Hopefully this won't turn into too much of a pissing match as I'd like to learn some things.

My car is my daily driver and a weekend warrior that will see some circuit time and the odd blast down the strip for *****. It's already on Tein HAs for an ITR but I'm unhappy with them because there is not enough shock travel so the ride can be crappy. I've decided to change them out for something that is made for the DA. Also, I want to slam the car too, sparks don't fly your too high!

So I come down to making a decision on a new set up.
I either go with the old stand by of the Ground Control/Koni Yellow set up (with custom rates) or buy a 'full' coil over made for my car (Tein, PIC, etc).
What I'm trying to decide between is Ground Controls/Koni (SP3 or Race SPSS3?) with extended top hats or PIC Selects?

Pros and cons of both, which would you select?
Thanks.

 

GC/koni is the way to go and front 500 rear 350 spring rate and if u have a lil extra money get the tophat too for 125 shipped...i got my combo 780 shipped...they go for 885 on weaksauce and 819(not that bad) from Tmotorsports...pm me if ur interested of getting it i will tell u where to get it

 

^^x2 love mine with that setup...for dumped applications
yup and got mines from weksos also

 

how much would i be looking at just for the GC sleeves and the tophats shipped to australia??

 

anyone with realwourld experience with a full coilver and GC/KONI setup? i feel like most people have only riden with one type of setup and dont have much to compare to so they think its the best. i always hear GC/KONI, and its a proven smooth riding slamming handling cheap setup lol. but what about in comparison to a full coilover, with the adjustable sleeve, where you can adjust ride height seperately from the preload?? i would imagine those would ride smoother? for example D2, k sport, Function form, etc etc

 

I will tell you this: if you slam the car, it WILL NOT ride smooth. PERIOD. The car will either bottom out on the bump stops or the upper A-arms will hit the frame rails, or the springs will be stiff enough to keep that from happening. Either way, you'll be in for a bumpy ride with a slammed car.

Anyone that says their car is slammed and "rides smooth" or "rides like stock" is kidding themselves.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by i2ice &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">anyone with realwourld experience with a full coilver and GC/KONI setup? i feel like most people have only riden with one type of setup and dont have much to compare to so they think its the best. i always hear GC/KONI, and its a proven smooth riding slamming handling cheap setup lol. but what about in comparison to a full coilover, with the adjustable sleeve, where you can adjust ride height seperately from the preload?? i would imagine those would ride smoother? for example D2, k sport, Function form, etc etc</TD></TR></TABLE>

i've had koni/gc with 4 tophats 450f/380r, very nice ride for the street but i personally thought my front springs were too soft. you still feel bumps and potholes just not as harsh as my current setup.

current setup ITR cusco zero2 full coilover at setting #2 all around. much harder ride than the koni/gc setup but that is probably because they are more linear but it is still liveable. haven't gone full stiff on them, highest i've gone is #3 and that was more than stiff enough for street driving but smooth freeway roads feel great. having a full coilover with separate height adjustment does not guarantee a smoother ride, it just retains suspension travel and a good full coilover will have matched springs and struts which are usually linear and more harsh than a progressive setup(lowering springs).

keep in mind the lower your car the harsher the ride is gonna be to compensate the loss of suspension travel and supressing the vehicle's weight just like patrick said. you want smooth, get progressive lowering springs and konis.

 

what you said makes lots of sense. what about GC/KONI rates. another this i noticed is people have a range of rates and are basing that as there "experice" in comparison other suspension setups. for example one persons 500/450 will be different to anothers 400/350 etc etc am i right? what is the ots rate? does anyone know it off the top of their head? i hear alot about 500 front and mid 400's rear for slammed ride? all i see on here is he said she said. ex "blah blah blah smooth ride". sorry to thread jack.

 

i honesly think poeple need to start listing there GC/KONI spring rates in kg/mm like most other manufactures do. most peoples GC/KONI set-up are hella soft compare to a PIC apex with a rate of 8kg/mm front 10kg/mm rear

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tony413 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i honesly think poeple need to start listing there GC/KONI spring rates in kg/mm like most other manufactures do. most peoples GC/KONI set-up are hella soft compare to a PIC apex with a rate of 8kg/mm front 10kg/mm rear </TD></TR></TABLE>

WHAT? We're in the USA here buddy and GC's are made in the USA. So there!

j/k

8/10 kg/mm = 450 lb/in front and 560 lb/in rear.

I used to run 380f/450r GC's. That is 6.8 kg/mm front and 8 kg/mm rear, and I thought it was stiff as crap, at least it was on my 100+ mile daily commute.

If I went w/ GC's again I would probably go for something more like 400f/300r, or 7.2 and 5.4 kg/mm front/rear

 

i like PIC's 10k/8k and for the track 12k 14k

 

werd.. PICs are very nice.. i enjoyed mine until the car got stolen.. .. 10k f 8k r .. pretty stiff... but not too bad

 

Well, currently I have the Koni/GC combo, 430lb/in front and 375lb/in rear

...1/2 finger gap in the front, next-to-nothing gap in the rear (chose not to lower the front more like most people who point their nose down). This is about as low as I can go without risking bottom outs on really terrible potholes, everything else and it's a fairly smooth ride so long as the konis arent set on the stiff side. But I actually like them on the stiff side, and my 5 month old son doesn't have a problem sleeping through a drive - that says enough right there!

Now, my old skunk2 pro-s setup was about 100lb/in stiffer front and back, and it was a harsh *** ride, especially without the adjustable shocks.

Sway bars counter my body roll, and new gc springs are cheap, so I'd say go koni/gc with front extended top hats.