Hi guys, over the holiday weekend I installed Road Magnet springs on my car.... About 1.5 years ago, I used to have CM springs. I liked the drop they provided, but the ride was terrible due to the soft spring rates. I decided to go back to a stockish ride height, and installed a low mileage set of SS/TC FE5 springs. The SS/TC springs handle/ride like a dream, but the wheel gap started to bug me again. So I started researching all the lowering & performance springs for our cars. After weeks of reading threads and comments about different springs, I limited my choices down to two. It was between YYZ springs and Road Magnet springs. The YYZ's just didnt give me the drop level I wanted, and the price wasnt in this years car parts budget. So Road Magnets it was. I contacted the company, and they turned out to be great people. They are a U.S. company, and only use U.S. materials. Their parent company has been designing/producing coil springs since 1907. The reviews I read on their springs for the Cobalt were all positive, and that sold me even more.... Here are some of the specs, along with a link to the thread about the test car used to design them.

- High Quality, high tensile chrome silicon spring wire
- Double shot-peen to reduce stress & fatigue
- Cylindrical design helps achieve consistent, accurate spring rates
- Durable powder coating
- Made in the USA with only USA sourced materials

Drop = 1.0" front, 1.5" rear
Spring rates = 310 front, 260 rear

https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/appe...springs-65894/

Below are some pictures of my car. Mind you I took the photos right after install, and didnt even drive with the new springs yet (roads are crappy here right now), so they will settle a tad. I will give a review once I get a nice clean day to put them through their paces.

On a side note, I don't want to hear I should have gone with this or that spring. I did a lot of research on springs, and these were my choice that best fit what I wanted. I'm not known for following the herd in terms of modifications....

Other suspension mods on my car:

SS/TC struts
Koni rear shocks
Powergrid endlinks
Moog cabs
Hardcore rear sway bar

 

Did you get their Ion springs? https://www.roadmagnet.com/products-by-make/chevy

They don't have a listing on their site for CSS springs... https://www.roadmagnet.com/products-by-make/chevy

 

No, I got their Cobalt springs.

Contact them personally. That's what I did.

 

Ah nice, thanks!

 

Welcome!

 

That looks really good.

What is your tire size?

In for updates on the ride quality and performance once settled.

I like the close up on the front and rear side view, do you have a pic of the whole car from the side?

 

Thats looks pretty much like yyzv2 wheel gap, but looks good none the less. Were these cheaper than the yyz? Sounds like a good alternative in between cheap lowering springs vs yyz springs.

 

My current tires are 225 45 18's, but they are being replaced in the spring.

I didnt snap a good full side shot. I'll get one for ya next time the car is out.

They are a tad lower than YYZ's (still need to settle a tad), but ur right they are a great in between spring.

Umm, they were $220 shipped. They are up to $250 shipped if you opt for a different powder coat color on the springs. I just went with the standard blue color.

 

Yea I think the yyzs are slightly higher in the rear. Not bad on price considering yyzs are $332 + shipping

 

I didn't know they made springs for our platform. My friend ran these on his CSRT-4 before he got his coilovers and had nothing but good things to say about them

 

Hows the ride and the spring rates compared to YYZ?

 

I didnt test them yet. My car is spotless and the roads are gross so I'm going to wait until they get a little cleaner after the snow melts.

I listed the springs rates for my Road Magnets, I think the springs rates for YYZ's are on CED's site.

From what I read, the ride is very good.

Yeah, all the reviews for a lot of other platforms seem to rave about the quality of these springs.

I must say just from installing them and working with them, the quality is def top notch.

They came in a nice package wrapped in plastic with some info sheets and a registration form.

They have a nice warranty as well.

My CM springs came in an unmarked box not even wrapped or packaged nice with no information at all about the springs.

 

interesting, i have never even heard of these things before.

in for the long term review.

 

CED says for the YYZ


FRONT:0.532” wire diameter (High Tensile Chrome Silicon spring wire), nominal 11.625” Free length. Variable rate 138/265#/in

REAR: 0.485” wire diameter (High Tensile Chrome Silicon spring wire), nominal 11.250” free length. Variable rate 105/325#/in

Trim height: compared to v1, drop additional 0.350-0.400”Front and 0.750” Rear

 

Car looks good.

 

How's your car handle with the rear Koni shocks? I thought about doing this but I'm so indecisive about this stuff.

 

one of my favorite LSJs ... clean as always

what size tire you going with next year? most people go 225-235/40... the 45s look beefy - they look good imo.

 

Handles great with them.

The Konis and the hardcore bar were the most noticeable changes in terms of handling thus far.

I cant wait to test the new springs out once the roads dry up a bit.

Thanks man!

I would like to stick with the 45s, but I had rubbing issues in the rear when I used to have CM springs. That was prob due to the soft spring rates. Offset of my wheel are +38.

I'll do some testing with these tires and if they dont seem to rub with the Road Magnets, I'll stick with 45's. I like the beefier looking tire.

Thank u sir!

 

How do the 45s affect handling?

 

Never had anything but 45's lol, but I would assume it may affect a little due to a slightly taller sidewall.

 

it really comes down to what you plan on doing with the car.

if you just cruise around town and the 45 will fit without hitting anything , then it will be a little more cushion for the ride.

If you plan to do any autox/track stuff then i say bump it down to a 40 and runn a narrower tire to reduce the roll over when cornering.


but in Stage's case, i think the 45 he is running will be more beneficial.

 

Nice info. Thanks man!

 

Spring Rate / Lowered Height: SS/TC vs. YYZ v5's vs. Road Magnet

GM SS/TC front: 154 lb/in linear
GM SS/TC rear: 160-228 lb/in variable

YYZ front: 138-265 lb/in variable
YYZ rear: 105-325 lb/in variable

Road Magnet front: 310 lb/in linear
Road Magnet rear: 260 lb/in linear


I'm guessing the amount of drop has something to do with the reasoning/design behind the rates so I don't think that can be a true apples to apples comparison.

From what I gather, the YYZ v5's drop the car approx. 13/16" front, 1" rear, so you are getting roughly .2" lower front and .5" lower rear with Road Magnet. Roughly.

Also I called Sean at Road Magnet to confirm that the spring rate for the front/rear that Staged07SS posted weren't reversed, he says it is posted correctly. I thought they were reversed comparing to SS/TC and YYZ's.

 

Also linear, maybe that's why

 

Those coils pictured are not linear. Note the varied wrap distance of the coils such that a few of the coils will stack at ride height this means they are a multi rate coil (initial spring rate is lower) If they were linear and around 300lbs/in they would compress only half or less actually vs a stock SS/TC front coil and at a 1" drop would be at least 3-4" shorter than a stock SS/TC coil. Also if correct those coils will ride rough with a linear rate that high. They use rates like that in 5500lb trucks.