oh so since I'm not using it it isn't calibrated correctly?

 

That's is correct.

 

oh well that's a pain. I think when I bought it the whole suspension was calibrated wrong. I may just have to restart with the suspension.ugh

 

That would be a smart move at this point. Keep it simple and keep your ride height drop an inch or less so you can maintain OEM alignment specs without the need for more parts.

 

Yes, and no. All off the shelf struts are valved to the manufacturing comapany's spec, and most companies will allow custom valving for a small extra charge for your application needs.

As for company to company, generally speaking, all entry level coilovers are valved the same. They all use a similar spring setup, and thanks to it being an adjustable strut in regards to dampening, you can tweak it to meet your needs. This is the whole point of coilovers vs. spring/strut combo, is that you have the freedom to adjust the dampening of the strut if you swap out spring setups in order to fine tune your system.

 

Add to that the rather significant point of being able to get the exact height you want (within the manufacturers recommended ranges). Many of the cheaper coilover options have a pretty limited range of what you can adjust to and still be able to live with it on the street, at least that's been my experience. My Megan LPs I'm adjusted just a bit under the halfway point on a 32 pt adjuster, About 14 clicks up from full soft. I found anything less was too reliant on the springs resulting in a floaty feeling, and more clicks was too harsh. The TEin Basis Z from all I've read are set up well for daily driving, probably just about how mine are set up. And several notches up the ladder, the KWV1 I'd imagine is set up in a similar fashion but better operation throughout the suspension cycle. If you do plan to track your car then yes, the adjustable dampers would be a necessity but there are at least a couple options for those that just want to adjust the height and drive

 

so the setup I have is fine? I should still have adjustability in the back right?

 

I really don't want to confuse the OP with a lot of tech talk. Many of the manufacturers pick specific spring rates for their G37 (or whatever car it may be) application and the valving is designed to control the spring's oscillation. If the spring rate is changed too far one way or the other on a linear damper, the damping characteristics are no longer optimal to that spring rate. Almost all of the entry level dampers are linear with a few being slightly digressive. The OP does not know what spring rate he currently has (it should be on the spring btw if it hasn't worn off with time). So he can't tell the manufacturer what spring rates he has now and they can't produce a damper to match that rate. At any rate (no pun intended), the damping adjustment has nothing to do with the ability to change spring rates and adjust damping accordingly.

Spring rates are all over the place depending on the manufacturer and which model shock you're looking at. Take Tein for instance, they offer several damper kits for the G and they all have different spring rates. Tanabe's rates are different for their various models and KW has progressive rates. Bilstein runs a different rate yet. Now many of the Korean/Chinese dampers use the same spring rate because they all come from the same two factories and are just rebranded. Personally, I'd avoid all of those brands. The Aragosta S-type on my car have different spring rates from their E-type or SS-type.

The adjustment ranges on dampers are rate of damping over shaft travel/time but the overall "force" is the same regardless of setting. If it wasn't the damper would top out and bottom out when on the "soft" setting. This is why changing spring rates on a linear damper has to be kept within a certain range. Now if you go with an ultra digressive piston, some of these dampers can handle a much larger spring rate change.

Regardless, the OP needs to get his baseline to "zero" and make sure he has a matched set of dampers and springs. And no offense the OP but I'd keep it as simple as possible as he doesn't know a lot about suspension and doesn't have a good shop to help him out (currently). Adjustable "coilovers" are great but if you don't know what you're doing, you can get it very, very wrong. To get the best out of the car's handling, one has to take into account other specs which affect suspension/handling performance and the car should be corner weighted and adjusted accordingly. The OP also doesn't intend to track the car and has to deal with rough, uneven roads and changing climate. I'd go with a twin tube under those conditions.

Here's an article the OP can read which explains a lot of the basics.
How A Coilover Works - Super Street Magazine

 

What brand would be a twin tube then?

 

Well various brands will make both mono and twin tube designs I don't know what your budget is but Tein makes several twin-tube designs for well under $1000, specifically the Flex Z and the Street Basis Z. They also make a monotube design the Mono Sport which is significantly more expensive.

The Korean and Taiwanese shocks are all monotube designs. That includes BC, K-Sport, Stance, Fortune, D2, Megan, Ark, etc...

KW makes a very nice twin tube setup, the Variant 1 (non adjustable dampers) and the Variant 3, (double adjustable). I think the RS-R Sport-i is a twin tube as is the Bilstein PSS10. All of the former are closer to $2K (or even higher for the KW V3) than $1K.

The Tein Street Basis Z is non-adjustable (you can adjust height but NOT the damping) where the Flex Z is adjustable for both height and damping (firmness). It's also EDFC compatible. The EDFC is an electronic controller that allows you to adjust damping from inside the car electronically with the push of a button. Has to be purchased separately.