Rather than a what do you think thread I though I would post a "what I did" thread and share my experiences.

Years ago I upgraded my GSLSE to racing beat springs and tokico hp's and removed the rear sway bar. This worked well, handled better than stock and the ride was firmer. I had 205/60r14 BFG traction t/a's all around. I was happy at the time.



Next, the poor thing got smacked in a parking lot



I negotiated a good resolution where I bought used parts and a wing ($300) and a body shop did the whole paintjob in Seikins 2 stage for the repair estimate ($2800) and billed the insurance company. Sure the paint has a few flaws, but I rate the job an 8 out of 10 and I am pleased with the upgrade for $300 out of my pocket. While it was in the shop I scored a set of 17's with new rubber for just $850. I showed them to the bodyshop prior to painting. At no additional cost they added gold pearl to the paint to compliment the rims.



At this point I decided the rear of the car looked too high with the 17's and needed to come down a bit. I ordered a set of respeed rear coilovers from Sam.



I told him I wanted a ride comparable to the racing beat springs so he sold be 125 lb springs. This turned out to be a mistake! The springs were too soft and the car pounded on the bump stops like crazy. His recommendation was to remove the bump stops and "that" problem was cured. The real problem though was the springs were compressing too much (too soft) and I had the coilovers adjusted to their max level. My next idea was to get tokico illumina's so I could add some adjustment to the rear suspension (front was perfect). This helped, if you like to get punched in the kidneys with a firm ride since I ended up on the number 4 setting. After no answer on Sams phone from his site I added spacers to buy some time until I could contact him. Height was better but still no suspension. Gotta love the kidney punches.

I should add that I just drive my car on the street, no autocrossing or track use (other than a few trips down the 1/4 mile)

I posted my feedback in another thread in the buyer feedback forum anticipating a response. Nothing...left a message...nothing........look there for my feedback on respeed.

Next, I spotted a set of Eibach pro progressive springs on Kijiji (like craigslist in the US) just 200 miles away for $60. Contacted the seller and turns out he was traveling through Calgary in a couple days, SCORE!!

I installed these, set my illumina's to #2 and the car is amazing. Handling is great, weight transfer on acceleration perfect, ride is fantastic and the height is right where I wanted it all along!!

Now I have a set of coilover collars with shitty soft spings to sell.

So for those who would ask what springs to use, here is my personal experience:

Racing beat for a firm ride and great handling especially if you tend to autocross your car.

Eibach pro's for the best of both worlds if you want spirited handling and a great ride and do most of your driving on the street.

Respeed coilovers if you want true height adjustment and get lucky choosing the right springs from the start.

And for shocks, tokico Illumina's are the only choice, the adjust-ability is fantastic. Go from street comfort to track stability at the turn of a screw. Sure they are expensive.

To do it all again, I would do eibach pro's and illumina's and have an empty suspension spare parts bin in my garage today.

 

Great post, Have the same thing with my RB springs/blues though running 16 inch wheels. I've been wanting the RE speed coilovers too but on the other hand it's purely road driven now, I haven't been to an AutoX in almost 2 years, and the ride is rather rough as you've stated. Since I'm essentially building the same car as yours I have to look into that set up.

 

I run 275 front/150 rear with Illuminas on the front and Bilstein short bodied shocks on the rear. The ride is "firm", but I have no trouble daily driving it, and even take trips down south when I get the chance.

I think that the biggest problem people are running into with the rear adjustable perches is due to the length of the Illuminas. I found that they were just too long to run at my desired height, hence the Bilsteins. I really do miss the adjustability of the Illuminas, but I cannot fault the Bilsteins for their performance.

Sorry to hear of the communication issues with Sam. That makes me sad.



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You know the Illuminas (rear) for the 82-02 Camaro are 2 inches shorter, but they have the same travel. They bolt right in just as the Mazda ones would. I'm tempted to email Tokico to see if the valving is similar to the mazda size ones, but imagine that since there are 5 levels of adjustability, they'd probably feel fine.

 

That's very interesting. Please post results if you follow through with this.


I went from a set of Eibachs to Respeed coilovers. In initially I ran the coilovers and a 250 spring up front with the Eibachs in the rear. It felt great. I swapped over to the rear coilovers, and I believe a 125 or so, not 100% sure, rear spring, and it still rides fine. I do plan to get some more springs to play around with it though.

Due to how great they are and the fact they are NLA, I have kept the Eibachs and don't plan to get rid of them. They are one of, if not the, best replacements springs IMO.

 

Im running re-speed 275 and 150's in mine. Its a lot softer than i thought it would be, in fact as soft or softer than the lowered springs i had which i calculated at about 160 or 180 front and a fairly definite 112 rear. (i got that from weighting and measuring). Not really happy with them to be honest - i suspect the spring ratings to be a bit softer than they really are. Now i have to buy new springs (which i cant really afford) and do it again.

 

My main issue is that the 125 is what respeed suggested. Maybe "he" should have suggested (stocked and sold) the shorter shocks too......take some accountability in my mind.

 

i'm running 350/175 with the illumina's set at 3 all the way around and on the street its firm, but not harsh, and on the track its soft.