I have a 99 integra ls, and Id like to upgrade from the stock suspension. Ive been doing a good bit of searching but nothing seems to be pointing me in the right direction. Ive read a lot of mixed reviews about some coilover kits, and I dont really know where to start. PIC F&F K-sports D2 etc.
Id like to spend around $650. These will be on my dd, but I dont mind having a stiff ride because most of my driving is on smooth highways. What coilover kit (around my price range) would you choose and why?

 

PIC selects. Once the warranty is over they can actually re-build your coilovers in the US if needed. If those other brands blow (which they will) good luck on getting them re-built.

 

no ksports! save another ~100 and buy PIC apexes(selects are like $1000).

 

save $150 and buy koni/gc

could do pic apex for + 100

either one, don't buy junk

 

Im glad to hear lots of good things about PIC because Ive really been leaning that way!


where can the koni/gc be had for $800?

 

In the sponsor marketplance. PM THMotorsports

 

Like someone else mentioned,save up a few more bucks and get Koni/GC.I know that it's been oversaid thousands of times on this board,but there's a reason.

If you cheap out,you'll just end up regretting it,and end up spending more money then you have to.I had to learn the hard way,as many other do/did.I had Ksport on my Accord for just over 2 years,never drove it in the winter until last winter,and subsequently,the rear shocks blew.Had I just gone with Koni/GC in the first place,I wouldn't have had to spend that extra money.

 

thanks!

koni's warranty is certainly appealing

yeah Im really interested in them. Its just that until now I didnt know they could be had for less than 1g, and I just dont have that much money right now (college ftl)

$800 on the other hand...

 

are you interested in used suspensions? ive seen a few used tein flex for sell around 600-800, i had a set of flexes on my dc and they were great off and on the track, just make sure to get an alignment after lowering your car.

 

pretty much looking to buy new. I dont want to drop $600 on a suspension and then blow a shock out 4 months later and be SOL

and I will definitely be getting an alignment. My father owns a goodyear so I get free alignments whenever I want. FTMFW lol

 

buy the koni/gc setup and match the rates to your ride height and tire selection. if you post back with how low you are thinking..roughly and what tires you want the rates to function the best with we can give you ballpark ideas of what rates to order

 

right now I have 205 40 17, but Im looking to find a set of 15"s. so probably 205 50 15 or 195 55 15. As far as the ride height, Im not completely sure what I want to do. Id like to try around a 2" drop or so to start and then go from there. (maybe lower in the longrun)

 

you provided no useful information.

to get a useful idea i would either need height at the jacking points or even an aprox finger gap. like 1 finger, 2 finger etc.

also, what size tire you run has zero impact, i know it's going to be a 195 or 205 something. it doesn't matter if it's on a 15, 16 or 17" wheel. the tread compound is what matters. will you be on

1. crap all season tires treadwear 300 and higher
2. hard performance tires {yoke s drive} treadwear 240-300
3. softer performance street tires {kumho xs} treadwear 120-240
4. R compounds treadwear 100 and under

 

sorry, I didnt understand what you were looking for.

ideally Id like to go this low


let me know if that gives you a good idea or not

and probably going to be on crap all season tires for now

 

My bad, this guy is right. I personally have Koni/Skunk2's right now and waiting for my AMR's to come in

 

hmm..with that ride height you will probably want similar rates front to back. the back is nearly even with the front. normally i set cars up slightly higher in the rear just to use a slightly lighter spring and keep the car neutral. if you use an even ride height you need the same rates front to back or possibly slightly stiffer out back. this of course kills ride quality. keep in mind my point of view is all about performance which is hard to do when you want to ride low on a hard tire. grip becomes our problem. normally all season tires can provide good feedback on 350/300 rates and a solid two finger gap out back and a tight two finger gap in front, basically half an inch higher out back. if you go that low and that even i want to say something like 400/400 for the rates. it will keep you from bottoming the car out and should be fairly close to neutral as long as you have a decent rear sway bar. the only issue is going to be feeling the tire at the limits. you won't really have a lot of body roll warning you when you're pusing the tire. it's just gonna feel like the car is moving along great in a corner and boom tire squeal.

imo tires are more important than suspension. i'd rather race a car on stock shocks with kumho xs tires than the same car on nice coilovers wearing kumho ast's

 

yeah, I definitely want to upgrade the tires when I can get a job, but until then I just want to wear out what Ive already got. My big thing about doing the suspension first is because I am doing a little hypermiling and want to see if I can get any benefits from a drop. (the cosmetic benefits certainly dont hurt either) Then when I can get a job, Ill already be set with nice coilovers and just have to slap some nice tires on it. (of course there is more to do than just that. just saying) When I can start making some money, Id really like to get into some autocross.

 

they are also on this forum.

 

also to go along with what drivesideways said...to make the car more neutral you would have to raise the rear rates more or overcome it with a bigger rear arb but those act differently. also though from this i dont think you have really drove your car and know exactly how or why you would want it to feel/react. so you would be better off with a front bias setup to start. just my one cent.

 

youre probably right. I dont know exactly what I want. I dont like body roll that I have with the stock suspension though. Whenever I hit a turn hard, I feel as though the car wants to tip over. Id also like to start eliminating understeer. I dont know how much the coilovers will effect that or what will help ( I do know that I need to upgrade my rear sway bar though)

what are the benefits of a front bias setup for me though? (and does that mean stiffer front springs?)

 

the benefits are many to using better springs and shocks aka coilovers. using a front bias setup in your situation is a good way to keep you and your car alive. more spring in the front promotes understeer, more out back promotes oversteer. same with sway bars and with ride height. all 3 effect the balance. i'm kind of split on what to tell you rate wise. it's either 400/400 or 400/350. what rear bar are you going to run anyway?

 

not 100% sure what Im going to do as Im still a noob, but Ive always heard/read that the best $150 to spend on your integra is the itr sway bar. so Ill probably try that out first. thats what? 22mm?

 

if you use the itr rear sway go with 400/350, it will keep the car pretty neutral yet not promote so much oversteer that you loose it if you make a mistake in a corner

 

well things have changed. I have a new integra. it came with koni yellows and h&r sport springs. also has an suspension techniques 19mm rear sway bar. I also have a set of goodyear eagle gt tires instead of crappy all season tires. The sports are nice, but I dont think that they are stiff enough. Im looking to upgrade to gc coilovers. what spring rates would you suggest?

* while I was looking for my new integra I drove around my brothers mkIII supra. The suspension felt MUCH better, and it is ideally how stiff I would like my new coilovers to be.

 

If you want something stiff try 400 or 450 in the front and 350 or 400 rear. 400 in the rear is going to be a little rough for dd but you said your on smooth roads so it should be okay.