As we all know, when it comes to modifying a car, there’s a list of items and priorities that should be taken into consideration. One of the major priorities is handling.
It’s never a good idea to immediately get into modifying your car’s engine, as it would be practically useless unless the car can put the power down to the ground.
Handling upgrades should almost always come first in a modified car, and one of the most important handling upgrades is undoubtedly coilovers.
We’ve covered these before on Low Offset extensively, as they bring a lot of benefits to cornering, appearance, and in some cases, ride quality as well.
There are hundreds of coilovers on the market, but some of them are expensive, oftentimes beyond budget for a lot of enthusiasts.
In this guide, we’ll shed light on one of the underdogs in the affordable coilover business. Here’s our review on Godspeed coilovers.
Godspeed Coilovers: An Overview
Godspeed Project, based out of El Monte, California, specializes in drivetrain components like air ride, sway bars, lowering springs and coilovers.
They also deal in Turbonetics products, including a majority of that company’s turbochargers and blow-off valves. Not much information is known about them, except for their location and their products.
As for the coilovers themselves, they’re available for a variety of different cars. JDM cars take center stage, but they also offer coilovers for stuff like the E46 BMW M3, the Ford Focus ST, and a few other EUDM heroes.
Currently, Godspeed Project offers eight different types of coilover, each one with different features and different intended uses, depending on the model. Let’s take a closer look at those below.
Mono SS
This is the base model Godspeed coilover, but it still comes with a half-decent feature set, like a monotube damper design, full-length adjustable height, and 16 stages of adjustable damping.
They also let you dial in and adjust your preload.
Mono RS
Next is the Mono-RS, which uses the same basic design as the Mono-SS, also with a monotube damper design and they’re fully adjustable in terms of ride height.
The key difference between the two is that the Mono-RS comes with 32 levels of adjustable damping as opposed to 16.
MAXX
The MAXX is primarily designed for daily driving with occasional track use, and they’ve bumped up the damping adjustability levels to 40.
They also come with lower brackets for adjusting the ride height, which increases shock travel and makes them more comfortable for daily use, which is always a good bonus.
MAX 2-Way
The MAX 2-Way (with one X), is much the same as the MAXX, also being designed for daily use and ready for the occasional track day.
As the name implies, they offer rebound and compression damping adjustments, but only if you add the pillowball top mount in the front.
The MAXX (with two X’s) 2-Way is very similar, except they offer 33 clicks each rebound and compression adjustments.
MAXX 3-Way
The MAXX 3-Way is one of the most feature-packed coilovers offered by the company. Along with the fully adjustable rebound and compression, they also offer adjustments for low-speed compression.
CNC aluminum is primarily used in the assembly, and they’re for more frequent track use, while still being tolerable for daily use.
MAXX Sports
MAXX Sports are designed for heavier track use, and this is reflected primarily in their design.
The front two MAXX Sports shocks use an inverted shock design, allowing them to mount in the area where MacPherson struts usually go.
This results in better chassis rigidity. As far as the other features are concerned, it’s business as usual.
Mono Gravel
Finally, Mono-Gravel is pretty self-explanatory. These coilovers are designed for rally use, with longer springs, and a longer piston stroke, and the shocks themselves are also larger.
The intended use of the Mono-Gravel is also reflected in the vehicles it’s offered for, as it’s pretty much only Subarus and other AWD JDM cars.
Other than the rally specs, the Mono-Gravel is business as usual. 32 levels of damping adjustment, carbon steel, and aluminum construction, all that jazz.
Are Godspeed Coilovers Good?
Now it’s time for the important stuff. Should you go out and buy a set of Godspeed coilovers for your build? Is Godspeed a good brand?
That all depends entirely on your use case and budget, but the general answer leans more towards no.
While there are some minor aftermarket components that you can cheap out on, you and not notice a difference if you were to opt for the more expensive component.
With coilovers, you can’t gamble with cheaper ones. They are a part worth investing in.
Godspeed coilovers are cheap, but they’re not the absolute cheapest on the market like JDMSPEED or D2 Racing, for instance. Still, they undercut most high-quality coilovers by a good amount.
If you’re building up a Craigslist jalopy, then sure, you’ll get by with Godspeed coilovers. But, if you plan to use your car for serious driving or track driving, you might want to look elsewhere.
While Godspeed coilovers offer a year-long warranty, they’re not fully rebuildable, and for that price, you shouldn’t expect the highest quality.
For anything else except a beater car, it’s worth investing in a quality set of coilovers. BC Racing, Tein, and Ksport fit that area of the market very well.
Concluding Thoughts
Godspeed coilovers are relatively unknown in the world of suspension components, and they neatly fall into the budget category.
At first glance, they look pretty good, and they’ll get the job done for a budget build or a Craigslist junker that doesn’t need to be a top performer.
However, if you’re looking for a high-quality set of coilovers that can improve handling drastically and stay reliable, Godspeed coilovers probably won’t cut it, and you should look elsewhere.
Have you used Godspeed coilovers before? Let us know your experience by leaving a comment below!