Ok i have a 99 civic 4 door, nothing special. Plans are to improve my handling on the car to make driving a little more fun. My budget is $1000 but before i go spending this money how rough is it going to make my car driving over bumps. The roads in nova scotia aren't all that great but i do want some improved handling but not completely sacrifice my comfort in the car. Is there any of you who live in a area where the roads suck but have some sort of coilover setup that works well in this environment??My plan was omni full coilovers sport, how would this setup work in an area that has semi bumpy roads. thanks guys

 

Ride quality is first a function of spring rate. choosing the correct rate for your personal tastes is a really good idea. With that said, the guys at Ground Control can put together a coil-over-sleeve kit with whatever spring rates they feel will fit your needs (they are good at it too). All other coil-over or coil-over-sleeve kits don't offer any real choices when it comes to spring rates. This is why I choose ground control (also the lifetime warranty).

Once you have the springs picked out, it is possible to fine tune the ride quality with adjustable shocks. A good adjustable shock will offer smooth comfort on one end, and stiff sport feel on the other. Koni sport (yellows) shocks are your best bet for a wide adjustment range. They can handle any spring rate that your going to want to throw at them, and they offer a lifetime warranty & top notch customer service.

All this for only $800 for the everything, and it will spank the pants off of any coil-over in it's price range. Also, if you do plan on going with a Koni/GC combo, make sure to order Ground Control sleeves that are specifically made for the Koni shocks. The sleeves are slightly different because of the adjustable spring perch Koni uses.

Also, if you plan on going really low (2 or more inches), invest in some GC extended upper mounts for your front shocks ($99). They add almost an inch of shock travel, and keep you from riding on the bump-stops...

And that should be all you need. Changing sway-bars, and other suspension parts are really only necessary if your racing since they fine tune the way the car breaks loose under hard cornering (unnecessary for street)...

And once your all done, get an alignment. Fixing your toe angle after lowering will help keep your tires from wearing prematurely (fixing camber is not so important).

 

I agree with everything he said...

I got the GC and KYB AGX set up with front extenders and I couldn't be happier with the the coilovers, and the only thing I would do is have more stiffness from the shocks, which if you got the Konis, that will be no prob.

Good luck,
A

 

Listen to 94eg! he knows what he's talking about. that is the setup I'll be running shortly. I've researched for like 6months and GC/KONI always comes out on top for the price range.

 

I am running the Ground Control/Koni Yellow's setup as well and am very very pleased with it. That being said do watch what spring rates you put on. My car is almost strictly a Autocross car but gets driven on the street every once in a while. But with just my 400 front 450 rear rates it will make you feel Queezy on our horrible streets we have in the city. Ground control/Koni's = good high spring rates = bad unless you have some perfect roads.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by wacrxguy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ground control/Koni's = good high spring rates = bad unless you have some perfect roads.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I think he meant "Ground control/Koni's PLUS good high spring rates = bad unless you have some perfect roads"...

 

oops sorry kep The ground control and Konis are good
The high spring rates are bad unless it is a purpose built car or you have some amazing roads

 

thanks guys