentals of Genesis Coupe Coilovers
Camber plates and spacers may be necessary if you want to improve your stance or fit specific wheels. However, because these items are specific to wheel setups, we will not cover them here. Rather, we’ll concentrate on coilover tube design, damping adjustability, ride height, and spring rates. Finally, we’ll contrast Gen Coupe lowering springs with coilovers.
The term “best performance” is also somewhat arbitrary. A $5k Cusco coilover set will provide you with the best track performance, but it will not be the best for daily driving; in fact, it will be quite brutal.
Coilovers: Mono-Tube vs. Twin-Tube
The terms mono and twin-tube refer to the internal structure and engineering of coilovers. We’ll avoid getting into the nitty gritty details here, but we’ll highlight some key differences. Mono-tube coilovers are ideal for track use. If you don’t, mono-tube makes no sense and is actually less comfortable.
- Mono-tube is more sensitive to small movements and thus more precise in terms of damping.
- Because mono-tube is more precise and sensitive, the ride quality is stiffer and less enjoyable (for street driving)
- Twin-tube is less expensive to produce and thus provides more bang for your buck.
- Twin-tube is also better for the street because it is less sensitive.
- You want mono-tube if you track your Gen Coupe.
The quality of the coilover is not reflected in the mono or twin-tube configuration. It has no effect on performance. Having said that, twin-tube coilovers are less expensive because they are less expensive to manufacture and provide less performance. However, this does not imply that they are of lower “quality,” only that they provide less performance.
Unless you’ve spent a lot of time on the track, the difference between the two won’t be night and day.
Damping can be adjusted.
Coil springs actually support the weight of the vehicle. If your suspension didn’t have shocks and you hit a bump, your Gen Coupe would bounce like a basketball dropped on the ground. Shocks control damping (the proper term is damping, but we’ll ignore that; people just call it damping). This means they have control over the coil spring’s compression and rebound. It determines how far the spring compresses and how soft or stiffly it reboundes.
When it comes to coilovers, you have two options: pre-set dampening or adjustable dampening. The damping is pre-set by the manufacturer to match the spring rates of the coil springs used on the coilovers. Adjustable damping suspension has knobs on the top that provide 8 to 32 different levels of dampening, ranging from soft to stiff.
Adjustable dampening is a method of controlling coilover performance and softness/stiffness. Whether you need it or not is a matter of personal preference and function. If you drive your car every day, you probably don’t need it because pre-set coilovers are designed by the manufacturer to provide the best balance of ride comfort and performance. It is a must if you use your car on a daily basis as well as for track days. You probably want it for dedicated track cars, but it isn’t necessary if you always race in the same class/style and use the same wheel/tire setup.
Coilovers with adjustable dampening cost more, so keep that in mind if you don’t track your car.
Rates for the Spring
Because the coil springs support the weight of the vehicle, they also determine how stiff or soft the suspension is. The ride will be brutal if you put aggressively stiff springs on your coilovers, regardless of how much damping adjustability you have. Spring rates are expressed as the amount of force (in pounds) required to compress the spring by one inch.
You want the best combination of comfort and performance for street driving. If it’s too soft, you’ll bottom out or scrape. It will be too stiff to ride in. Track cars require extremely high/stiff spring rates. But the vast majority of those reading this do not.
One thing to keep in mind is that the Gen Coupe 3.8 weighs about 150-200lbs more in the front due to the larger engine. Depending on your objectives, you may prefer a stiffer front spring than you would on a 2.0T. This is especially true for serious performance/track setups. Ignore this if you’re one of the 98% who want to lower your car.
The main takeaway here is that you want to strike a balance between comfort and performance.
Adjusting the Ride Height
Before purchasing coilovers, consider how far you intend to drop your Gen Coupe. Most street-level coilovers will provide up to 3′′ of drop. Track-level coilovers typically do not drop as far because track cars are never slammed to the ground.
Ride height is a personal preference, but the more adjustability you have, the better your chances of achieving the desired stance and fitting your wheel setups.
Coilovers vs. Gen Coupe Lowering Springs
Even the worst set of coilovers, according to Gen Coupe owners, is better than the best set of lowering springs. With just lowering springs, the ride quality of these cars deteriorates dramatically. Furthermore, lowering springs increase the stress on the stock shocks, causing them to fail quickly. This means you’ll have to replace the shocks, which you could have avoided by simply purchasing coilovers.
Over lowering springs, we recommend our low-cost Raceland setup below. If you don’t care about ride quality and just want a slight pre-set drop and can’t afford the $500 for coilovers, lowering springs are the way to go. However, if you can afford coilovers, you will be glad you did. Lowering springs also provide zero height adjustability, which is useful if you want to change wheel setups or end up scraping up your driveway, for example.
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Advantages of Hyundai Genesis Coupe Coilovers
- Adjustable ride heights (from 0 to 3 inches and up)
- Improved cornering and handling with less body roll
- Dampening can be adjusted to fine-tune performance (for more expensive setups)
- A more comfortable and smoother ride
- Excellent replacement for worn-out suspension.
Not only are coilovers far superior to lowering springs, but they are also far superior to stock suspension. If your suspension is old and worn, upgrading to a set of low-cost coilovers is far more cost-effective than purchasing a new set of factory shocks/springs.
Coilovers are our recommendation for stance, street performance, track days, and replacing old suspension.
Coilovers for the Genesis Coupe
The “best” coilover, like the “best” performance, is subjective. It all depends on your objectives, budget, and requirements. Setup #1 is recommended for those who simply want to lower their car and possibly improve its handling. However, for the other 2%, or those who enjoy buying top-tier items simply because they can, we will share setups that are best suited for you.
1) Raceland Gen Coupe Coilovers are the best bang for your buck.
Tier: Beginning, stance, moderate street
Spring rates: 240 lbs in front and 470 lbs in back
Adjustable height: 1-3″
Price: $519
The Raceland is our favorite entry-level or value-for-money coilover. We recommend these coilovers for the 98% of people who want to lower their car, add some stance, and improve their handling over the stock suspension. These are twin-tube coilovers with pre-set damping that best matches the spring rates and provides the best balance of performance and ride comfort.
Raceland has excellent customer service and a lifetime warranty, making these coilovers a no-brainer for those on a tight budget who don’t require damping control. Furthermore, these are some of the most street-friendly coilovers available, with enough stiffness to prevent bottoming out when fully dropped.
If the upfront cost is too much for you, Raceland also offers Affirm financing, which allows you to finance these coilovers over a 12-month period.
Overall, we recommend this setup for anyone looking for stance, basic lowering, and slight performance gains.
2) Daily Driver / Weekend Warrior Configurations
Tier: People with the best street performance, weekend warriors, and people who don’t care about money.
Features include a mono-tube design, adjustable dampening, and typically stiffer springs.
These are the setups for those who drive their Gen Coupe on a daily basis but also track it on occasion. Furthermore, if you want or require damping control, this is the setup for you. Finally, if you want to buy more expensive parts for the sake of quality, this is the bucket for you.
Mono-tube setups are used in this category for optimal track performance. They also have damping adjustability, which gives you some control over the ride stiffness and comfort. These options will typically have stiffer springs, but most of these brands will also allow you to choose different spring rates to control ride quality based on your intended use.
If I were just looking to lower my car, I would save my money and go to Racelands. These setups are great for people looking for that extra performance, but they aren’t necessary unless you intend to use that extra performance.
Coilovers for the Best Gen Coupe High Performance/Weekend Warrior
- Super Sport Stance
- BC Motorsports
- HSD
- ISC N1
- ARK
- PSS Bilstein B14
- RS-R
3) Dedicated Track Coilover Configurations
Even if money is no object because you are a prince from Dubai, we do not recommend these setups for anything other than dedicated track cars. When it comes to street ride quality, they provide the best performance but the least comfortable ride.
These are inverted monotube struts that provide the best grip, handling, cornering, and so on. They have extremely stiff spring rates and damping adjustments. These setups typically have less lowering capability because track cars do not typically require an aggressive stance. If you’ve reached this level, you probably know what you’re doing, so we’ll list the best options and leave the rest up to you.
These are the best names in the business, with no price, quality, or performance compromises.
Best Track Coilovers for a Gen Coupe
- KW V3
- 3rd Stance Pro Comp
- Zero-3X Cusco Comp Spec
Summary of the Genesis Coupe Coilover Upgrade
Coilovers have three major considerations: tube design, dampening control, and spring rates. To determine which coilovers are best for you, you must consider these three factors along with your budget and goals. Lowering springs and stock suspension will always be preferable to coilovers.
Raceland coilovers are our favorite value option. These are the best in the business if you’re just looking for lowering, stance, stock suspension replacements, or slightly better street performance without sacrificing ride quality. Unless you require serious performance, we recommend saving your money and going with the more affordable option, which is still a significant upgrade over the stock suspension.
If you’re looking for more advanced track-ready setups, look to the second bucket of coilover options, which includes monotube designs and damping control. If you want to spend $3k+ on coilovers, check out our dedicated track coilovers, but keep in mind that these aren’t necessarily the best coilovers for street driving.
