just curious... how come everybody is changing their suspension? i have 100k on my del sol and the ride is still nice. nothing modified yet... but i'm planning to get me some H&R RACE springs. i'm not a real suspension person... need a little guidence.

 

when they're in good shape there's nothing wrong with them for the job they're supposed to serve. Stock suspension is going to be tuned toward ride quality more than anything else for the majority of vehicles on the road. Once you start looking for better handling, they become a weak point. When people add springs that have a higher rate (like you're considering), the stock shocks can't handle the stiffer springs. That causes the ride to suffer, handling to suffer, and the shocks to blow and just make it worse.

 

ah ha...i c i c. well, i've been riding on Suspension Technique springs on my accord for about 100k miles on stock shocks... nothing seems/feels different. will i know if my shocks are blown?

 

It depends on the drop of the springs and their spring rates. I have ridden on Tein S-Tech springs on my stock struts and they rode fine and smooth like stock because their spring rates are almost as low as stock spring rates and the drop is minimal. Now I have Ground Control coilovers and I've lowered the car more. The spring rates are higher than the Tein S-Tech's and with stock struts the ride is pretty harsh. I ordered some KYB AGX struts and they should come by the end of the week or early next week. I believe H&R race springs have pretty high spring rates and will definitely ride not very good on stock struts. I recommend researching more and finding the perfect spring/coilover and strut combo for your needs.

 

everything i think about isn't in the search threads...haha. i'm just going to run my h&r race on my stock shocks. if they go... o well, which i hope the don't. more the reason to buy new 1's

 

I've been on Eibach Sportlines with stock shocks for several years now. Sure the car doesn't handle around corners like it's on rails, but it still does fairly nice. I can still manage to lose a lot of cars in the twisties.

 

they will blow. I ran them on my del sol a few years ago. Put them on the stock shocks for a little while to see if I liked the drop and rates. First shock blew in about 3 weeks. 2nd & 3rd a couple weeks later. Took 'em off when I got my Konis and gave them to a friend who also ran them on stock shocks. Don't know how long it took but 6 months later when we took them off, all of his shocks were blown

 

wow... i was hoping for about 6 months.

 

well, your mileage may vary. Both of us drive hard. Your stock shocks may be in better shape than ours were, etc. Regardless, even if the shocks are in good shape, they won't be able to handle the high rates of the race springs. H&R Race have one of the highest rates of any off the shelf spring. So, your handling will be better than stock but not nearly as good as it would if they were paired with a good set of shocks and your ride will be significantly worse than stock (and again, worse than with a good pair of shocks).

 

I put about 45,000 miles on my stock shocks after I lowerd my car 3" (GC 400/250). When I switched them out for koni yellows, the ride was still pretty nice. Also, the stockers were still much stiffer than the yellows on full soft. I found that to be pretty interesting...

 

so ... i'm guessing you're saying i'll be ok on stocks. ?

 

Uh, from experience, yeah...