It's choppy but isn't too bad.

I run 350/350 on my 96 hatch.

Shocks are valved to the spring rates you pick.

Honda-tech has a discount which brings them to about $550+tax/shipping.
I do feel it is a great entry level coilover kit. Cheaper than koni/GC but no damping adjustability.

My preload is kind of high because I DD the car and had it raised in case of road hazards.

I want to drop it down to the recommended height of 10.5-11.5" from fender to center of wheel and see if it smooths out.

The ride as is is fine. Not unbearable, but took a few days to get used to.

 

Got it, thanks a lot. That's very helpful.

 

Which shock mount hole did you use on your hatch for the rear shock? Top or bottom hole? I'm using the bottom one on mine. And had to raise the coilovers some from the pre-load they recommend before installing on the car.. I wonder if I have a harsher ride because of this ..

 

I believe the bottom.

I believe my ride height is at 23 or 24" from floor to fender, center of wheel.

 

I'll measure mine and see where I'm at also just for giggles . It's not too too bad on side roads but I'm in Colorado and the roads have been neglected for a while in my area.

 

i have those cs2's in 350/500 in my em1. they are like 5 years old but have been on a few cars as well as been in my basement so overall they have maybe around 40,000 miles. the struts finally crapped out. when i ordered them i asked what was the stiffest spring they could handle and the lady told me 600 lbs.

you certainly feel the 500lb rear but i like the tradeoff for the handling and "firmness" it provides. i could say you could go down around 400 something too but i wouldnt go too much lower. i would recommend a bit more than 350 in the front though. if you hit a hard bump or turn it can dive the front down a good amount.

overall i was quite happy with them and think they are a great value. im going to buy the replacement struts this year i think they are 75 bucks each and keep using them.

 

350 is very soft for the front of an agressively lowered EM1. But if he's only lowering 1" or so...then they'll work great.

 

Do you think 400 front and rear would be a good setting for an em1? Are the progress cs2's an upgrade from tokico Blues? I want new suspension components and the price for the progress is really good.

 

i havent had tokico blue's in about a decade but id say they are certainly and improvement. i would like 400/400 unless you drive offroad or on the worst pothole roads ever then you may want 350 in the back but i personally dont like rears any lower than that

 

Tokico blues are practically OEM replacement shocks.

 

Thanks for the input! Once I get my engine complete I'm going to upgrade the brakes and then the suspension. I think the progress cs2's will be a nice upgrade, especially for the price.

 

i believe the springs are not progressive, so it should have the same rate regardless of compression. also for my rears i welded up some extensions on the bottom fork so i could add a 3rd hole that i used. i wanted the car up a bit higher in the rear and the perch was just about at the top. fwiw with my rears up as high as they went the fronts were right in the middle of their height adjustment

 

Progressive or linear doesn't matter. A preloaded spring will react faster and ride more harshly than a non-loaded one. You're PRELOADING it with force. So you'll need additonal force when you encounter a bump. And the spring will rebound at a faster rate.

If you pre-load a 500LB/IN spring by 1/2", for example, you are holding back 250LB of spring expansion force at the system's "0" position.

The goal is to have a system designed with JUST enough tension to hold the spring in place. For example, my Öhlins have a 2mm preload from the factory spec. Just enough to hold the spring. Not enough to cause significant compression. To do that AND control height, though, you need a full body adjustable coilover.

With a perch-height adjustable coilover, the manufacturer uses recommended height settings to achieve an acceptable amount of preload that the shock can still work with.

If you raise a perch height adjustable coilover too high, you are doing so by preloading the spring once the shock runs out of upward travel. So you're not raising the car by the same ratio as the suspension's motion ratio. You're just loading the spring more so that the car compresses it less.

 

Nothing but great things to say about Progress CS2's 550F 650R. It's rough driving from the track and back. The setup is so good on the track it makes it worth it. I have 450's to toss in the rear for road trips to tracks further away. Still rough. Progress specs 12-12.5" from center of wheel to fender. This is what it looks like.

 

I recently installed this system on my Daily Driven 94 Hatch. I went with the 450# springs up front, and 550# springs at the rear. I switched over to this system as I previously had an Omnipower Coilover System, but the rear passenger side started leaking oil, so I switched them out. I'm at 11" from the fender to the center of the wheel all the around. I'm on 205/50/15 tires, and the ride is about same if not a bit better than my old Omnipower coilovers. I would like to say the current 550# springs in the rear are stiffer than the rear springs on the Omnipowers, but I have no complaints at all. Of course I live in NC, and our roads are a bit nicer than most so while the ride is "rigid" it is not jarring at all. Just wanted to add another opinion, and positive review to this thread. I have only had the system on the car about two and a half weeks now, so I will be sure to come back and post another review once they are a bit more broken in. If anything, I would like to hear of a review of the system with Swift Spring, or maybe I may swap my springs to Swift Springs in the future.

 

Thanks for the feedback!

 

I have these in an EK hatch that is daily driven. I'm running 350/350 spring rates.

Car is still pretty rough riding but bearable, is a blast to drive. Spend the money at a race shop and get your car corner balanced and aligned afterwards. It's expensive but it's night and day. Look at who the competitive time attack guys in your area go to, and go to them

 

good info in this thread, I got a 98 hatch DD that I'm strongly considering the progressive cs2 setup for. Thinking the 350/350 setup but some of the roads in the Houston area can be pretty bad