I decided the steelies and lift kit weren't for me. I went with some Drag DR-29 bronze wheels w/ falken 912 tires. Gorilla lug nuts. H&R sport springs matched with Koni STR.T struts and Energy bump stops. The total on the springs/ struts/ and bump stops set me back about $480.

It barely tucks the tires in the front, and there is about a finger gap in the rear. I am very happy with how the stance turned out.

First off let me say I am no noobie to lowered vehicles. Some of the past cars I have owned and their suspension setups are listed below.

99 Civic SI: Koni yellow and Neuspeed sport.
89 CRX SI: Tokiko Blue and Neuspeed.
97 Prelude Base: Tokiko Blue and Eibach Sportline.

And my garage queen 04 GTO lowered on King springs and Monroe GT sport struts (crap from australia) I am going to throw up a few pics of it just because.





Now let me give a brief review on this suspension setup. At this point I have had it on for 4 days and put about 200 miles on it. The Koni STR.T seem to be pretty new and not a lot of info about them. H&R sport seem to be tried and true.

I spent about a week researching different combo's to try to find what was best for me. I was concerned because I read that many people said that the spring rate on the sports was not high enough for the drop they provided. I can say with the STR.T struts, I have not experienced any bottoming out issues, and quite honestly, I would not want the spring rate very much higher. The STR.T front strut bodies are also noticeably shorter than stock....about an inch to allow for more suspension travel. My stock bump stops were disintegrated so I went with the energy replacements.

To me the ride is great. It is firm, but the struts control the springs perfectly which prevent it from being bouncy at all. You feel very connected to the road, and everything has a very positive feel. Body roll has been reduced, but is still there. Braking and acceleration feel better because the car does not nose dive, or lift anymore. Steering response is very sharp.

Prior to lowering my drivers side sat about .5" lower than my passengers side. After lowering my drivers side sits about .2 to .25" lower than the passengers side.

I am not running a camber kit. Here are my alignment results.

................0...........Camber....Caster....To e
Drivers front -2.3 .1 .01
Passengers front -2.5 -.2 -.03
Drivers rear -1.1 .05
Passengers rear -1.5 .08

I am not concerned about the camber, but I plan to research caster and see if there is a way I can increase this some.

I decided the steelies and lift kit weren't for me. I went with some Drag DR-29 bronze wheels w/ falken 912 tires. Gorilla lug nuts. H&R sport springs matched with Koni STR.T struts and Energy bump stops.

It barely tucks the tires in the front, and there is about a finger gap in the rear. I am very happy with how the stance turned out.

Before.







Suspension.



Wheels.







After.





















And the banana ****...ftw?

 

Looks about like mine did on H&R w/ Koni Sport shocks. Too low up front and too high in the back. Springs were too soft for the amount they dropped.

The STR.T shocks have shortened shock bodies?!?!?!?! That's news to me. Wish you had taken a pic of the stock shock next to the Koni shock.

Also, if you didn't, I would get the car back up on jack stands, loosen all the control arm bolts, raise the suspension up to ride height with the jack, and re-torque the bolts going through bushings in the LCA at ride height. Then get the car aligned with toe set to factory specs.

 

I like the stance. I have not noticed the springs being too soft for the drop thus far.

Yes the SRT.T bodies are defiantly shorter than the stockers. I had read this somewhere also before I purchased them. Maybe on the koni site.

On the rear everything was tightened with the with the lower control arm at ride height. On the front I didn't think it really mattered. Anyway, I already paid for my alignment...it won't be getting another one until I notice the springs settling or sagging.

 

looks very good!

 

wait, you've already had the car aligned?? Damn those are some pretty shAtty alignment settings if that's the case. I'd take the car right back there and have them align it properly with the toe angles closer to 0.00 and the rear thrust angle at 0.00.

Also, springs don't sag or settle. What is usually thought to be the springs settling or sagging is actually the bushings resetting themselves, or in some cases tearing, because the car sits lower than it did before. If you tighten bolts that pass through control arm bushings with the suspension at full droop, it's even worse. So yes, you definitely should tighten all front control arm bolts that pass through bushings with the suspension at ride height.

 

What I heard from the circle track people (who rate test their springs frequently), is that springs don't lose length, but they do lose rate.

 

From metal fatigue in the spring coil wire maybe? I could see that happening under the extreme forces seen during racing conditions, but probably not so much during street driving. I think the bushings resetting/tearing is more often the cause of what is thought to be the springs "settling".

 

The numbers are fine. The thrust angle is at -.01 degree. Even sitting in the car changes all of these numbers.

I watched them do the rear toe, and he had each set to almost zero. Then after he had done the front toe, the rear had changed slightly.

 

i always toe out the front a bit, really helps with the turn in. anyway, what are your impressions of these shocks? compare them to something, pros-cons? they are priced to compete against the tokico hp's and skunk sports.

 

I'm thinking about getting a set of Koni STR.T. However, I am trying to find more info because right now I'm running Skunk2 coilovers on stock shocks and if the Konis can handle their spring rate. =/ Also what kind of top hats do you guys recommend?