Some of you may have noticed that I made a post a week or two ago about my GSR handling like a pig. I looked at a lot of different "full coilover" setups for a few days and finally settled on the Edelbrock Performer IAS / Eibach Springs coilovers available through Edelbrock:



<U>From Edelbrock.com:</U>

"Performer IAS Adjustable Coilover Shock Absorbers

Absolutely the Most Advanced, Best Performing Shock Available Today
Specifically Tuned for Each Application
More Responsive Handling and a Comfortable Ride
Same Mono-Tube Construction Used in Racing Shocks
Limited Lifetime Warranty

Edelbrock Performer IAS shocks with the patented RICOR Inertia Active System (IAS) revolutionize the way shocks are designed. This ground-breaking IAS technology is combined with a matched rate Eibach spring and tuned to function as a combination. Edelbrock IAS Adjustable Coilover Shocks allow you to set your ride height from stock to 2.5" lower while providing exceptional grip and handling with greater ride comfort. Available individually or in complete sets of four that contains everything necessary for a bolt-on installation."


To be completely honest with you guys, I only bought these because I am an Edelbrock dealer so I could buy them cheaper than I could buy the standard Tokico/Sportline setup from Nopi or Summit.

I knew I was taking a risk, but since the struts for my car fit Civics too, I figured if I didn't like them, I'd sell them to a local Civic guy for cost and I wouldn't lose any money.

Needless to say, I didn't have very high expectations because they don't have adjustable dampening and to further complicate the problem, the spring rates are 250f/150r! (wtf?)

Regardless, I threw them on the car earlier this week. (the subject vehicle is a 2001 Integra GSR with 60k on the odo) The installation was very straightforward. I liked that they were completely assembled by Edelbrock so it was a straight R&R job.

Of course, even though my car looked like a virgin on the outside, the rear lower strut bolts were seized so I had to cut them out! The resulting damage to the strut bushings just gave me an excuse to start researching aftermarket LCAs. I digress...

Anyway, Edelbrock sets up the springs for a 1.5"/1.5" drop from the factory. Being Puerto Rican and all, I decided that just wasn't going to be enough, so I took out two full turns on all of the springs.

Once I got the car back on the ground and drove it around to settle the suspension, I decided the car had too much of a rake to it, so I took another two full turns out of the rear springs. Also, I noticed that the front bump stops were about an inch or so away from the strut bodies, so I cut two segments out of them. In retrospect, one segment would've been fine.

Here is how the car sits:



I measured 23.75" from the tops of the fender lips in the front down to the ground. The rears measure 24" from the fender to the ground.

After some reflection on the looks of the car and the driving experience, I've decided to add one full turn to the front struts to get the car more level. I haven't done that yet though.


Now the good stuff!


I WAS PLEASANTLY SURPRISED WITH THE HANDLING OF THE CAR! Sure some Koni yellows with 400f-500r springs would've been nice, but this setup is a very nice compromise between handling and ride. In reference to the dampening, apparently, that Inertia Active System (IAS) stuff really does what it's supposed to do! I drove the car to an AutoX that was about 100 miles away from my house. I was concerned that my 17 month old might hate the ride quality, but it was quite the opposite. Despite dozens of miles of construction work with the highway all torn up, the struts just soaked all of the roughness right up! In fact, my daughter slept all the way to Lexington and back!

Sure it rides smooth, but does it handle? Well, actually, yeah it does! Don't get me wrong, you can't get this car to rotate like the dorifto-style Civic (yo!) I saw at the races, but when you shove the car into a corner or a nice highway ramp, the shocks control the motion of the car really well! It's just SO MUCH MORE BALANCED than the car was from the factory.

I can't tell you how pleased I am with this setup! It seems that the combination of inverted shocks / light spring rates / and the IAS make for a very smooth ride. At the same time, the lower ride height coupled with the IAS system makes for a confidence inspiring feel.

I'm not going to pretend that this is the hot setup for roadracing or autocross, but I will say that if you have to live with your car everyday and/or you have kids and a fussy wife, you will NOT be disappointed with the Edelbrock/Eibach coilovers!!!

I'll post updates to this thread if there are any. I'm thinking a Comptech rear swaybar & brace, some 350# rear springs, and some Azenis would probably make the ride a little more interesting, but for now I'm quite content with what I've got!

One more pic for daddy:

 

It's a solid kit for the money. The shock guys at Edelbrock, who are responsible for developing the kit, did a fantastic job.

Ryan

 

Are custom spring rates, etc. available?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cursED &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Are custom spring rates, etc. available?</TD></TR></TABLE>

sure you can purchase any ERS spring you want, id contact stormy about it though as i remeber him saying something about the highest spring you would want to use

 

Nice review.

I've had the Edelbrock coilovers on my civic for almost two years now. I agree with your review on the handling. There is only one thing I don't like, and thats the soft spring rate when at speed. For normal driving its just fine, but when your are going 80+mph and hit some bumps on sweeping curves, there's just too much suspension travel.

I daily drive the car, and have put on 33k miles and it still rides awesome. Although, I'm still considering taking them out and going with koni's and GC's just cause I want to start turning it into a more of a track car and want something stiffer and adjustable.

 

Price ?

 

I think retail was around $1050.

 

UPDATE:


Last night I took another turn out of the rear springs because I couldn't make myself ADD a turn to the fronts to make it level.

Anyway, this morning on the way to work I did something really crazy that I don't care to post about on a public forum... let's just say that the car sticks like GLUE and is still very smooth!

In fact, the autocrossers here might be interested to know that pulling into my parking spot at work today (we have a big parking lot) I came in REALLY HOT up in the rev range in second gear and trailbraked it during the right turn heading up to my parking spot. The rear end swung out!




I LOVE THESE STRUTS!!!