I just purchased a 2004 EP3 and have a turbo kit with a GT3076R coming from Go-Autoworks. The car is on Street Basis Z Coilovers which seem very soft/bouncy I picked up a 22 mm Progress Sway/Tie bar combo that I'll be trying out prior to making any changes to spring rates. However, I'm wondering if folks have had good luck stepping up to 7kg springs up front and 9kg springs in the rear? Is stepping up to a stiffer spring a bad idea without a revalve?

I'll be using the car on the street along with some light duty road racing, just getting started. This isn't my daily driver. Is it worth swapping springs or should I just sell this setup and buy something else for my intended use? Using the link below it appears the front springs are 200 mm in length and rear are 150 mm, would I be ok going to an 8" spring up front and 6" spring in the rear? The front would be about 1/8" longer and the rear 3/32" longer. Assuming that won't make a huge difference?

https://www.tein.com/srch/us_search....SISZ&genuine=0

 

Bump...

 

I would sell and replace with something that is valved for higher rates. The difference between 6kg-f/mm to 7kg-f/mm main springs on a macpherson strut car isn't all that noticeable. But if you up the rates any more than that and you will find that the Street Basis Z's will feel harsh and bouncy over big bumps because there isn't enough mid to low speed rebound damping to keep things under control.

This would be an easy fix with the non "Z" Teins, but unfortunately the Z's are sealed body dampers and can't be rebuilt. Your best option is to sell them off and look for something that is valved for higher rates out of the box.

 

Thanks not the answer I was hoping for but would rather do it right then waste money on a solution that doesn't work, appreciate the response! Cheers!

 

Forgot to ask, what would you suggest? Budget is around $1k, maybe slightly more if I can get a couple hundred dollars for the basis z's. I currently own a Tacoma and am used to fully rebuildable coilovers, is there anything out there like that for Civics? Seems like most are either sealed or the manufacturers don't make rebuild kits available.

 

It's difficult to find a good dual duty, fully rebuildable coilover kit at the 1k price point. Especially so for the EP3, which isn't as popular an application as the other Civic chassis.

All that considered, I'd suggest Progress Series 1 coilovers. They are not adjustable damping, but they are very good dual duty dampers with a good reputation at the track. Only the fronts are rebuildable / revalvable; the rears are sealed units. However, they do offer spring rates that should suit you a little better than what you have now and the dampers will be valved appropriately for those rates.

 

Thanks, if I wanted to step it up a bit are the KW V2s a good buy? The Fortune Auto 500/510 series coilovers and digressive valving has me interested too. Still haven't driven the car after installing the rear progress sway/tie bar combo so I'll need to do that before making any decisions.

 

KW's V2 and V3 kits come with very good dampers. I should warn you that they tend to have a lot of quality control issues, as well as serious fitment problems with some applications. Common problems include one or two shocks showing up with insufficient gas pressure (or with a leak), and the rear shock collars trying to occupy the same space as the rear wheel or tyre. Unfortunately they aren't just rumors from the forums either. I've seen this firsthand on about half of all of the KW equipped cars I've seen or worked on. When they work though, they feel fantastic. The guys that tune those dampers really know how to strike a good balance between street and track use.

The Fortune Autos are also a great option. The 500s make very good dual duty dampers, and I've seen a lot of fast track and race cars running on 510s. They're not as cushy and compliant as KWs, but they are a very solid, well-developed shock with very strong customer service behind them. Yes, the parts technically come from Taiwan and mainland China, but the engineers at Fortune Auto really know how to extract the maximum from what they have, and that's really what matters when it comes to getting value for money out of suspension dampers.