We've just installed Ground Control coilovers with Koni Yellows on my DC2 ITR. Spring rates are 375F/400R. Car is daily driven and also tracked a lot. Ride height is lowered so that there's a little more than a one finger gap on the front with 195/50R15 tires. With stock size tires this would be about a one finger gap so it's not slammed at all.

The problem is that with this setup there is almost no shock travel left, the bumsptops are almost touching the shock body. I also ordered the extended top hats from GC however we were unable to install them because these top hats did not clear the stock tower bar Stock bumpstops were cut but I'm unsure whether we did that right. According to the instructions two "bumps" should be cut off of the stock bumpstop but the ITR front bumpstop has only 3 "bumps" unlike the bumpstop on the pictures which has 4. So we cut off only 1 "bump" instead. Is it okay to cut off one more "bump" to increase shock travel a little?

I'm not into slamming my car but I did want a decent ride height which it seems I can't get with a GC/Koni setup.

What other options do I have besides cutting the bumpstop more or buying an aftermarket tower bar and installing the extended top hats? Any input is greatly appreciated, thx.

 

If the ITR strut bar is anything like the bar that came on my GSR, then you can always dremel out a small circular section of the triangle to get it to clear the GC extended upper mounts. Thats what I did anyway, took me 15 minutes or so with an abrasive cutting wheel.

And the problem you are facing is something all Integra owners have to deal with. Our cars were not blessed with much front suspension travel to begin with. After you install the extended upper mounts, you'll find that the UCA hits the shock tower just before the GC supplied bumpstop is fully compressed, giving a new meaning to "bottoming out".

And with only a 375 front rate, a "1 finger gap" is not high enough for rough streets. I have dents in my shock towers from UCA contact, running 400 front rates, a 1 finger gap, and GC extended upper mounts. I don't believe I bottom out the UCA on track though. I have 1" of shock travel before bumpstop contact.

Good luck getting the car sorted out.

 

Thanks for your reply. Cutting the ITR strut bar is out of the question unfortunately.

My spring rates are limited too. I wanted rear biased springs but I didn't dare to go any stiffer than 400 lbs on the rear we have very rough roads here and my car is a daily.

Does anyone else offer extended upper mounts besides GC?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by itr_henrik &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thanks for your reply. Cutting the ITR strut bar is out of the question unfortunately.
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Then remove it. Honestly, I don't think it does that much anyway. I couldn't tell when mine was removed during autocross conditions, much less street use. If you feel you miss it after removing it, consider the Neuspeed bar which connects to the UCA bolts and upper shock mount bolts, but should still clear extended upper shock mounts.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by itr_henrik &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
My spring rates are limited too. I wanted rear biased springs but I didn't dare to go any stiffer than 400 lbs on the rear we have very rough roads here and my car is a daily.
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You could always consider swapping rear springs at the track. Or running small wheels with large sidewall tires to help.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by itr_henrik &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Does anyone else offer extended upper mounts besides GC?</TD></TR></TABLE>

There have been a large number of DIY extended upper shock mounts posted here to HT. You can also just do the "shock fork" trick for more shock travel instead.

 

could your stock top hats be extended any? even 1/2" would be pretty helpful.

im doing some modified extended top hats here shortly. ill make a thread when done.

 

I've been playing with my suspension today. I raised back the car to about stock ride height. This is the maximum I can go without preloading the 200mm GC springs. Now with the stock ride height and the ugly wheel gap I have again still the shock travel is only 1.5cm. That is not even an inch. I can't tell how disappointed I am with this GC/Koni setup and I don't understand how everyone praises it here. I wish I went with a PIC or similar setup with adjustable shock body

 

For reference, when you say the car is at stock height, how high is the front side jacking point from the ground?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by itr_henrik &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've been playing with my suspension today. I raised back the car to about stock ride height. This is the maximum I can go without preloading the 200mm GC springs. Now with the stock ride height and the ugly wheel gap I have again still the shock travel is only 1.5cm. That is not even an inch. I can't tell how disappointed I am with this GC/Koni setup and I don't understand how everyone praises it here. I wish I went with a PIC or similar setup with adjustable shock body </TD></TR></TABLE>

This just doesn't sound right at all. I had suspension travel even with 205/45-16 tires, 8" 380 lb/in front springs, and lowered to about zero fender gap above the tires. I cut the bump stops about halfway and never had any problems.

BTW how are you determining how much travel you have? Are you setting the car down on the ground with no fenders on it so you can see the upper A-arm and coilover assembly?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by beanbag &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">For reference, when you say the car is at stock height, how high is the front side jacking point from the ground?</TD></TR></TABLE>

12.3 cm with 195/50R15 tires.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PatrickGSR94 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

This just doesn't sound right at all. I had suspension travel even with 205/45-16 tires, 8" 380 lb/in front springs, and lowered to about zero fender gap above the tires. I cut the bump stops about halfway and never had any problems.

BTW how are you determining how much travel you have? Are you setting the car down on the ground with no fenders on it so you can see the upper A-arm and coilover assembly?</TD></TR></TABLE>


Did you install extended top hats or do the shock fork trick?

There's no need to remove my fenders. With the wheel gap and low profile tires I can put my arm through the gap and "feel" the travel with my fingers. However I checked the gap again and it seems that the 1.5cm travel I had last time disappeared. Am I an idiot and the bumpstop just keeps moving on the shaft up and down? BTW I do not feel the suspension bottoming out but I'm not sure about that I do not know how that feels.

 

In my case, the front jacking point is about 6.25" off the ground, and I have about 1.5-2" of shock travel left until I hit the cut bumpstop, which is about 1.75" long. If I were to lower my car down to your height, I would reduce my shock travel by about 1". So your initial number seems about right. I wonder if the Koni shocks have a longer body than stock, and whether this is a conspiracy to get us to buy extended top hats.

 

nice sig

 

I did not have extended top mounts... I don't even think those were available when I got my setup.

This is what my car looked like when I had Koni/GC w/ 380 lb. 8" front springs.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PatrickGSR94 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I did not have extended top mounts... I don't even think those were available when I got my setup.

This is what my car looked like when I had Koni/GC w/ 380 lb. 8" front springs.

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dude car looks great and its not "slammed" either

 

"HTRZ" in the tires.....

 

lolz yea those were on there when I bought the wheels off of my buddy... Sumitomo HTR-Z tires, not bad for W-rated, although the tread wasn't was wide as other 205/45 tires I've had due to the sidewalls being kinda rounded.

 

Which circlip location did you set your koni's at? For mine I set the front @ the upper circlip (2 locations) and the rears were set in the middle (3 locations). I have no fender gap riding on 205/50/15's. My bumpstops were also cut in half, although my spring rates are a little softer (350/300) which shouldn't be the issue. They ride perfectly fine for me. I've only bottomed out once on a gigantic dip that I was unaware of. Oh and I don't have problems with my UCA's hitting my shock towers either, since I'm not using any camber kit.

Here's a pic of my current ride height for reference:

 

Also, was this how you installed your setup?