I'm considering buying some KYB AGX's and some H&R Sports, but I plan on attending a few autocross events this spring, so I want to know if anyone is using the Sports, and how they handle? I'd just go for the H&R Race's, but the drop seems VERY low, which may be out of the question where I live [much snow/potholes]. Thanks in advance.

 

I just bought the exact setup you are thinking about getting and I'm not going to lie to you, they are pretty soft. I've run them three times so far this autox season and there is still a bit of body roll. I'll also say that I'm still a beginner and for a person that still drives his car daily the sports are a nice spring on the street (not too stiff). If I was really going to be getting into the autox thing I would probably get some ground controls with stiffer springs later down the road but for now I'm fine with what I have.

 

Thanks for the input. I don't think I will be autocrossing too regularly, but would definently like to attend some events, so I still have a decision to make.

 

Ground Controls =

When I first started auto-x, I had both H&R sports & Eibach Pro-kit. Both are soft, progressive set-ups & did nothing more than lower the car.

The beauty of ground controls is that you can get custom springs for them (when you first order them or you can get them after, even used here in this forum)- that way you can change height & change ride quality/handling as you see fit...

 

Asking "how H&R Sports handle" is rather subjective. Each driver prefers different suspension set ups and springs are only a part of the vehicles handling.

I've autocrossed and tracked on H&R Sports on my STS prepped GSR for at least three years now. The springs are good, but certainly not the most competitive set up. It's a good compromise, though, if you drive the same car around 20K miles/year. Competition wise, I'm usually in the top 5 in a very competitive region, there's a lot more that could be done to the car (and me!) to make it faster.

If I were to do it all over again, but this time with the experience I have under my belt, I'd be going with much higher spring rates and better shocks. Since my focus has shifted to road racing though, reprepping the car for autocross just doesn't make any sense.

Since your just starting out, at least that's what I assume from your post, I'd suggest waiting. Get an entire season of seat time with the car as is. After that THEN start thinking about suspension. You'll find that your needs may be different after you have experience.

 

I had a very difficult time getting rotation in my car with H&R Sports and Tokico HPs: https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=241581. When I changed to stiffer GCs, I no longer had this problem. FWIW.

 

If you read GSpeedR's post about his push problem, you'll see that it can be overcome. I really don't have much of a problem with rotation. I do have a 22mm Rear Sway Bar as well. It's certainly a combination of tire pressures and driving style. When I switched a few years ago from running Yoko tires to Azenis, including a change in wheel size, it did require some testing/changes to get the oversteer back.

By going with higher spring rates, you don't have to worry about all this monkeying around, the car will be better set up. You will still need to spend time finding the optimum in tire pressures for your driving style, but the work may not be as tedious.

 

I ran H&R Sports with KYB AGXes for a while and liked it. It's a great setup for a car that is daily driven, and while it is a little soft for competition use, it's not horrible. I would compare it to the stock suspension of a more performance oriented car... the rates have a good front/rear balance and are not that much higher than stock Type-R rates.

I had decent results with that setup on the road course, but have since opted to upgrade since this isn't my daily driver and it's becoming more of a dedicated race car. I'm now running 425F/450F rates on Koni Yellows and it's a pretty big improvement, but it's nearing the limit of being streetable and I wouldn't want to drive it on the street every day.

 

I put a season in on H&R Sports with Tokico Illuminas, and had a 19mm rear sway bar.
Don't waste your money. If you need something with a good ride for the street, get 350/450 coilovers at least. I hated the fact that the springs were progressive, it made the car hard to predict at times. I just bought 450/550 skunk2 coilovers and am awaiting install of those plus my OEM TA bushings. I wouldn't waste your money on Ground Controls either, if you can find the rates you want with another company. I bought Skunk2 Coilovers plus ITR tophats for 150 shipped off of ebay. I don't see the need to buy 300 ground controls +100 or so for new tophats.

 

I never had a problem with them being progressive... They are only very slightly progressive, which absorbs small bumps, but they act normal for anything beyond that. I found them to be very predictable. This is for a 3rd gen Integra... I suppose other applications could be different.