I have a 2000 Civic EX coupe that I installed years ago, KYB AGX and H&R Sport springs for the occasional spirited drive. Lately, the car sees more action as a daily driver and the occasional road trip; the car is a bit too low and the ride quality is a bit too harsh for it.

I have considered installing the stock springs back on, with the KYB struts, but wanted to hear your guys' input. I'm not a huge fan of the lifted 4x4 look the stock springs give and the floaty feeling the car has on highways with complete stock suspension. What would you recommend?

Some things I've considered are purchasing H&R OE springs which give a modest .75 inch drop. I've also heard some people recommend CTR or ITR springs but I'm not too sure as they were designed for a different car.

 

The ITR sprinigs are just a higher rate, thats the route I think I'm going to have to go.

 

What about keeping my current setup; KYB AGX with H&R Sports. But installing extended top hats? Would that help with the extremely jarring effect of hitting bumps on the highway?

 

If you are looking for a light drop, but still want comfy, the OE spec springs will handle that just fine. The KYB's will be fine.

 

oe springs on the kyb's will be just fine. the ride will be better than you remember with the full stock setup.

 

And I'm guessing the ride quality will be much better than the H&R Sport springs? Everytime I hit a large bump at freeway speeds, I feel like the car is going to catch air.

 

https://www.qa1.net/technical-suppor...ring-rate-tech

 

Been there.

 

Man, I put function and form type 2 on my ride the quality is amazing. The ride is impeccable. I also noticed compared to my old eBay special the coilover is atleast 1-3 pounds lighter.

The coilover is stiff in its nature but rightfully so. If you want low you're gonna want a stiff spring. if you want some performance you really wanna loss some body roll you're gonna want a stiff spring. Now what I'm amazed about is how low you can drop these and still have fresh out of the box ride.

I'm atleast 3.5 inches in the front without messing with preload or anything. Don't even feel potholes. With the eBay special they were too soft to go reallly low. I'd scrape my lip and header everywhere. Well now I'm actually lower and haven't experienced any of this.


Yeah, you can go with a stock spring and kyb strut and be just fine. But honestly you won't get the ride quality and adjustablity of a true performance coilover. You can throw these on without adjusting I believe they give you a .75-1in drop.

 

If you can find some integra springs, itr/ls/gsr, go that route.

 

I'm definitely considering some ITR springs if I can find some.

 

I'm also still seriously considering H&R OE springs. But after some investigating their springs rates are

:H&R OE 280F/190R (P/P)
H&R Sport 330F/280R (P/P)

So it seems like the rears would be considerably softer, but the front doesn't have as big a difference. Would the ride still be harsh/stiff?

 

You'll still have a considerable amount of body roll. Those rates look displeasing.

 

Ride quality is priority. This car is never going to see a track. And I tend to drive it very conservatively these days, but want it to have some cornering performance and stability on highways. I already have a ITR rear sway bar with a reinforced subframe.

 

I had CTR springs on my Civic for a bit. They're something like 240-linear/240-progressive for the spring rates.

They ride well, have a subtle drop and perform well with a sportier shock like a Koni sport.

I picked them up for $220 or so from HMO. Eventually one of the struts started binding, and I changed out the setup for some Progessive CSii coilovers.

The HR OE springs are not as agressive as the CTR, but are more aggressive than stock civic ex spring rates plus a little bit of a drop.





Are you planning on changing the struts as well?

 

You will notice most of the ride quality from the rear of the car, no the front.

in your situation the front rates don't mean much.

 

Not planning on changing the struts. Will reuse the KYB AGXs I currently have installed on the car.

I was also considering ITR springs at 250/250. But it still seems a bit high for the rears. And also those springs were designed with a B series engine, which is heavier in the front than my D-series. But stock ITRs and my Civic curb weight are very similar.

 

Is that true? Why wouldn't front rates be equally important? Don't they take a large 'hit' when driving over a large bump at speed?

 

fronts will have an affect on the ride quality, but not nearly as much as the rear.