i bought my car with busted koni yellows and i think obx coilovers. i was just wondering if i should buy a brand new set.

my car has busted front shocks and it rides fine on flat surfaces but when i drive it through pot holes or dips its like the whole car is going to fall apart.

how would you rate it in a general sence. im planning on doing a 1.5" to 2" drop

ONLY RATE IF YOU HAVE OFF THE SHELF SPRING RATES NOT CUSTOM.

1 meaning not comfortable and 10 meaning really comfortble for daily driving.



Modified by jlh22179tx at 4:38 AM 10/30/2006

 

Everyone is going to be different with higher/lower spring rates.

 

I went for 7, as it's not quite as comfortable as stock, then again I"m running 425F/350R so it shouldn't be. But it's suprisingly comfortable for as well as it handles.

 

Exactly. I have 450 and 500lb springs. No the ride is not smooth.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dvp &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Exactly. I have 450 and 500lb springs. No the ride is not smooth. </TD></TR></TABLE>
I will second that!

I have 450 front and 600 rear..

and there are a few bumps in the road that send my head into the sunroof!

My girlfriend refuses to ride in my civic... it "makes her sick"....

 

380 front 430 rear i feel like a bobble head in bumpy roads but its not too bad.
rides pretty good imo.

 

GC 400F/250R, -2.5" ride height, 205/40/16 tires, GSR sway-bars: Car rides great on the street. But as my wife gets further along in her pregnancy, she complains more & more because her ***** are getting bigger. Just something to keep in mind if you like having women with big ***** in your car...

Ride quality is more a function of spring rate than damping rate. The "off the shelf" GC spring rates are even softer than what I have, so I'm sure you would be very happy with them once paired with Koni sports...

 

450/400 in my old S2000. Car rode fine (to me).

400/350 in my EK. Car rides fine (to me).



I don't want my cars to ride like a Cadlillac.

 

Even the shelf rates are different depending on the car.

 

Adjust your ride height and tune the shock.

 

I choose 1 because in my ef with a B swap the ots with yellows make my pan really low. I have the GCs set at the highest setting in the front and my guess is the extra weight from the swap and the lower sitting pan make it it way too low. I had to replace one pan and my current one is scraped all to hell. I hit my pan on speed bumps before my tires even touch the bump. I have to drive extra slow because the car sits so low; and it handles like crap.
I'm getting ready to get some different springs that will hopefully significantly raise my car and give me some worthwhile handling, so from my experience ots suck with any extra weight.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 89EF_Sleeper Si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I choose 1 because in my ef with a B swap the ots with yellows make my pan really low. I have the GCs set at the highest setting in the front and my guess is the extra weight from the swap and the lower sitting pan make it it way too low. I had to replace one pan and my current one is scraped all to hell. I hit my pan on speed bumps before my tires even touch the bump. I have to drive extra slow because the car sits so low; and it handles like crap.
I'm getting ready to get some different springs that will hopefully significantly raise my car and give me some worthwhile handling, so from my experience ots suck with any extra weight. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Um, so preload them a little to get up higher. Remove any extended top hat you have, as they limit ride height. Undo the "shock shaft further into the fork" trick if you used it, as that also limits ride height. Alternatives also include adding a spacer between the upper mount and the chassis.

Remember, the EF was a rather low car to begin with, and if you are capable of hitting the oil pan before the tire touches the speedbump, regardless of the ride height, it seems to me that the engine is not correctly positioned in the engine bay. However, I've never swapped an EF, so that might be normal to have the pan hanging out the bottom.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TunerN00b &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Um, so preload them a little to get up higher. Remove any extended top hat you have, as they limit ride height. Undo the "shock shaft further into the fork" trick if you used it, as that also limits ride height. Alternatives also include adding a spacer between the upper mount and the chassis.

Remember, the EF was a rather low car to begin with, and if you are capable of hitting the oil pan before the tire touches the speedbump, regardless of the ride height, it seems to me that the engine is not correctly positioned in the engine bay. However, I've never swapped an EF, so that might be normal to have the pan hanging out the bottom.</TD></TR></TABLE>

"um" maybe you shouldn't be so condescending. The ef may be a low car but most people can safely drive their cars so I think that would indicate that I have a problem! My springs are preloaded and I had the "shock shaft further into the fork" trick for less than a day because my upper control arms were slamming into the chasis. When I said my GCs were as high as they go I meant it. The gc's are at the top thread, they can not go any higher. The only thing that I could do is raise the ring on the yellows to the higher than stock ring, but that would just make it so that I could preload the springs even more and I don't want to over do it. It is possible that the mounts aren't the best as they are no name but with stock suspension the pan placement was fine. Plus the handling sucks plain and simple so I don't see how any of your suggestions would fix that.

 

I'm riding on spss3 valved regular length konis, full length GC sleeves (full length sleeves allow plenty of adjustment up or down, they are no longer made however), 8" springs (right now its 400f and 375r soon to be 450f and 500r) and top hats all around to limit droop, about a 2 finger gap up front (maybe like 5-3/4" at the jack points?), 1.25 gap in the rear, and the shocks 1/2 turn from full soft, very comfy, very solid. All new rubber bushings made a difference too especially the rear trailing arm bushing. Oh I have a itr sway in the rear too.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 89EF_Sleeper Si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

"um" maybe you shouldn't be so condescending. The ef may be a low car but most people can safely drive their cars so I think that would indicate that I have a problem! My springs are preloaded and I had the "shock shaft further into the fork" trick for less than a day because my upper control arms were slamming into the chasis. When I said my GCs were as high as they go I meant it. The gc's are at the top thread, they can not go any higher. The only thing that I could do is raise the ring on the yellows to the higher than stock ring, but that would just make it so that I could preload the springs even more and I don't want to over do it. It is possible that the mounts aren't the best as they are no name but with stock suspension the pan placement was fine. Plus the handling sucks plain and simple so I don't see how any of your suggestions would fix that.</TD></TR></TABLE>

the weight difference from a b to d isn't that great, it would be like having a large passenger in the car.

I would say your mounts suck, and placed the motor lower. wouldn't be the first time i have seen this.

Are you sure you have the springs right front to back, and you have the right perchs in the front and not swaped?

 

The additional 60lbs of the B motor atop TWO 300+lbs/in springs is not going to make much of a difference in ride height. It would take an additional 600lbs to compress the two springs an additional inch. That extra 1 inch of spring compression would roughly equate to 1.4" out at the wheels. Since the motor is 1/10 of that weight, your probably only getting .14" of extra drop.

The OTS ground control kit can go anywhere from 0" to 3" lowered. If you cannot get to 0" without pre-loading your springs, you should check to make sure you received the correct springs with your GC kit (it wouldn't be the first time they were wrong)...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 94eg! &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The additional 60lbs of the B motor atop TWO 300+lbs/in springs is not going to make much of a difference in ride height. It would take an additional 600lbs to compress the two springs an additional inch. That extra 1 inch of spring compression would roughly equate to 1.4" out at the wheels. Since the motor is 1/10 of that weight, your probably only getting .14" of extra drop.

The OTS ground control kit can go anywhere from 0" to 3" lowered. If you cannot get to 0" without pre-loading your springs, you should check to make sure you received the correct springs with your GC kit (it wouldn't be the first time they were wrong)...</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'll double check my springs I think they are 300 something front and 200 something rear. Even though it is of no consequence to my problem I thought that a B16 weighed 150lbs more than a d16a6 not only 60lbs. I also thought that the ride height on GCs was 1" drop to 4" drop. But whatever the case there is clearly something something wrong with my setup considering your explanation of how weight effects the springs. I'm gonna go check everything out!

 

3

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 89EF_Sleeper Si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I'll double check my springs I think they are 300 something front and 200 something rear. Even though it is of no consequence to my problem I thought that a B16 weighed 150lbs more than a d16a6 not only 60lbs. I also thought that the ride height on GCs was 1" drop to 4" drop. But whatever the case there is clearly something something wrong with my setup considering your explanation of how weight effects the springs. I'm gonna go check everything out!</TD></TR></TABLE>

What I was getting at is that it is possible that your kit included springs of the wrong "length". If the springs are too short, it won't matter how stiff they are, as you will never be able to reach stock height. You may want to get the printed numbers off the springs & give Ground Control a call about it. Can't hurt to double check things with the manufacturer...

 

Oh length I guess I'm retarded thanks I'll do that. By the way how does length effect ride height when the springs are raised enough to be preloaded? Does a longer spring change the amount of compression that occurs, as in the shorter spring will compress more than the longer spring of the same spring rate?

 

Hmmm, thats a really good question. Do you perhaps have the Neuspeed version of the Koni sport shocks? If so, they have a droop limiter inside them that prevents the shock from extending all the way. This will cause your springs to preload at a much lower ride height than a standard koni sport shock... Just a thought...