so i sold my k-sports at the end of the summer after having to replace 3 of them

now im back in the market and was ready to order some new ones the end of the week. They are going on a 97 civic ex coupe. B series swapped, weighed in at 2550 with me in it along with full interior and spare tire etc. shooting for a diet of 100-150 pounds for the upcoming season so final weight of 2400 im hoping. the car is a weekend/fun car that sees street carving/drag/and stepping up to some autox and hopefully hpde this summer

im looking at...

Function and form type 1's

skunk2 pro s

omni full street

the F&F i just found out are only 10k/6k, which i think might be a tad soft, as i believe the ksports i had were either 8k/10k or 10k/12k (i had two sets of springs from the previous ownder and never figured out what was what).

so what do you think?

anyone know the rates on the skunks or omnis?

what rates do you think would be best? im hoping to stick in the 600-700 dollar range plus a few bucks...

thanks!

 

The Pro S coilover's spring rates are 8k front and 6k rear, however we sell springs with rates from 6k - 18k. So if those standard rates aren't high enough, you can always look into upgrading and choose your rate of choice.

 

are you running a big rear sway? Since this car is a weekend warrior, i'd throw in a stock 13-14mm rear sway with 12k/10k spring rates. The car should feel very neutral with this setup.

As for the brand of coilovers, i prefer PIC's.

 

yeah i forgot to add i have a si stock swaybar with block endlinks...may switch over to sphericals.

pics are nice but a tad out of my budget i think. i put more money in my motor

what about the function forms?

 

no input?

 

i've heard a lot of good things about the function form type I coilovers im actually looking to get a set for myself. For the price there not that bad. I was actually thinkin about gettin k sports but after readin this I'm pretty sure about gettin function forms now haha

 

yeah k sports like to blow....its a known issue, but then yououy can read that there are a ton of coilovers like ksport, tein, F&f etc that all come out of the same factory in taiwan...so who knows

id really like some input from someone who has a mid range coilover like the F&F's and actually tracks them tho...

 

no input on the spring rates anyone?

 

I have Ksports with 12k/9k. I take mine out to autox quite often. Well, when the motor didnt have a spun bearing. I personally love them. I have a B swapped EH3. Ive had no problems. with mine at all. I dont have a rear sway bar and my car rotates pretty well.

People do complain about it being a bad rid on the street, but it doesnt bother me.

 

i cant buy another set of ksports knowing how long they lasted me.

although out of the box they are 11k/7k, and the FF's are 10k/6k, which to me means they are very similar rates, so i think im gonna get them, since there is no one else giving any input.

 

help...please?

 

just buy konis like everybody else does

 

great advice...i wish it had something to do with the question tho.

how does that apply to my spring rates?

 

Because they are adjustable, so just get whatever spring rate you dam well please. And they will still work after you change your spring rate again later after you realize that it's better to figure out the rates for yourself than asking others.

 

Edit: nevermind

 

So, you're trying to save money, which I certainly consider a noble goal. To achieve this, you're looking to buy what you have referred to as "mid range coilover". Let me ask you this though, will you really save any money if you have to replace a cheaper part more often than a more expensive part?

I say, sack up and buy a nice set of SPSS3 valved Konis and GC sleeves w/ custom rates of your choosing. I mention those instead of the OTS Koni Sports (Yellows) because you're already named spring rates above what the OTS Yellows can really control. The shocks would probably outlast the car, and might pay for themselves the first time you would have had to replace cheaper shocks.

If you want to stick with less expensive parts, I would recommend running whatever spring rates the manufacturer of the suspension system recommends. I really doubt the cheaper shocks can do a very good job of controlling a wide range of spring rates, and are all probably best when used with the rates they were designed for.

Just my $0.03. And that is coming from someone about to throw a set of 600 lbs/in springs on his OTS Yellows because he's too cheap to send them off to get revalved first and hopes the car won't be too radically underdamped...

 

its not really a fact of cheaping it persay, its simply what i can afford at this moment, and what i need for what i do with the car.

i understand that you get what you pay for and such, but i honestly dont put enough miles on the car per season to warrant a 1k suspension setup. my ksports were used when i got them, which is most likely why the blew out so fast.

i do more drag racing and street cruising than i do road course or autox so i dont need the best shock out there. i just want a good spring rate that can handle some aggressive driving, but isnt bouncing everywhere on the street.

thats why im trying to figure out if something like 10k/6k would work or not, or if 12k/8k would be better.

 

How aggressive is your driving going to get if you're just cruising around town, where ride quality seems to be more a factor for you?

Let's be honest here - how often, realistically, do you think your car will see any sort of track use? And when it does go to the track, are there going to be any other factors that will be much more limiting (and much cheaper to upgrade) than shocks and springs. Say, tires/brake pads/brake fluid/alignment/driver skill?

 

the car sees drag atleast twice a month, and now that there are two road courses within 3 hours of me, that will most likely turn into 1-2 times a month on a road course.

everything else is taken care of (brakes, fluid, etc) i had a full setup and then got mad at my coilovers. driver skill is not optimal, but id rather have a decent setup to improve my skills with.

im not worried about ride comfort persay either. i just hate bouncing everywhere (too many friends setups do that).

i have also added an si swaybar (dont recall the size on that off the top of my head) if that plays into any of this at all.

then again how much does increasing a rate by 1-2k affect things/how noticeable is it?

 

If you don't want it to bounce, then you need shocks able to control the springs. Running under damped is what causes bounciness.

How noticeable it is entirely depends on what the starting rate was. Think about these things in terms of percentage increase, instead of absolute values. Going from a 11k spring to a 12k spring is hardly noticeable, going from a 4k spring to a 5k is very noticeable.

10k and 12k are very stiff springs. As such, you want a very good shock to control them, or the ride will be bouncy. 12kg/mm is 671 lbs/in, and beyond what even an OTS Koni can handle.

 

well i guess i made an assumption that any coilover from a decent company may have atleast a little r and d behind the shock/spring combo?

maybe this isnt a reasonable assumption?

 

You'd be VERY surprised at how little R&D goes into a number of recognizable coilover name brands out there.

 

so then, who is the lesser of all the evils?

 

Koni. Tokiko. KYB. In that order, and in my opinion.

 

was speaking in terms of full coilovers, not shocks.