This is gonna be my first time upgrading to coilovers and I need to know which one of these suspensions are reliable for longevity and daily driven.
I never track my car, I plan on lowering it.
My budget is 600 - 900.

Skunk2 Pro-S coilovers
Function and Form type 1 (Made in china? so I was a bit iffy about this)
d2 racing coilovers
I have seen alot of threads on Eibach gc + Koni, but I am a noob and don't know what rates I should get.

So yeah thats my budget, if anyone has any comments/ recommendation please add. Please speak from first hand experience if you recommend one of the aforementioned coilovers.

 

Why not just get lowering springs if you just want to lower it.

My setup: Integra Type R spings + Koni adjustables.

 

Koni and GC from the list you posted above. Standard rates will work for you.

You're iffy about f&f because they're made in china....but...so are Skunk2, IIRC. D2 is Taiwan. GC is america, Koni (yellow) is Holland. F&F is garbage no matter where it's made.

GC and Koni comes with a life time warranty.

You can also try Tein street advance for more comfort.

Koni and ITR springs are a good choice too. ITR springs give you a moderate drop of about 1". I wouldn't recommend putting them on the lower perch of the shock to lower the car more. The springs are fairly soft.

 

What are standard rates? from the vendors on honda-tech they just give me a choice of what rates (I don't think a default option was given). Thanks for info. I Did not know that skunk2 was also made in china/taiwan. Oh yeah initially was totally considering Tein basic or d2 just because those two seem to in a tier higher than F&F.



My shocks are blown, also the previous owner torched the eibach springs on the car, and I figure might as well reward myself with an upgrade to coilover and see what its all about.

 

I was just speaking to a guy at motorsports shop, and he is saying that gc / koni is the old school ways, and megan racing coilovers is just as good?

 

Who ever said that GC / Koni is the old school way, yeah, it is, but for spring rates and price you're looking for, it is the way to go. It has been tested and many people swear by it. It is by far the most popular setup for people who track their cars.

 

Bam, just ordered the entire gc/koni setup. Thanks for all the inputs.

 

I am now wondering, if it would be fine just to use my oem top mount/hat (whatever its called) or is it required to use an aftermarket that goes with the gc?

 

you can use stock top hats if your drop is reasonable.

 

I now have the setup installed. But I noticed that the car is bouncy, and I am thinking of adjusting the shock's dampening? However I am not sure how whether to turn the **** stiffer or softer. Also would I need to put the car on a jack stand then turn the *****? Or is it fine as is?

My gc rates for the fronts are 330f and 250r.

 

did you make sure you clocked the bushing on the lca when you put the shocks on? also, did you cut your shock bushing?

 

I am not familiar with your term on "clocked the bushing" but from what I googled, it means torque? No I did not torque the bushing on lca (I did not know that these need to be torqued down). Yes I did cut the koni's shock bushing to match the same size as the oem.

Btw my car is near tucked, give or take about a quarter inch fender-tire gap.

 

in a sense, yes, torque with the full weight of the car on it first.

raise the rear of the car back up. loosen the lca bolts. place some jack stands under the lca, and let the full weight of the car on it, then torque down. you shouldn't have to do this with the front, but wouldn't hurt.

and you might need to go even less on the bump stop.

 

Those spring rates(330f/250r) are too soft for your ride height. I had almost the same(350f/250r) and I have the same amount of clearance between wheel and tire. I had to get 450f/350r. Made a big difference! Also, Koni's are at 75% stiff.

 

330F/250R will do just fine for a 1-1.5 inch drop. 350F would've been a bit better but not much.

 

When you had the 350f/250r what were your rebound rates set at?
Buying another set of gc is not an option atm, so I guess for now I have to find out the closest/best rebound rate that will match with my spring rates.


First test 360 degree rebound rates all around, handling was amazing, but bounciness on the straights/bumps
Second test 540 degree rebound rates all around, straights felt good, but the handling felt iffy. However the overall ride quality is not bouncy,
Third test (today) 360 in the fronts and 450 in the rear, the handling and straights feels balanced, but the car is bouncy.
So from the third setup, should i mess around with the fronts rebound or rear rebound to reduce the bounciness?

 

two things:

did you clock your bushings?

and did you make sure you're not on your bump stops?



*** must rule these out before you start to adjust

 

There's your problem. Your bumpstop length should be approximately HALF the length of the original OEM bumpstops. Otherwise you're probably riding on the bumpstops which will make the car feel extremely bouncy.

This was my car with 380 lb/in front springs, Koni/GC. Stiff but never bouncy. OEM bumpstops cut in half. No camber correction which means OEM upper control arms. I have no dents in my shock towers whatsoever.

 

I run stock GSR front springs and stock ITR rear springs, with the Koni perch on the lowest setting all around. Been running this setup since April 2005. The shocks have 230,000 miles on them since I first installed them in February 2002 and are still working just fine. It's a great setup that will outlast pretty much anything else out there.

 

Why not get some ebachi shocks and like progress sport springs. 2" drop with 350/200 I think. Or Full progress CS II coilovers for $600 to your door. 1-3" gap adjustable. Spring rates from 250-500.

 

Sounds about right, I will cut the bumpstop again. And the how-to link in your signature was very helpful. I saw another mistake that I made when I installed the setup, I left the OEM upper spring insulator in tact, and put the koni spring insulator right underneath that.

 

Thanks for your input patrick, I have taken the OEM upper spring insulator out and cut the bump stop to half of OEM, and it reduced the bounce greatly. But I am now curious to what setting did you set your Koni when you were using that 380 lb/in with that quarter inch gap. (Just so have a ball park area of where I should set mine).

 

Why do you keep saying no dents in your shock towers? I've run S2 UCA with adjustable pro-series ball joints for a little over 5 years and have NEVER had the UCA collide with ANYTHING. I've only had to replace my ball joints once and that was due to an inferior design in which S2 replaced them for free. If you haven't used them you can't say anything about it in my opinion.

Back on the Koni/GC topic - I'd do more research on this. You have 3 set perches which do more than just drop the car. They increase and decrease the already sprung spring. So you raise it up your spring rate gets stiffer drop it down it gets softer; all while adjusting the ride height. There are MUCH better solutions to lowering a car out there these days. Its been a LONG time since 2002 when these were so popular.

Next you'll tell us all that spherical bearings in your LCAs won't reduce torque steer or suspension deflection I bet.

But, on your behalf - looks good. Form > Function in your opinion

Oh! And I just noticed you have Sumitomo HTRZ III. How do you like them?

And just so we're clear I wouldn't go with anything S2 for alignment kits. Kiwi Signature Series would be the way to go.

 

Preload has no effect on spring rate. No ride height configuration on Koni will have any effect on that whatsoever. Do you seriously work in a tire shop or are you just trolling?

OP, this post above me is not correct on almost any point.

To answer your questions, clocking the bushings means doing the final torquing when the car is at or as close to final ride height as possible. Ideally you do this with the car on the ground. The reason is that rubber bushings do not rotate within the control arms. Instead they twist when the suspension moves up and down and act as springs. You do not want them twisted when the car is at ride height -- instead you want them relaxed. Otherwise they will wear from the strain and will also adversely affect wheel rate.

For adjusting damping, let me clarify that there are two things people mean when they say "bouncy".

1) The car rides very rough. This happens when the suspension is stiff or there is too much damping. You were sitting on your bumpstops which act as a very high rate progressive spring. Cutting the bumpstops got you back on the coilover spring and relieved this harshness.

2) The car bounces up and down uncontrollably like a rubber ball. This happens when the car is underdamped. Optimally you should have a smooth ride and the car should settle very quickly from bumps. You should feel a bump, the car should quickly and smoothly return to ride height, and stop there. If you feel the car ocillating up and down after a bump it means that the car is underdamped and you need to tighten the damper. I am not an expert but I suggest you find a setting that is comfortable but free of this type of bouncing. No need to go stiffer.

You got a great kit there with some very good rates for the road. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise.

 

Correction: preload has no effect on linear springs. On progressive springs it will affect rate.