Well Im on a tight budget with me just finishing my swap (b16a2) and Im rolling on 16's right now, so now Im looking to upgrade my stock 96 Ex suspension to something better. I like the lowered look and was curious about what would be the best (budget wise) route to go. race Springs, coilovers, shocks,struts,etc. Explain what is better and the difference between coilovers VS springs. I have heard alot about springs being bouncy and squeeky. What are the good brands for the money.(used or new) springs:Eibach sportline, Neuspeed, skunk2. I've found good prices on these. Just a little help and guidance on what I should do, whats best for the time being, and where to go for the best deals. Thanks guys... Jay


[Modified by civicridin, 3:49 PM 4/10/2002]


[Modified by civicridin, 4:21 PM 4/10/2002]

 

Budget My specialty
Neuspeed Sport Springs 200 installed
APC (hey it works) strut bars 40 each (upper front and upper rear)
Stock shocks.

Handling, much better than stock. Plus, stock tires.

 

Neuspeed sports do a nice job of lowering abd retaining a "good" ride, you may want to get new shock with the springs. I just lowered my g/fs 99ex with neuspeed sports and tokico blues and it rides nice. You may also look into kyb AGX shocks they're adjustable but cost a little more. It's nothing like my neuspeed race springs and neupeed koni yellows on my hatch in terms of performance but it's great for everyday driving and is alot better then stock. THis drop goes good with 17in wheels, but we all know 17s aren't good for performance. Now if you want to go lower then 1.75in to like 2.0-2.75 i sugest you move up to a better shock like koni yellows (sports) or bilstein HDs, something that can handle the high spring rates of those kind of springs. Koni yellows are externaly adjustable this is done by turning a **** on the top of the shock, while Bilstein HD are self adjusting shocks, i believe they do this my the rate of compression/rebound? I'm not entirly sure.
It would be helpful for you to tell us your budget and what your plans are with your car. If your budget is around $450-500, i'd go with sports and tokico or kyb shocks, if it's around $750-800 i'd get some race springs and koni yellows as my first choice the the bilstien HDs. Remember that if you decide on race springs you will likely need a camber kit, this needs to be included in your budget. There are quite a few things to consider when buying a new suspension, here i've hit a few things to give you an idea of what's involved. BTW the prices that i've quoted are with you doing your own labor.

Travis

 

neuspeed is always a good choice but it's usually more expensive, the same as bilstein. Tokiko is cheaper and is also ifetime guaranteed, I would think that's your best strut choice. You can get several suspension bars specially designed for your car for $100 each (maybe less). Where springs are concerned I don't know much, though eibach is known to be good.

 

i recommend that when lowering a car, you should also replace the stock shocks. first, the ride will be a thousand times better and second, if you've got all the suspension taken apart anyway, its just more logical and efficient to change the shocks.

-jeremy

 

I was thinking just for starts some race springs and the shocks. I found some decent combo kits with these. Around 359.00 at http://www.optauto.com and some other deals at other places. By the way no one has said anything about places to go and get these things and what the diff is with coilovers VS springs. So far I have got alot of good input though. Thanks. By the way, aorund $400 for now is my budget so just something better than I have now. Not much done to my car but the basics. Exhaust,headers,intake on my b16a2 in my 96 ex. Oh yeah, looking for cams...any suggestions on some decent cams ( no $1000 cams, Im eventually gonna put a t/b kit on in may or june) Anyways, first things first... Thanks again for the input. Jay