SOme good springs and struts?
 

IM looking for some new springs and struts right now, and was hoping you guys could give me some advice on a decent list of good to best springs and struts. I want to lower my FD not too much but a little more than stock ride height...how much do u advise me to lower it? I dont wanna look "riced out" but a nice drop would be nice. Thanks a lot!

i would think about the handling effects, ride quality, and manufacturer of the spring set before the drop. that said...i would go with H&R. they have been making quality suspention pieces for quite some time now, and they pretty much know what they are doing in terms of springs. the H&R springs are the best for the mostly street and occasional race/auto-x FD, IMO. they lower the car 1.25 inches all the way around...but that doesnt really matter. other spring manufacturers i would reccomend looking at would be Eibach, RS*R, and Tanabe. stay away from Intrax. they make products with drop in mind before performance.

there is a wide variety for shocks/struts. there are a lot of people that have had good results with many different manufacturers. a good combination with the H&R springs, IMO, is the Koni Yellows. this is a proven combination with good street/track results. also, the Konis are adjustable: 10mm ride height adjustment in the front, 15mm in the back. thats a nice added touch if you are concerned about the drop.

Moving to Suspension Section...

H&R springs and R1 shocks, and other stuff
 

H&R springs and stock R1 shocks is the combo I run to great effect on both and road and track.

H&Rs are high quality springs with a progressive spring rate. They have a comfortable road feel, and progressive tire loading during high-speed cornering (for smoother transitions).

I highly recommend the stock R1 shocks with the H&R springs. The combo works so well, I'm really not interested in going 2.5-inch springs and ride-height adjustable coil-overs. In combination with Eibach Comp sway bars fr/rr, Tri-Point fr sway bar mount reinforcers, SSR Comp wheels, and Hoosier R3S03s, Sleep-R1 is completely hooked up for high speed racing:)

As for aesthetics. The H&Rs lower the FDs stance at least an inch. With a full tank of gas, and empty passenger cabin (and not loaded down with heavy subwoofer magnets!), the car sits fairly even, fr-to-rr. Add the occupants and the FD sits perfectly level.

I run 8 x 16 SSR Integral A2s with 225/50-16 Pirelli P-Zero Asimmetrics all around for public road work. Tire Rack's running a killer deal on 17-inch SSR Integral A2s, so I will probably buy a set two, 9 x 17s shod with 255/40-17s for the rear positions (for <$1000), and save the other two 8 x 16s/225-50-16s for spares.

That's right--I'll have 225/50-16s on 8 x 16s up front and 255/40-17s on 9 x 17s in back. My guess is the neutral handling will remain pretty much the same, eventhough I'm going 1-inch wider in back. Why? Because I'm lowering the sidewall height with 255/40-17s by 0.45 inches compared with the front 225/50-16s--effectively increasing the rear positions' spring rate, relative to the front positions' spring rate (tire sidewalls serve as springs too!).

As we all know. The stiffer end slides first. Thus the slight increase in understeer from going wider in back, is negated by increasing the spring rate via the shorter tire sidewall height of the rear vs front tires!

Get it?

So those of you who want to run a staggered setup, consider the above setup if you're trying to maintain the FD's stellar neutral handling

Re: H&R springs and R1 shocks, and other stuff
 

You might also reduce the rear tire pressure by ~2.5 lbs and increase the front pressure by the same amount.

side note: before doing a little quick research, I thought your statement was full of crap... I actually had a lengthy post written up contesting it until I looked it up, and sure enough, you're right. hehe ;)

Let us know how it works!

Re: Re: H&R springs and R1 shocks, and other stuff
 

Well, I've been into high speed road racing since 1997, and sponged most of my knowledge from PCA, BMW CCA, and SCCA high speed road racers. I'm glad the research backs up what those racers have been telling me all this time;)

Yeah, I'll pull the trigger on that purchase next month. New JDM turbos, and brake rebuilds in the works too...it's going to be an expensive Winter!

I need more sponsors!!!!