Hi All,

I'm a handy hobby mechanic, but don't know anything about suspensions.

I recently got a Japanese Spec 94 Prelude 2.2 Si, all stock (no mods whatsoever). I'm very dissapointed with the stiffness of the ride and the amount of road noise. I'm used to the ride of large luxury cars like my Volvo S80. The Honda is extremely noisy (road/tire noise) and very bumpy/hard by comparison. I really love the car but I can't stand the uncomfortable and noisy ride. I do NOT race. I do NOT need performance handling/cornering. Can anyone please tell me what to change (springs/shocks?) and where to get them? Anything to make the ride more like that of a luxury car (smooth, soft, and very quiet). I don't mind sacrificing some handling ability, so long as it remains reasonable. And I would like to keep the ride height as close to original as possible.

Also any tips on extra sound damping I can add to the interior/engine compartment/hood and where to get it.

Thanks in advance...

 

As for shocks/dampers, the new Koni FSD would be great if they were availible for your car. Otherwise the Koni Special 'Red' shocks would make an ideal stock replacement.

Keep your springs the same. But do freshen up all your rubber bushings with new OE rubber ones.

Tires will have a huge effect on transmitted road noise and ride comfort. I'd reccomend touring tires over performance all seasons, something like bridgestone turanza ls are a great quiet and 'cushy' tire. There are some performance all seasons out there that have quite a nice ride and noise comfort.

Its going to be tough if not at all possible to make the ride of a Honda, especially their prelude, to match the ride of say a Lexus or Cadillac.

 

As far as quieting the ride, add some roll-on or spray on damper material to the front doors (any bulk car audio stuff will suffice, you dont need to go with Dynamat unless you can get it at a great price), they are minimally insulated compared to other parts of the car.

 

Thanks Chris.

The Koni catalogue only shows the Sport line available for Honda Prelude. So I'm looking at the touring class Bilstein shocks. Or Monroe (SENSA-TRAC) or Gabriel. These were the only makes I've been able to find that have normal (non sports) shocks for my car. Are all of these OK ?

And with "OE" did you mean "original equipment" ? - Thanks.

 

I'd choose the bilsteins over the monroe and gabriel. The touring from bilstein will have similar characteristics to stock shocks, but not nearly as sporty as their HD line, and not as much as the Koni Sport 'yellow.' The damper curve on the Koni yellows at the softest setting is still better than even stock shocks, when I say better its more controlled at low speed but that may come off as too harsh on rebound for what you are looking for.

OE--original equipment. Yup. You can go to the dealer for this, but i havent had any issues with aftermarket stuff from major warehouses, i've had best luck with Moog chassis parts, as well as any Meyle products used for hondas.

 

Thanks.

 

sounds like you have no reason to use anything other than stock springs.

you just need a fresh set of dampers. however, i would get something of quality. i really dont know anything about monroe or gabriel, other than theyre pretty generic.

and i wouldnt shy from getting an adjustable shock. that way you can set it at whatever (soft) setting you want, and forget it. itll be better than paying less and not getting exactly what you want.

and what shock do I recommend??? tokico illuminas! (i know, shocking to everyone who knows me)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...ZWDVW
cant ask for a better deal!

also, as for sound deadening, i heard the paint on stuff like edead and quietcar works REALLY well. just one gallon (or whatever unit quantity they sell) is good enough for 3 coats of the floor. and the results are great.

 

I had considered adjustable shocks. But since they are sport performance equipment, I thought they will probably be as hard or even harder than the stock shock even on their softest setting. Is that right ?

 

thats kind of the wrong way of looking at it. stiffness is really a spring issue. and if youre using stock springs, its not as much of an issue. shocks provide control to the suspension. you can "over control" it by over damped shocks and get what you would call "stiff", but i would expect an adjustable shock to still provide proper control to stock springs.

tokico's range is pretty wide. you can tell the difference in each setting. at the lowest setting, youll feel like a "cadillac", whatever that means anymore. they also provide adjustment in compression and rebound damping simultaneously and relatively. others, like koni, only adjust rebound damping. compression remains the same as a matter of principle and philosophy, no matter the change in spring or wheel weight.

my experience with tokicos were still pretty good at controlling the 450lbs rear springs i had before. even used them with 900 lbs springs, but at such high spring rates, the suspension isnt moving much. i continue to use the same set (yes the same set of shocks) with stock springs and enjoy my soft, but controlled ride. right where i want it to be.

point is: youll get more of what you want with adjustable shocks, at least ill vouch for illuminas.



Modified by Tyson at 5:23 PM 10/26/2006

 

I needed to know that. Thanks for the advice.