As you might already know, Toyota and BMW did a great job tuning the suspension and chassis on the A90. It handles superb thanks to its stiff chassis and low center of gravity. Unfortunately, the stock ride height is pretty high and lowering the ride height can make the A90 look significantly more aggressive.
With more manufacturers offering parts for the A90 Supra, deciding which suspension system suits your needs can be difficult. To help you narrow down your search for the perfect suspension setup, we’ve created this short guide!
#1 HKS Adjustable Lowering Springs
On our project Supra, we installed HKS height-adjustable lowering springs. What’s unique about these springs are the height-adjustable collars. With most lowering springs you have no height adjustment, leaving you with no margin for error. With these springs, we were able to give our A90 a very low and aggressive without replacing the OEM dampers.
With up to 45mm of lowering adjustability, you can slam your A90 pretty low with these springs (or leave it close to stock ride height.) If you want a relatively affordable system with height adjustability, then the HKS lowering springs are the perfect solution for you.
#2 Eibach Lowering Springs
While the HKS adjustable springs offer a lot of adjustabilities and great performance, they’re significantly more expensive than most lowering springs. If you want something cheaper, Eibach’s Pro-Kit Performance Springs are a great option. With these lowering springs, you’ll have a fixed ride height that can’t be adjusted, however, they’re available for a very low price.
These springs reduce ride height by 1.7″ up front and 1.2″ in the rear. This puts the ride height much lower than stock, but still at a functional ride height which can easily clear speed bumps. Unfortunately, the much lower ride height requires a much higher spring rate, which will reduce ride quality.
#3 H&R Lowering Springs
H&R is one of the best-known names in the suspension aftermarket, and they’re the best known for providing superb ride quality. H&R’s lowering springs are more expensive than Eibach’s springs, however, they’re still significantly cheaper than HKS’ springs.
Once installed, you can expect ride height to be lowering 1-inch in the front and 0.75-inches in the rear. With this ride height, you’ll still maintain superb ride quality since the spring rates can be close to the OEM spring rates.
#4 BC Racing BR Series Coilovers
For anyone who wants more adjustability and more performance, aftermarket coilovers are a much better option compared to lowering springs. With coilovers, you’ll have spring preload adjustment, damping adjustment, and ride height adjustment. For the A90 Supra, BC Racing is currently one of the most popular coilover options.
The BR Series coilovers off 30 levels of damping and a maximum 2-inch drop. Each coilover is assembled by hand and undergoes stringent quality control protocols. If you want the most adjustability and performance possible, BC Racing BR Series is a great option!
#5 Revel Coilovers
Another great option for aftermarket A90 Supra coilovers are Revel Touring Sports Dampers. These offer similar adjustability to the BC Racing BR Series, but with the addition of a pillow ball upper mount, which offers more performance by reducing bushing deflection.
With a high-quality monotube damper with damping rate matched to the higher spring rate, these offer a lot of performance.
#6 KW Coilovers V3
If you want the absolute best performance and ride quality possible, KW’s V3 Bundle is the best solution on the aftermarket. Where the large majority of coilovers offer simple monotube or twin-tube dampers without any advanced features, KW V3 coilovers are available with electronically controlled dampers.
By electronically controlling the dampers on the fly, you can effectively stiffen or soften the ride quality by changing how to dampers react to changes in the road surface. To put it simply, electronically controlled dampers unlock a new level of performance and comfort which standard coilovers simply can’t match.
As far as performance, the V3 coilovers offer 28 total clicks of damping adjustment (16 clicks for rebound adjustment and 12 clicks for compression adjustment.) Ride height adjustment ranges from 15-35mm lower in the front and 20-40mm lower in the rear.
Should I Buy Coilovers or Lowering Springs?
You might be wondering if you should buy lowering springs or coilovers. Either way, you’ll end up with a lower ride height and a lower center of gravity, but the big difference is adjustability and damping. Your OEM dampers are designed to work within a specific range of motion and designed for specific spring rates.
Installing aftermarket lowering springs will put the dampers outside their ideal range of movement and the increased spring rates won’t be matched to the damping of your OEM dampers. On top of that, most lowering springs offer no height adjustable (not the case with the HKS spring kit.)
With aftermarket coilovers, you have control of ride height, spring preload, and damping. The damping of your aftermarket coilover is much better matched to increased spring rates, which means your suspension can properly dampen bumps.
To put it simply, if you want the most performance possible, coilovers are the much better option, however, if you want a cheap and easy way to lower your A90 and make it look better, lowering springs are a great option.
Still Don’t Know What You Want?
If you’re still not sure which suspension system is best for your A90 Supra, let our world class performance specialists help you decide! You can reach us by phone at 1-480-966-3040 or via email at sales@vividracing.com.
