Currently I have KYB AGX shocks with H&R springs with EX swaybars in front, and ASR/CTR rear bar in the rear on a 97 Civic Hatchback. The ride quality is good, but not great. I want something a little firmer without being too harsh. It's somewhat of a daily driver as I now drive an SUV most of the time. Plans for the hatch are to make it comfy for the road yet worthy for a few track events.

So, I'm switching to Koni yellow's soon. Should I ditch the H&R springs in favor of Ground Control coilovers with stiffer spring rates? How will stiffer springs react to the front and rear sway bars I have? Would it be too stiff? Just need some guidance here, friends. Enlighten me.

 

Or should I go with Koni Yellow's and H&R springs keeping front and rear sway bars? So many choices...

 

id say go this route. only thing i would change is to get the koni's revalved spss3.

 

Why would you get revalved Koni shocks? OTS Sports can handle any H&R spring just fine.

OP what H&R springs do you have specifically? OE Sport? Sport? Race?

 

yea they can, but i like that over-damped shock feeling.

 

Just turn the OTS ones up to full stiff and you'll definitely be overdamped.

 

You have basically the same setup I have. Im guessing you have H&R sport, because the race spring is super low and stiff. Going to a stiffer ground control spring will make the ride harder. However the H&R sport are too soft for the height they put the car at. I am planning to go with ground control in 500/450 or so.

 

Yeah I also had Koni/H&R Sport and thought the same (springs were too soft for the car's ride height), and then switched to GC 380/450. That was harsh as hell but I also had a 100 mile daily commute.

If I had to do it again I would go with GC 400/250.

 

Thanks for the thoughts guys. I do have the H&R sports. And yes, It's much lower than I expected. The roads I drive on aren't to friendly to my car and it's really annoying, such is why I'm wanting to make a switch.

Wich rates would go best with my swaybar setup and my inteded purpose if I were to go with the GC/Koni route? I know that swaybars are not active when going straight but what if that straight road has pot holes, dips, etc? I'm sure they will be effective and you'll feel it as I have. I like the sound of 250's for the rears but 400 is a huge jump right?

I'm not even sure what the H&R progressive rates are.

 

The rates that get thrown around all over the webz for H&R Sports are 276 lb/in all around, but of course being a progressive spring, where does that spring rate actually occur? It's pretty hard to say and I doubt you'll ever find any concrete, hard info on that anywhere. It's all pretty much just hearsay.

Reason I said 400 lb/in up front would be to just ensure the shocks don't bottom out or upper A arms hit the shock towers. My front tires were about even with my front fenders and I didn't have any problems with 380 lb/in front springs. If you won't be any lower than that then 380's will probably be fine.

 

Why buy Koni Sports just to have them revalved and spend more when you can just buy Koni Race?



As far as I know, the H&R Sport springs have 330F/280R progressive rates. That shouldn't make for a very harsh ride using AGX's... Though this is based on opinion and everyones is different.

The most comfortable and probably optimal spring for street use and lowering with the Koni's would be in the 300-to-400lbs/in range front and rear. So to maintain a somewhat comfortable ride, you'll still be in the same ball park for spring rates and ride quality probably wont change that dramatically... The advantage to the coilovers will be allowing you to go lower.

I generally recommened around 350front 350rear for the Koni/GC on a fun street car. If you want more comfort, maybe 350/250. Just don't slam the car with those rates and I would also highly recommened getting the GC extended top hats for the front suspension to be sure you wont be hitting the bump stops under hard compression.

As for the swaybar, there wont be much effect, if at all, on ride quality. Especially with a CTR bar which isn't huge. The spring rates and shocks make the biggest difference.

 

I think for that added edge I'll go with 330's all the way around for the sake of the very seldom track days lol. No, I like the idea of 330F/250R. I used to have some knock off SK2 coilovers with springs and stamped on them was 350 I believe. Theres no way in hell these HnR's are close to being 350. The reason for the switch the first time was because I thought those were too stiff. I know I'm going back to the same route as before but changing shocks to Koni's. HT guys swear by them so I'm willing to give it a shot. Now I'm calculating everything and it will be close to $900 after it's all done. Is there anything in that price range you guys would like to compare to? Tein? Or whatever they make now, been out of it for a while ;-p

Also, I know the Koni's use that **** to change the damper level. How do you know what level it is adjusted at? Doesn't seem to have the dummy proof adjustments like the AGX's.

 

I wouldn't exactly trust that number you saw on your Skunk2 knockoffs. Afterall they are knockoffs...

The Koni/GC is definitely a solid and proven setup but for a car that's used purely for the streets and even sees track/autox here and there, it's not entirely necessary. For the best comfort and fun, I always recommend the Progress CS-II coilovers. You can choose either 350/350 or 350/250 rates. The shocks just aren't adjustable and I wouldn't slam the car with them. They make for a good all around type ride though. Another upside to the Progress coilovers is they can be had for ~$350 less than the Koni/GC set.

As for adjusting the Koni's, it's simple. There is an adjustment tab at the tip of the shock. You use a **** that Koni provides to turn it.



Koni provides instructions for settings. You start from full soft and IIRC, half a turn(180degrees) is the first setting, 1 full turn(360degrees) is the 2nd, 1.5 turns(540degrees) is the 3rd setting and 2 turns(720 degrees) is the 4th setting which is also full stiff. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, it's been a while..

 

Love my progress CS-II's. Going to give them a real test this weekend at Atlanta Solo's annual novice school. My very first ever autocross.

 

What are you comparing your love for the Progress units to? Have you tried the GC/Koni or the HnR/Koni setup?

@civexspeedy. I guess a better question is; How do you know what level of adjustment you're at? But I guess I'll figure that out once I get it.

Thanks everyone for your help and input, I'm really appreciating it.

 

I'm comparing them to my stock shocks. I haven't had Konis. But I'll be the first to tell you I wish I'd gone with Koni/GC instead and gotten a little stiffer rate in the front. Lifetime warranty is really hard to beat.

My car was bone stock and had been for 4 years until this January.

I also highly recommend the progress rear swaybar. Best deal on a swaybar, period. And you don't have to have a subframe brace. I opted for one out of insurance but they have told me repeatedly I don't need one. I can't risk it in my daily driver, and it acts as a tie bar. I didn't notice it was stiffer after I installed it. If you decide to get a subframe brace like me, your only option is the Function7 with the integral sway bar mounts.

 

Thanks. I already have the ASR/CTR combo. I've had this installed for a while now. So you would go with Koni/GC over progress. Interesting. The "street" rate is 350 from both GC and Progress and you're saying it's too soft and want a higher spring rate? Does progress offer higher spring rates?

 

Progress offers spring rates but you have a few less options.

250/350/500 and I think 600, past that you really need to look into sturdier shocks.

Ground control will let you name a number and they'll give you it.

I would ideally like to have 450/350 or 450/400 for the street.

My progress with 350/350 is fine on my streets. They are pretty good here.

 

Streets here in Socal are unforgiving at times. But maybe that's due to my suspension components. Or maybe I'm comparing it to my soft riding SUV. Those progress units are getting pretty attractive. I just like the idea of having adjustable shocks to fine tune things when needed. I think sticking around the 350-400F and 250-300R seems ideal for my setup. What level of "firm" do you guys set your Koni's on for street?

 

Just so you know, the shocks on the Progress coilovers aren't adjustable. Well Ground-Control offers 375lbs/in springs so you could meet for halfway of your 350-400 number and do that for the front. They also offer 275lbs/in springs for the rear so again, you could meet halfway and do that for the rear. That would be a pretty good setup for a very fun yet somewhat comfortable street car.

For those spring rates on the Koni's, anywhere from near full soft(not completely) to the middle setting would probably be ideal. It'll just take you some time and driving to find what setting feels the best for you.

 

So I'm reading that AGX's may handle up to 400lbs springs. I'm wondering if I should just get the GC coilovers and skip on the koni's. Is a GC/AGX combo worth checking out?

 

To be honest, no. Trust me, it's worth the wait to save up the few hundred dollars difference and get a superior product with a lifetime warranty.

 

Its not so much the money that would bother me. More or less doing any upgrades without needing to or upgrading for minor or similar results. This GC/Koni setup seems bulletproof. Should have them on by the end of the month.

 

I was going to go with the Koni/GC set up myself last week, but I did more research and talked to a few people and decided to go with AMR Coilovers. I should be getting them in a few weeks. It's a few hundred $$ more but it also has lifetime warranty. The AMR's are going on my DD. I am happy that I went with this setup over the Koni/GC.

 

be happy that setup is good also