I own a 94 civic coupe. Right now, I have some very crappy dropzone springs in the front, bringing it down 2.5 inches. The back springs are stock along with all the struts. I want to lower the car and stiff up the suspension; however, there are thing that i dont want. First, I dont like the ride that coil overs give, so I am shooting away from a set of those. I dont want to drop the car a lot, only about 1.5 inches, and more in the front than the back. What springs are suitable to my expoections? I am looking rs-r springs and those are the best I can find that would suit my needs. Are their any other springs worth looking into besides rs-r?

 

H&R, eibach...

 

TEIN springs and kyb struts. 1.8 drop front and 1.7 drop rear. Looks great on my civic and rides good too. Another option is neuspeed softsport and koni struts. That was great on my integra. I had coil overs on my CRX and it rode like a brick. I will never buy coil overs agian.


"There are a lot of gangs here. They wanted me to join because of my skills with a bow staff." Good movie

 

I am really looking at some rs-r's at the moment. They are 1.3 drop in the front, and 1 inch in the back. My second decision is a set of Nuespeed springs, but I dont think they are a reputable as Rs-R.

 

I put Tanabe's GF210 on my hatch and it lower it ~ 1.5" all around..perfect in my opinion. Nice and stiff but not tooo stiff.

 

you have never ridden in a car with a good set of coilovers if you dont like the way it rides.

a PORPER set of coilovers will provide a stiffer suspension but not sacrifice travel making the car bumpy.

 

Go Tokico all the way (springs/struts), they seem to work pretty nice on my hatch (1.5" drop).

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kamin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you have never ridden in a car with a good set of coilovers if you dont like the way it rides.

a PORPER set of coilovers will provide a stiffer suspension but not sacrifice travel making the car bumpy. </TD></TR></TABLE>

There is no comaprisson between springs and coil overs. Coil overs, because they are adjustable, do not have the dampening feature of a spring. In other words, the spring has less room to travel, and it must be compensated by tighter springs. The coilover system creates poor performance for every day driving. I prefer springs over coil overs any day.

Oh, d16rice... that is the funnies F$%^# avatar ever! Is that your car?

 

Ha, ha , no, a friend in Europe, but haven’t driven my car in a while, I feel like it might as well be nine .

I’m also for springs.
My first setup was adjustable coilovers and although it looked sweet, the ride quality was horrible (like no shocks at all). I did like it though for a fact that I could have it lowered in the summer and raise it back up in the winter.

I currently have lowering springs and gas struts. It feels much MUCH better now.
I would NOT go back to coilovers.

 

Edit: somehow this posted before I was done typing; see below




Modified by EX_AutoXer at 4:08 AM 3/24/2005

 

Non the less, coilovers produce a lot rougher ride than lowering springs.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by d16rice &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Non the less, coilovers produce a lot rougher ride than lowering springs. </TD></TR></TABLE>

hahaha...wrong. Any bad combination of spring/coilover/strut set up can lead to a rough ride.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jwbetley &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There is no comaprisson between springs and coil overs. Coil overs, because they are adjustable, do not have the dampening feature of a spring. In other words, the spring has less room to travel, and it must be compensated by tighter springs. The coilover system creates poor performance for every day driving. I prefer springs over coil overs any day.

Oh, d16rice... that is the funnies F$%^# avatar ever! Is that your car?</TD></TR></TABLE>
haha sorry dude
shocks dampen, not springs.

and like i said, if you get a GOOD coilover system you do not change the overall travel of the car so your ride isnt decreased if you choose to run a softer spring, it just so happens most people buy coilovers for performance therefore they have a significantly stiffer spring than stock. you really should research this stuff before you go spouting off with no proof.

but who am i, what do i know. im just some random person on the internet who has no racing or performance background whatsoever.

 

You're confusing damping effects, spring function, suspension travel and springrates.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jwbetley &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Coil overs, because they are adjustable, do not have the dampening feature of a spring. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Dampening is performed by the shock, not the spring. The actual term for shocks / struts is a damper; shocks and struts are types of dampers. Springs only transfer energy of a bump or road regularity. A spring would continue to oscilate with an energy input, which is why you have a damper, to dissipate the energy and stop a spring from oscilating after the initial rebound.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jwbetley &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
In other words, the spring has less room to travel, and it must be compensated by tighter springs. </TD></TR></TABLE>

For a 'lowering' coilover, this is true. But this is also true for a drop or lowering spring as well; you're making sweeping generalities. To compensate for a low drop, wether it be spring or coilover, you have to have very high spring rates to keep from bottoming out. This also requires very high performance shocks to compensate for that high spring rate, which no over the shelf shocks are designed to handle (drop or springrate). All of this leads to a crappy ride. Your suspension components need to work together.

eBay, cheap, lowering, drop, or sleeved coilovers do indeed suck. A 'true' coilover such as GC, will give you much better performance than anything else out there. You can adjust the height from stock to whatever suits your needs, get rid of the honda lean (weight bias on the drivers side causes that side to be lower with just springs) and you can select whatever spring rate you want to create a suspension taylored to your needs.

Of course, you can have a good suspension set up with springs as well, but as long as you select your components carefully so that they work together, you can get what you're looking for.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jwbetley &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
The coilover system creates poor performance for every day driving. I prefer springs over coil overs any day.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Like I said before, your ride is based upon spring rates and dampers that can handle those rates; not wether they're adjustable for ride height or not. GC coilovers actually use Eibach springs, the same you'd find in the pro-kit or sportline spring kits.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kamin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">haha sorry dude
shocks dampen, not springs.

and like i said, if you get a GOOD coilover system you do not change the overall travel of the car so your ride isnt decreased if you choose to run a softer spring, it just so happens most people buy coilovers for performance therefore they have a significantly stiffer spring than stock. you really should research this stuff before you go spouting off with no proof. </TD></TR></TABLE>

alrite I totally agree with this doode here.. if ur not too worried about pricing wise go for some TEIN SUPER STREET COILS / DAMPERS

-ride height adjustable
-16 damping force adjustment (compression & rebound together)

if anything i got the basics.. works like a dream...

 

[QUOTE=Jwbetley]
The coilover system creates poor performance for every day driving. I prefer springs over coil overs any day.

[\QUOTE]

So you don't like the stock suspension you car came with?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kamin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> you really should research this stuff before you go spouting off with no proof.

but who am i, what do i know. im just some random person on the internet who has no racing or performance background whatsoever. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I guess your right... with 7381 posts, you should be

Im just going to use my stock struts in the mean time. I think that springs shouls come before shocks, but what do i know, im poor.

 

Listen to Kamin. However post count, or age, or time of joining means nothing. Look how young the mods are.

If you're keeping your stock struts for the time being I'd recommend some H&R sport springs. The drop is 1.8F 1.6R and you do not sacrifice ride quality.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jwbetley &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I guess your right... with 7381 posts, you should be

Im just going to use my stock struts in the mean time. I think that springs shouls come before shocks, but what do i know, im poor.</TD></TR></TABLE>
yea cause intelligence is directly related to postcount you win that argument.

 

i know

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kamin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
yea cause intelligence is directly related to postcount you win that argument. </TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jwbetley &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i know</TD></TR></TABLE>

Kamin you care to much lol. Ill admit Ive been sucked into my fair share of d.a.p.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RangerDan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Kamin you care to much lol. Ill admit Ive been sucked into my fair share of d.a.p. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Agreed. I too stoop my maturity to a point disproportional to my age. I appologize. I appreciate your input and do value your intellect. I am self-taught when it comes to any aspect of suspension. All my judgements are made through personal experience of my cars performance. By damperage, i was leaning more torwards the feeling of the tension increase as the car dips the strut around a bend. I probably misused it's meaning, and that only proves my ignorance. But that's why im here, to learn.

 

I have neuspeed race springs and I love the feel... very stiff.. but it's a bit rough when I hit a big bump. I live in FL so the bumps arent too bad, but in CT there are a lot of potholes.. so I wouldnt recommend them. Atleast not the race springs.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RangerDan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Kamin you care to much lol.</TD></TR></TABLE>
one of my flaws, what can i say.

 

Jwbetley...
hey man no prob lol. Thats the one true bitch of the internet...when people "talk" it sounds so damn cut and dry.

There is a really good sticky in the r/race autocross forum btw. This proved invaluable to me on my hunt for proper springs/rates etc.