Alright, here's what's up.

I don't know alot about cars at all, so I came here for guidance.

I drive a 96' Integra LS, and I want to buy a Coilover Kit I believe? All I want to do is be able to Lower/Raise it without any problem, & not have a crazy bumpy ride, because it'll be my daily driver. Lowering it won't be for racing, but for style mostly. I'm not sure what to get honestly, whether it be a 'Coilover Kit' or LCA's or Cambers, Idk much about any of that, I just read about them.

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread/1675839

I found these on here, but wasn't sure if they'd work, and how well they work. Any other advice of what I need, and/or pointing me in the right direction is highly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

Okay:

On your car, you don't need to worry much about camber. It doesn't gain much, and the camber you do gain will be good for handling purposes.

Height adjustment is a two way street. Even though you get to pick any height and change it at any time, you can't do it as often/easily as you think. The problem is that every time you change ride height, your alignment settings change with it (and bad toe settings eat tires). This means you technically need a new alignment every time you make an adjustment. If you don't know exactly what ride height you want, then I would say get the height adjustable sleeve kit like Ground Control (top quality). These are stiff enough to get you low, but soft enough to ride on the street all the time. Then you can take a couple weeks to change ride height around to find what think looks best, yet keeps you from scraping the car on places you normally drive. Then you can reset all your suspension bushings, go get your alignment and forget about it.

If you already know how much you want to lower the car, then just get a set of quality lowering springs (eibach, H&R, neuspeed) and leave it at that. During your install you can reset your bushings, and then go get an alignment.

How much do you want to lower?

 

I was planning on dropping it 1.5-2". Wasn't quite sure which though. I don't want to scrape alot, I just want it to look nice. I plan on sportin some 15 or 16" Rota Circuit 8's, and I wasn't sure if my drop would affect how large my rims can be, which i'm sure it does affect it. I just don't want a crazy bumpy ride.

 

coilovers are best, i agree with 94eg and get ground control, shocks koni bar none. Stay away from the fake stuff, like omni, megan, d2/k2 whatever the expletive, megan, etc etc,

gc/koni

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jahz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I was planning on dropping it 1.5-2". Wasn't quite sure which though. I don't want to scrape alot, I just want it to look nice. I plan on sportin some 15 or 16" Rota Circuit 8's, and I wasn't sure if my drop would affect how large my rims can be, which i'm sure it does affect it. I just don't want a crazy bumpy ride.</TD></TR></TABLE>

At -2" your not gonna have to worry much. Your ride height doesn't determine wheel size, it determines tire size. You can get away with a large 205/45/16 tire, but your speedometer will read incorrect unless you have a B series motor. If you have a D series motor, 205/40/16 will keep your speedometer accurate. It's a 4% difference, so you don't really have to worry about getting pulled over or anything. I'm lowered 2.5" on 205/40/16 (zero finger gap between tire & fender) w/ a B series, so I know my speedometer reads 4% higher than the speed I'm actually going.

Since you know your target ride height, your probably best of getting some regular lowering springs and good performance shocks. If your adventurous and want to try out something new, Skunk2's new shortened sport shocks can be had for a good price. The problem is they only have a 90 day warranty and they are new and unproven. If you want proven performance (and don't mind spendign $$), get some great shocks like Koni sport, or Tokico Illumina. If your really strapped for cash, just use your stock shocks, and save up for good ones in the future. It won't hurt anything, but the car won't ride & handle as nice as possible...

 

I guess I should put up my budget, lol. Didn't think of that.. but anyways I have about $720, or I can wait until early need week, and i'll have around $960.

I did, however, come across these on CarDomain.Com

http://www.cardomain.com/item/TEIDSA64LUSS2

Like I said, i'm not 100% sure what all I need to acheive what I want. Thanks for the guidance guys.

 

I'm not a fan of tein, so someone else will have to comment on those. I only hear good things about their really expensive stuff. I think you would be much happier with some of the parts I suggested. Koni & Ground-Control are hands down the best performance oriented suspension components in the sub $1500 category...

 

I appreciate the feedback, you've been really helpful.

If anyone comes across any pretty decent kits in my price range, feel free to post them here. Alot of the KONI ones i've looked at are pretty expensive, although i'm sure they're nice, i'm just not looking to spend $1,500+ for some. Like I said, just need something for style basically, not performance. Just drop my car a few inches, and keep it semi-smooth for a daily driver.

 

For a mild drop like you're wanting I would keep it simple since you wont be doing any autox or road racing.

Tein stech or H&R sport (Little lower) are around 2" drops and less.

You can ride fine on stock shocks on that just take it easy on bumps. Or you can replace those with quality non-adjustables for a budget. Koni reds are a good choice, tokico blues are fine for that drop. KYB AGX is also a good mate for a mild drop.

I'll soon be riding tokico illuminas on H&R race (2.5" F 2.25" R) and it's a 5way adjustable.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jahz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I appreciate the feedback, you've been really helpful.

If anyone comes across any pretty decent kits in my price range, feel free to post them here. Alot of the KONI ones i've looked at are pretty expensive, although i'm sure they're nice, i'm just not looking to spend $1,500+ for some. Like I said, just need something for style basically, not performance. Just drop my car a few inches, and keep it semi-smooth for a daily driver.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Koni sport shocks are usually found for about $500 shipped. You can pair them with good lowering springs for another $150 or Ground control height adjustable sleeves for $300.

If thats too rich for you, get springs or sleeves and try the Skunk2 shortened shocks or the ones that ek forever guy suggested. It's time for you to start doing some research...

 

I know I do, I just can't find any really good articles that can teach me from scratch about suspension, and everything that I need. I've just been told "Get coilovers". Thought of course there's more to it then that. All I know is I think I need a coilover kit, and once I get it lowered, bring it to a mechanic and get it re-alligned I believe. If it isn't alligned I get Camber Kits?

Anyway, I think I decided on these..

http://www.cardomain.com/item/TEIDSA64LUSS2

It's some TEIN Basics. I know a few people who have had them for 2 years already, without any problems what-so-ever.

Thanks again.

 

personally for the price of tein basics you can have a killer Koni yellow and GC coilover setup.

But you're not worried about shocks as much. Alignment with a drop is going to be more important to align your toe. Camber wear in most drops is miniscule and actually helps performance in Autox and HPDE.

If you want to keep it semi-smooth with a mild drop, do this.

Koni Reds or KYB AGX's

and Tein S. Tech for a ~1.8" 1.5" Or H&R sport for ~2.0"-1.8"

The numbers may not be exact but their close, I know the H&R sport is fine for stock shocks, but it's lower than the tein s tech by a little. This is a tried and true daily setup with either shock. It's slightly more aggressive valving for the higher springrates of either shock. It will definately have a sportier feel but it wont be bumpy for daily driving. In many tuners opinions the S.tech is the perfect drop for Daily driving.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jahz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If it isn't alligned I get Camber Kits?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

A camber kit is part of the alignment process. You must get alignment no matter what to fix toe settings. Honda makes toe adjustable on all cars. Camber is not adjustable on your car from the factory. If you want to adjust it during your alignment process, you must purchase & install a camber kit. We are telling you that you don't need to bother with these extra parts because your suspension doesn't gain much negative camber when lowered. Therefor you don't have to worry about changing it.

- At least get lowering springs (H&R, Eibach, Neuspeed)
- If you want adjustable ride height, then get coil-over sleeves (Ground Control)
- If you want good handling, get shocks to go with coil-overs (Tokico Illumina, kyb AGX, Koni Special)
- If you want great handling, get koni sport shocks, and matching ground control coil-over sleeves.
- Then reset suspension bushings, and get an alignment
- Done!

This sums it up. Just try to avoid those blinging anodized "full coil-over" setups. They are not all they are cracked up to be. For the price, there are much better options (like the ones I listed)...