A couple of us generation 1 Insight (2000-2006) owners have been looking for some performance replacement shocks/suspension for our cars. I've contacted Progress about making a set but unfortunately they cannot due to extremely low demand and a high backlog.

I've looked at KYB, Tein, AGX, and so far no one makes a slightly better performance shock to replace our stock shocks.

GC seems to have a lowering sleeve kit in the works, but no information on when it will be available is out on the site.

Does anyone here on HT have some good contacts (friends or actually works there) at a suspension company that might be able to help out us Insight guys?

 

have you tried koni? or ast? shoot, try skunk2. they did (still do?) run a insight drag car.

 

None listed for Koni or Skunk2, or AST. Already did my homework prior to posting this.

Thanks for the suggestion though....

 

I'm sure any sort of Insight drag car run by a professional organization probably has completely custom suspension, custom mounts, etc. etc.

So what is available for the Insight, be it performance oriented or not? Surely some company makes replacement dampers for the Insight.

And what type of suspension do Insights have? Front Mac struts I'm guessing? Does the rear have independent suspension?

 

Here is the only setup that was found for the Insight made by RS Mach in Japan but was never produced.

If you look at the rear design setup of the shock and how it is laying at a very weird angle.





Ground Control supposedly was making a coilover sleeve but due to low demand, never produced it according to all that I have read.

 

Ah I see, looks like some sort of non-independent beam suspension design. Is it?

 

It's similar in design to the Fit with the single beam.

 

i was just about to say that when i saw the pics. have you tried to mix it up? like other makes and models? and where do you live?

* have you asked to see if any of the suspension companies would rebuild your stock shocks? pretty sure tein has shop there in san diego. was going to suggest taking the shocks to koni, have them rebuild your shocks.

 

Stock shocks as far as I know cannot be rebuilt. What I am looking for an aftermarket replacements, OEM shock replacements can still be bought. My shocks on my Insight are still good but they will not last forever. I am just being pro-active in my search.

What I would like to get is what I posted earlier with pics.

 

Any chance of Fit suspension being made to work, or absolutely not?

 

I tried that first with my Fit! The rear shock itself in almost double the length but the springs are similar in the rear.

The front Fit Mc Pherson do not look like they will fit, maybe an EP3 or some form of new Civic might fit.

 

You may have seen this thread but maybe not

http://www.insightcentral.net/forums...n-springs.html

 

Yes Patrick, I have not seen that thread, but another thread has a guy who is selling a one off system which I am trying to purchase with front and rear springs.

I just wanted to see if VtecVoodoo or anyone else who actually works in the industry to maybe shine some light on the subject.

Mostly I'm looking for a slightly better performance shock instead of an OEM replacement that could handle maybe 1 to 1.5 inches of lowering.

 

can you take a picture of your rear suspension with the wheel off? wanna see how that looks from the side. maybe find something that is close, or possibly change the whole setup.

 

Honda Insight suspension design:

Front: http://www.insightcentral.net/encycl...uspension.html



Rear: http://www.insightcentral.net/encycl...uspension.html

 

hmm... fronts shocks look like you could use a 01+ civic front, but it looks iffy. civic look bigger, and i don't think the mounting area for the hub is the same...


the rear.... hmm.. ever thought about custom. as in running eye bolts on both ends of the shocks? it would have to probably be a full coilover/shock combo. no separate spring and shock

kind of like these http://www.racetech.com/page.aspx?id=98&menuid=128.

you would just need the length of the shock... the tricky part would be to mount the top of the shock...

i don't know, try it out. you might just have to be the guinea pig

stupid honda and there strut front end. if it was a double wishbone front, you would have been able to probably swap anything over from a civic.

im thinking you might have to go expensive.something like a moton, or penske. that way you'll be able to get your eye bolt for the bottom of the shock, and that bushing for the top.... unless you just decide to see if you can find a coilover from japan...

 

Thanks for all the help Patrick GSR and 90 Civic, I'm currently debating if I want to spend the big money for a one off system.

I'll still keep looking just in case I find something or someone who can do it affordably.

 

Actually the rear might be relatively easy to run one of those custom short coilover setups with remote reservoir. You'd just have to get some brackets welded to replace the stock spring upper and lower mounts, and then you'd have the coilover assembly bolt in place of the spring, with nothing where the OEM shock absorber currently resides.

 

i was thinking it would be easier to mount the shock in it's original location, and the leave the original spring location empty. it would kind of be like how everyone runs the rear coilovers in the 86 corolla.

 

I called GC today and they confirmed that the sleeve coil over they have will fit all years of the Insight. And it is made to go over the OEM front strut and will set up like the Fit's in the rear.

I got lucky today and found a company called Afco Racing that might have some shocks that would fit the rear of the Insight. Price is not to be sneezed at though...

 

keep us updated. would be nice to know what type of aftermarket suspension bits are out there for the insight

 

Count me in for any developments in this area too. I did the Aveo rear spring swap on my 2000 Insight and though it stiffened things up a bit, the overall ride & handling isn't well tuned at all. Would the Ground Control setup allow for using more common springs and thus allow for some fine-tuning of the rates @ each end? There's a remote possibility that I'd go for the totally custom built Koni's that were described on Insight Central around 2005 but that's about $1800 from Pro Parts (I emailed recently). I'm also tempted to do a DIY rear beam/sway stiffening as described on IC as well. Sounds a bit extreme for daily use so I'm looking for a more mild or perhaps adjustable solution that doesn't reduce ground clearance.

Joel