Which companies make real coilover kits that are corrosion resistant? Zeal? Neuspeed? Apex? Tanabe? Tein? Someone with a real coil-over set up please respond. Thanks

 

I would take Tein off your list if you don't want rust.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...c/fdf5a398.jpg


[Modified by 89civicdx, 8:18 PM 2/1/2002]

 

I don't have them, but Progress makes a full coil-over kit. I hear they are good, but cost around $3000.

 

what kind of road conditions are you going to be facing. the reality is that high cost components to any suspension system or any system on a car really are subject to the extremes of nature. if you drive on salty roads it may be a good idea to either change out your expensive suspension for winter conditions or wash down your coilovers with fresh water so they don't have salt sitting on them for long periods of time. even here in florida rust happens if your car is subject to salt air. you have to wash everything every week or in about 10 years everything is going to end up rusted out. with all my cars i wash them atleast once a week on the exterior and then give them a thurough cleaning every two months. that's everything in the suspension and engine bay. i'm not talking about removing all the components from the car and steam cleaning it all, but taknig a wet rag and getting excess dirt or leaves out of operating parts is a good idea.
expecting an aftermarket part to stay in pristine working condition while subjected to extreme conditons is a bit foolish. i mean honestly would you expect to drive your motor on the original oil for 30 thousand miles and still keep that motor? no you clean the motor's internals everytime you change the oil. the same goes for the rest of your car. keep it clean and it'll last longer.


[Modified by 5gencivic, 5:08 AM 2/2/2002]

 

This depends on where you live. Cold climates with lots of snow and ice. I guess you could take it off your list but, then again all kits are going to rust eventualy, if not taken care of.(even the Zeal) Tein is a very good company and had great poducts. Yes, the HA is know to rust. but if you step up to the RA it is made out of aluminum. Which is lighter and less likley to rust. You just need to take proper care of what you have invested in. And now that Tein is in the US. its going to be a lot easyer for you to get things repaired if you own the kit.

As far as information on coilover, it aldepends on what kind of conditions you are gonig to use them for. Street, track, mostly street some track. It all depnds. And of course, how much $$$ your looking to spend.



[Modified by CR-X, 12:03 AM 2/2/2002]

 

The road conditions my car will face is dry during the summer, rain all winter (with the occasional icy roads with salt once in awhile). My car will be used more for street/ highway and rarely be on the track.

 

In that case you have many options. Lucky you.

First, take a minute or a while... and deside what kinda of money you want to spend on your suspention. Do you want all the niftly little features that a full coilover setup has to offer or would you be better off with a spring and shock combo. This first must be decided in order to move on to what kinda of product you want.

Since you say your car is rarely going to see track time then i honestly dont think you need the full coilover suspention. unless you realy want to spend the money and get one. But in either way, its your money and you buy what you want with it.

A suggestion that i could give is find somone that has what you are looking for and ride in it if you can. If not then ask as many questions about the setup they have as you can. That way you know what your about to get.

-look around
-ask ppl what they are riding on and
- what they think about it.
-what kind of set up do they have?
-is it rock hard or soft as a cady?
-how much did they spend?
-are they happy with their setup?
-does is suite the users intentions?
-How low have they gone?
-or how high?

These are just a few that i have thought off the top of my head. I would like to help you more but im not sure what the $$$ situations is. Do you care about price or is comfort more important. Or maybe a little of both. there is just so much out there and lots of it is great stuff.

 

I just noticed in your sig. that you already have the spring and shock combo. What do you think of it? Is it to stiff for daily driving? does it not go low enough? is it even adjustible? for hight?

 

My current spring and shock combo has been great for the past 2 and a half years I've had it. It's just low enough so that the ride is not too rough. The RS-R springs are not the race version but what they call RS-R "down" springs. They drop my civic close to 2". For some reason the front end does not drop as much as the back. Probably due to the front wheel well having a higher arc. But now I just want a change and have the ability to dump my car at shows to have a better looking stance and have the peace of mind that when winter comes , I can jack up the car and not worry about inadvertently scraping snow. Thanks for your advice, CR-X, I'll keep those options in mind.

 

Yes Tein makes a good product and yes the models above HA are rust resistant BUT the models above HA are also nearly $1000 more!

Sorry
mista b-one-seven but I could never justify spending that kind of cash on race suspension just for shows. A lot of people dish out the coin for Tein and Zeal and realize a month or two later that they have adjusted their race suspension once since they got it and never again going back and forth to the grocery store(or shows). Some of these full coilover suspensions come with options you just don't need for the street. If all you want is height adjustability just go with a koni coil over kit or ground control.Or if you are hard up on getting a full coilover that neuspeed/bilstein kit is pretty good.

 

i don't see the whole issue of buying a "Real coil-over system" if you aren't even racing. i mean, that's why you can buy ground controls and skunk2's. much cheaper and it will get the same effect you want. if you're not going to race, why bother wasting the money? just my suggestion..

 

I think they are worth the money if you can afford it of course. I have the Tanabe pro SS and I love them. I don't race but I do go up to the canyons often. It is also very comfortable on the streets. If you have the money, buy them. my .02

 

Its all about the Benjimens baby!

 

BTW, those Progress coilovers are around $1200-$1400 depending on who you get them from. Definately not $3000 though.

 

oops, you're right, I don't know what I was thinking when I typed that. I do know they are a good setup though. I checked them out a little when I was trying to decide on my supension.

 

I just pulled a set of Progress coilovers (drag setup) out of a freinds car tonght, and can attest that they have held up very well considering that here in IL we get salt on the roads in the winter, and have some of the worst roads around. He doesn't really drive his car in the winter that much though, so not a whole ton of abuse, but has seen snow. He payed right around 1200 for the set for his car. I like the quality of construction, and it looks as though they actually designed this kit for the 88-91 generation, as the later generations just come with spacers to make the shock fit on the lower bushing. Very nice quality shock body too, aluminium construction. I can't say that it's all I'm looking for, but very nice considering a relatively low cost for what you get.
For daily driving duty though, I would highly recommend Bilstein shocks. My freind has had them on his CRX since his family bought it about 8 or 9 years ago, and his car rides the best of any CRX around, and still is nicely agressive when it needs to be. And beleive me, he drives the car!!! I garuntee that his car is one of the fastest relatively stock CRX's in existence. It actually pins you in your seat into third gear!!! Anyways, I really recommend Bilstein for daily driving, I have had nothing but good experiences with them.

 

i don't know about where you live... but here in orlando most "shops" as they're called, don't know poo poo about suspension unless it's a grassroots place. i'm talking about a shop run by a person who runs auto cross or open track sessions every weekend he/she can. here they'll suggest a set of coilovers that run extremely high spring rates and a set of dampers (shocks/struts) that are way under rated for the spring. not to mention that any spring rate over a certain point is useless on a road car because the tire can't keep up with it. most shops tell you that one product is better than the other because it costs more. they come up with bull poo poo reasons for it being better to justify the cost.
what you should really do is get a copy of grassroots motor sports or some other grassroots mag and call a suspension place from the back of the mag. either that or go to a local auto cross and ask the fastest hondas there how long they've been running their set up and what setup they would run if they could do it all over again.
running the most expensive stuff won't get you a better suspension package or handling... it'll simply spend your money faster.

 

duh, they are just trying to get your money..

 

sorry, i thought the shop you went to were like the stupid shops around my house.