Now, the Mugen N1 Damper Kit, with the springs, costs about twice as much as the Lowdown Suspension. Are the performance differences between the two also significant? Or, unless you're running in a professional racing series, the Lowdown is a good improvement over stock, and you don't really need N1? Opinions will be appreciated.

 

You need to run at least 600 lb/in springs with the N1s or else you will burn them out. Note the Speedvision teams were using 800 lb/in front and 1200 lb/in rear springs on their cars. Stock spring rate is around 240 lb/in

So unless you are planning a track-only car - I would stick with the LowDown kit which is a good upgrade from the stock suspension because the spring rates and shock damping are tuned.

 

with the N1 you get stiffer shocks and more adjustability, more of an all out race suspension compared to the Lowdown which is a street/some track events non height adjustable kit. Lowdown lowers 3/4" and has different shock settings and that it. N1 is much more adjustable. Kinda the same deal as Apexi N1 vs Apexi WS kits.

 

N1 is very stiff for daily drive. Mine is on the softest settings and it is way stiffer then the lowdowns on the stiffest setting

 

Now that's useful info!

 

I second what MugenEg6 said,

I've got the N1's on my Type-R. All I can say is that even on the softest setting, these babies can hurt you if you're not careful watching where you're going. Add a racing seat and a low profile rim and tire package and you're on the brink of what I consider to be bearable for day to day commuting.

I try to avoid any thing that even looks like a bump in the road if at all possible. Twice I've been unsuccessful and the paint on the top of the front shock towers cracked and chipped from the front upper suspension arms hitting the top of the towers. No other damage to report luckily (nothing a little touch-up paint didn't fix).

On the track, not even the TIEN RA's or KYB Gymkana Super Specials can compare to Mugen N1's. They both seem very soft on their hardest settings compared to the N1's on their softest settings. I'm not saying harder is always better, but the Realtime guys went with N1's for their track ability.

 

Thanks for the info. It appears that for me, the Lowdown will do the trick. The stock suspension is already very capable. Since I do about 15-20 track days a year, and also use the car for daily driving, I think the Lowdown would be a nice improvement.

 

I've been real happy with my lowdown setup....my car is daily driven about 70 miles and the suspension made my car feel alot better than stock. I dont think I would want anything stiffer on my daily driver.

 

You should also look at the materials the N1's are made of.They are very light weight.For the street you should use the lowdown.