WamWow

So i am considering on lowering my 97 Accord Ex. I have looked at coilovers and boy they are not cheap. This is a gorgeous car but one that im most likely not going to care much for. It has 205k on it and its just my dd for summer. I am honestly just trying to do something to make it look a little better. I had a buddy say something about cut one section of the stock spring and that will lower it but im wondering how terrible of an idea does that sound? Doesnt seem like the smart move but im on a tight budget here. Also if i lower it could i fit 17x7s on it or should i do 16x6.5?

Aradin

Do not cut springs. Period. That is a really, really, really, really, really stupid idea. Your car becomes a danger to yourself and everyone else on the road. If you're not going to modify it the correct way, don't modify it at all. If your budget is that tight you shouldn't be modifying cars. It's definitely not for people with minimal disposable income. If you can't afford to spend money on it to modify it correctly, you can be sure you won't be able to spend money to repair it when a crap hack job fails.

There are cheaper correct ways to lower the car but either way you're going to be into it a few hundred, not including the 4 wheel alignment and labor if you can't do it yourself. There is an FAQ in the 90-02 Accord section that covers all of this.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

What is "expensive"? There's solid options for around $600-800.

WamWow

My entire budget for doing things to the car is 1,400. I can do almost all the work myself. I have the time and a garage to do it in so thats no problem. I have a 93 jeep xj and ive done all the work on that myself and it has 3k of aftermarket modifications on it. I am just new to the car scene. Wheeling is a whole different story. But I am looking for rims, and lowering the car plus some decent summer tires and a short arm cold air intake, headlights, and possibly replace steering wheel but thats not as important as ill only be driving this to work and around town in summer/early fall. But thats exactly why i asked here first because lifting a jeep is far different from lowering a car.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

Yes, from what I'm told, your dollar generally goes further buying stuff for wheeling.

You can always buy a decent suspension setup and then buy a used set of wheels/tyres from the marketplace or craigslist and stay around $1400.

I think the least you'll be able to spend on a decent set of coilovers is around $600 for Tein Street Advance. Plan to run a conservative ride height (don't lower the car a whole lot - follow the height recommendations in the manual). I've bought a few sets for a few different cars from thmotorsports.com, who is a sponsor of the site.

Aradin

^^ this. It's going to be really hard to do all that while on a $1400 budget. New wheels and tires are gonna run $1k+ alone. I second the used wheel/tire thing or you could just wrap your stock wheels in some good rubber. You can get a decent set of one piece coilovers for $550-600. Function & Form Type 1s are around $600 iirc and are generally well reviewed. The Teins mentioned above are an option as well. Another thing to consider is the front spring rate. The V6 has more weight in the front so you may want something a little bit stiffer to cope with that. Most manufacturers, at least for lowering springs, carry two different variants. One for the I4 and the other for the V6. The only difference being the V6 has a slightly stiffer spring rate in the front.

May want to rethink the hot air intake, aka short ram. Nothing but a waste of money. You'll get more power from a good drop-in filter like a K&N. All the short ram will do is create more noise and suck in hot air from the engine bay. A true cold air will make a few horsepower but then you have to worry about sucking in water during heavy rain if you don't buy a bypass valve.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

^I will give F&F type 1 and type 2 a pretty bad review. The type 2's weren't appalingly bad (I'd still take a very hard pass on buying a set). But the Type 1's were effing terrible.

WamWow

I will certainly look into doing that. I also help out at a local junk yard where my fiances grandma owns it. I can get wheels pretty darn cheap but no discount rubber. I will look into getting a deal for that so i could save a little and buy the coilovers. Now of course the 1400 is the for now budget as thats just my tax return. As the days go on i can put some money away to get certain things. I seriously appreciate the help. With lowering the car im going to try to find some 16x6.5 just to be safe when lowering so i dont run into any unforeseen issues
I will consider the different type of variant when looking just so i get the correct one. Didnt know there were different ones so that helps alot. I can possibly get some wheels cheap but rubber is the most expensive. Is there a certain brand i should stray away form with budget in mind? Or do you have a go to tire? I will forget about the short ram intake. I will certainly drop in a K&N air filter as i already know from the past they are worth every penny in my opinion. But the coilovers atleast the type 1s arent that great? So i will lean towards teins because of the suggestions. Looked at teins and sadly all they have is the 4 door 4cylinder ones might have to look elsewhere

Aradin

F&F Type 1s used to be the "go to" coilover years ago. That seems to have changed in the past few years as more options have become available. I haven't had to shop for suspension parts for my CD5 in nearly a decade now so I may not be completely up-to-date on that kind of stuff. It seems there are a lot of options out there nowadays. If the Teins are better and the same price, by all means go that route instead. You can call Tein and they should be able to help you. More than likely they can make you a set with a slightly uprated front spring rate to compensate for the extra weight the V6 has for little difference in cost. Or if they're stiff enough already it may not be an issue. You can always go with Koni yellows and custom spring rate Ground Control coilovers if you have trouble finding a one-piece style that fits you. I know you can custom order sets of Ground Control coilovers with whatever specs you want. I'm sure if you call they can sort you out. Supposedly the Koni Yellow/Ground Control setup is one of the best there is as far as ride quality and performance.

As for tires, you're gonna get a lot of different information and opinions there. Personally I've used nothing but Kumho tires on my Accord since I got it 11 years ago. Currently I'm running their 4X II All Seasons in 235/45/17 and I'm extremely satisfied with them. They hold the power I'm making with ease and do very well during backroad hooning. I have no issues in the rain, sleet, snow, or whatever else either. When I pick up a set of summer wheels/tires I will be running their V720 extreme performance summer tire. All I'll say is that you get what you pay for with tires.

WamWow

I think i recall years ago a friend telling me about the type1s but i wasnt into the car thing at the time so i didnt listen but i think he said they were pretty decent for price. Could be wrong though. Now of course this is only my summer/fall dd until most likely next year or the following year when i get something different but i am hoping this will help gain interest in the car because i dont think too many people car about an older car like this. But i most likely will go with the f1s and worse to worse if i dont like them i sell them and get something different.
As for tires, i am fully aware of that. The same concept applies for offroad tires but for summer tires didnt know if it was the same or different. I will most certainly look at those tires and consider them without doubt because if i get a nice set of rims and tires ill probably just keep them if i sell the car.

jdmpowered

definitely do NOT cut the springs. they are engineered to accommodate certain loads and requires the entire spring to maintain those loads. If you cut you throw all of that out and will cause premature wear. Don't heat up a couple coils up to sag them either. Both of those are no good. Also you need to take into consideration how low you want the car depending on that will determine if you need adjustable ball joints or other suspension adjustment items. If you don't plan well you have the potential to destroy most of your suspension and burn tires up just for looks. It all adds up if you don't do it right

agree w/ Aradin short ram air intake... pointless

WamWow

Yes i am beyond the option of cutting the springs and or sagging them at all. I will do coilovers for sure just looking around for the right ones. Also i just want to go low enough to fit some 16s and make the car look more smooth. the current 15s look too small to me and just dont fill the wheel well as i want them to. So hoping some 16s will do the trick because if i lower it i dont think ill fit 17s like originally planned but thats no big deal.

jdmpowered

so you probably have 195/60R15 tires...(for reference the v6 models came w/ 205/60R15 just a wider tire) so if you dropped the car an inch or two stepped up an inch in rim size if you went w/ 205/50R16 or 205/55R16 i think you'd be ok. that keeps you in w/ similar diameters and widths. you could probably do the 17 running something like 205/45R17 or if you wanted more tread 215/50R16 or 215/45R17. I had 18s (oem was 16s) w/ a 215 series tires a couple inches of drop and i had to be mindful how i was turning in to places as i rubbed holes in the inter fenders.

My recommendations are w/ stock or near stock backspacing/wheel offset

Here's some info for you to look at:

https://tiresize.com/height-chart/
How to Read Tire Sizes | Goodyear Auto Service Center

WamWow

The downside with the turning issue is i live in an appartment complex and cant always make a wide turn same with my work. We often have semi's in the way forcing me to make a sharp turn into the business. But i am currently running the 205/60/15s and if i lower the car 1.5-2 inches with the coilovers ill buy should fit a 205/50R16 or even the 215s just for that slight added width. I think on cars a lower side wall is way more appealing to me. Id love to run a 17 but for the moment ill go with the safe bet and eventually grab a buddies pair of 17s down the road just to test fitment. Plus with the car lowered it should make the cars line alot smoother. I do plan to stick to complete stock offset and backspacing. At most i might have a more positive offset just to stick the wheel out a tad but nothing crazy. Those links will certainly help when i finally put the money down for some rims and tires.

jdmpowered

fair enough. yea i think you'll be fine. look into adjustable ball joints at a minimum as well once you drop it.

WamWow

I will certainly look into getting some adjustable ball joints. It might not be right away but if it is highly recommended ill make it a priority to get done. Thanks for the help! Any other help or input would be aweosme!

jdmpowered

i'm not forsure exactly how low you can go before oem adjustment won't cut it. so if alignment is out b/c there's no adjustment you will burn up tires (they wont wear evenly)

1996accordlx

If you're looking to drop 1.5-2in like you said, go with a set of Tein Street Basis, or Street Advance. They can safely drop you to what you want, are pretty cheap, and decent quality. Will ride great too....miles better than the other options in the same price range. Or, if you're willing to spend a bit more, go Koni/GC as was suggested. That extra bit of money will buy you a much higher quality setup, and lots more adjustability.

As far as camber kits go, if you have a mild drop, don't even spend money on them.....good ones aren't cheap. The cheap ones for Accords, especially the rear are downright dangerous because they are not the correct design, and often bend/snap. A proper rear camber kit from Ingalls or SPC is $200+. Fronts are a little cheaper....Ingalls anchor bolts are about $110 for the front. But like I said, its not really necessary. Get your suspension, let it settle for 2 weeks or so, then go get the car aligned and have the toe set to factory specs. You will have a little bit of camber, but as long as the toe is within parameters, you won't have any excessive wear. Just align the car every 6 months or so, or any time you mess with the suspension, and you will be fine. I've had a much of different wheel setups, ride heights, etc. and still don't run front camber kits. Only rears since I got them dirt cheap and use them to fit certain wheel specs to my liking.

And you can easily run 17s. The Accord can swallow a pretty wide wheel/tire setup if you do your math right. I've run 17x9s with 245/40 tires with some room left over. Lots of potential for a grippy wheel setup. Regardless of what size wheels you run, I highly recommend rolling the fenders. At least the fronts, if not the rears. The front bumpers have metal tabs on them that like to cut the tires up when turning. If you cut the tabs and roll the fenders, you can avoid that issue. You can also keep your fender liners with a bit of work. Mine ripped out long before I lowered the car, so that didn't matter to me. When lowered, if you keep the liners, it may rub occasionally on dips or bumps, but its just soft plastic and as long as you don't mind the occasional noise, don't worry about that. Or if you do, just rip them out. Most people do.

WamWow

I have decided over the weekend to go with the tein street basic just like you suggested i think for the price it will be the best in my budget. For the camber i have thought of doing it and would like to but its not a make or break thing for me. I do like the way it looks when cambered though. When i do lower the car i will give it a few weeks like suggested then get it aligned now i know some shops do it old school and some do it with computer and lasers any suggestion on what one to go with for best result?the realignment i can do just once a year because this car will only be my summer/fall driver so no problem there at all. But you say with 2inch of drop if i cut the tabs and roll the fenders i can fit 17x9s? Thats for sure correct? I dont want to buy some wheels that wont fit and try to sell them in my area. The fender liner is hit or miss ill see what needs to be done to it and will decide if its worth saving or not but no big deal there. And out of your opinion is there any website or wheel company that you suggest to go through for good rims? I have looked at konig doing a couple of theirs they run around 85-120 for new wheels from varying websites.

WamWow

I am looking around while at work for wheels and packages and what not found a website that doesnt seem terrible. Just wondering if they are reliable and if there are any wheel companies to stay away from? I am looking at discountedwheelwarehouse.com I like that they have tire and wheel packages so i can get them at discount. Anyone ever get anything from them or have any input for this?