Rate your suspension set up


Although some may not take note of my opinion after just crashing I feel I should back olly Ek9 and EK9dan up by saying that OEM suspension with Toyo R888 50 profile is fantastic!

I understand that the car looks slightly higher with the 50 profile and people would like the car to look lower, but again I cannot emphasise how much research and development Honda will have put into the handling of the Ek9 - also this was purely experience on road ONLY! On a track it may be completly different.

I will put a review up soon of the R888's in "Tyre/Wheels" section.

Josh..
 
96 hatch EK4

Coils: Eibach prokit
Shocks: Stock
Bushings Stock
Sway bars: Stock
Strut bars: Stock
Tires: AVS Yokohama 140 treadwear

Pro´s: Good DD car, confy, no real deal, but still fun to drive, with back tires on limite wear a little oversteer apears and make the ride funier
Con´s: Come on...is stock damit is boring!

Now

Coils: Neuspeed Race
Shocks: Koni SP3(yellow ones but little special)
Bushings Almost all of them with Urethane
Sway bars: Stock front(will change my 26mm to 22 or 23mm) ASR 24mm rear(with brace)
Strut bars: Stock in front(3 points comming) 4 points in rear(PasswordJDM style)
Tires: Toyo Proxes T1-R (daily drive/ soon a mag set lighter with r888 on 205/215.50.15)

Pro´s: The car have now more Oversteer, so fun to race it, big bar in the end to compensate the lower spring rate, love it...confort? wath´s that?
Con´s: I´m begening to learn the track down there so is not yet the big thing!
 
EK9

Coils: oem
Shocks: oem
Bushings oem
Sway bars: oem
Strut bars: oem front only
Tires: Potenza RE010 195/55/15 on oem wheels

Pro´s: Got to say the car is brilliant in standard form, the roll makes it grip well to the less than smooth Scottish roads, great balance as standard
Con´s: Once you get used to oem setup the roll is very noticable, also the limits of the oem spec potenzas is found far too easily in the wet....


Coils: Tein 6k front/3k rear, just what they come specd with
Shocks: Tein superstreet
Bushings All oem but mugen RTA bushes
Sway bars: oem
Strut bars: oem front only
Tires: Potenza RE010 195/55/15 on oem wheels

Pro´s: With the damping set quite high, about 4 clicks off full, they feel stiff enough that the roll is reduced, much tighter having the RTA bushes done also
Con´s: Spring rates werent high enough for the driving i do, the compensation of having the dampers wound up high made them a bit bouncy, lack of seperate height and spring preload adjustment made the setup very basic

Current setup...

Coils: Buddy Club 12k front / 8k rear, just what they come specd with
Shocks: Buddy Club N+ spec
Bushings Hardrace bushes throughout, mugen RTA bushes, superflex rear arb mount, energy suspension front arb mount
Sway bars: oem
Strut bars: Spoon front upper / J's racing rear upper
Extra: SPC forged front camber/castor adjusters, SPC rear camber adjusters
Tires: Hankook RS2 205/50/15 on oem wheels

Pro´s: With ALL bushes and balljoints replaced the car feels super tight and responsive to drive, the buddy club suspension is sublime, really is, with the high spring rates the car has such little roll and as harsh as the car is on bumpy roads it doesnt feel jumpy as the damping i run quite low (3 out of 10 clicks), on track it was great too. With the really stiff rates the rear strut brace also made a huge difference and tightened up the back nicely. The tyres have great grip in the wet, out tonight and it was SOAKING, pouring it down but the car is so predictable and the tyres gripped very well, having stiffer engine mounts does help control the throttle more accurately through bends
Con´s: I can't lie, it is uncomfortable on most roads, wont go as far as saying its 'harsh', even sitting in a racing shell seat i find it ok. get a fair bit of road noise with the RS2's especially being 205s
 
Current setup...

Coils: Buddy Club 12k front / 8k rear
Shocks: Buddy Club N+ spec
Bushings Hardrace bushes throughout, mugen RTA bushes, superflex rear arb mount, energy suspension front arb mount
Sway bars: oem
Strut bars: Spoon front upper / Unit-8 H-brace / J's racing rear upper
Extra: SPC forged front camber/castor adjusters, SPC rear camber adjusters
Tires: Toyo R888 medium 195/50/15 on oem wheels
Engine mounts: Innovative 75A / no torque mounts

Weight distribution: 660kg front axle / 330kg rear axle

Pro´s: Bit of an update since last post, addition of a front H-brace, R888 tyres, also added engine mounts as these make a HUGE difference to traction and cornering as the feedback is instant as well as getting the power down straight to the road, no noncense. Also had the car on corner weight scales, only checked the distribution, not individual corners.....
H-brace has tightened up the steering loads, feels very sharp and chuckable, and with the R888 it takes no time to get heat in them and the grip feels like it's endless, really happy with the handling as it is now!!!
Con´s: Engine mounts give wild vibrations through the cabin, when driving the rear view mirror you can just see a blur! Suspension is well damped so not overly harsh, just on the worst of roads you feel it. LOTS of road noise off the R888 once above about 45mph, they also chuck up everything once they get hot
 
Oh and to correct some of you on the first page, oem front ARB is 26mm not 23mm :nerv:
 
indeed, the only poly ARB mount bushes i could find were USDM civic Si ones, for the rear i got ones to fit a UKDM DC2 ITR :)
 
2000 EK9

Coilovers: Meister R ZETA
Bushing: Stock
Sway bars: Stock
Strut bars: Stock
Tires: Yokoham Prada's
Comfort:8/10
Handling: 9/10

Spring Rate: 10KG/MM Front 8 KG/MM Rear

Pro´s:
Seriously the best mod so far, no too bouncy, handles so so so well, literally shocked with how it handles now, coilovers absorb all pot holes and bumps, sticks like glue around mends, could go on forever! Also has the dampening setting hard/soft is awesome to play around with :dance:
Con´s: Only fitted on Saturday, nothing yet
 
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EK4 '98

Make - New OEM ek9
Model - Spoon Progresive Springs
Anti roll bars - OEM ek9 front & rear + ASR rear brace
Comfort - 8
Handling - 9
Price - Dampers 300 [Honda Dealer] Springs 200
Tires - Toyo R888 M 205/50/15 front & 195/55/15 rear
Engine mounts - Spoon Engine Mounts & Spoon Torque damper
Strut bars - Spoon front & rear struts,
Arm Bar - Spoon front & rear Lower Arm Bars
LSD - Quaife 1.5

Positives - Car feels very good on track and can be driven daliy without back pains lol... Spoon springs with stock 9 dampers + sway bars etc are a nice safe combination that will performe just fine for occasional track use :nice: like mentioned above, things like trailing arm bushers do influence handling, replacing these when damaged is crucial! :)) I use R888 for daily use as we dont hve much rain, never expierenced that much grip frm a legal road tyre!! amazing...

Negatives - not adjustable, only a prob on extensive track use i guess when required to improve lap times etc...
 
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old setp-oem shocks on cut tenzo r springs
make-96 honda civic hatchback cx usdm
antiroll bars-none
comfort-really harsh ride,you feel every little imperfection on the road its horrible
handling-the car hugged the road the handling was simply incredible
price-50 dollars and a day's work
positive-incredible handling,beautiful drop(3.25 inches in front and 3 inches in the back)imo, cheap way to make the car handle great
negative-too low for daily driving and for canadian winters,very uncomfortable ride,puts strain on pretty much every component on the car

new setup-kyb struts with tein springs
Make -96 honda
Model -usdm civic hatchback
Anti roll bars-none
Comfort -like oem (amazingly comfortable for a 2 inch drop)
Handling -better then stock better nearly as good as my old setup
Price -500 canadian for the combo
Positives-very comfy,2 inch drop aka nice look imo
Negatives -too soft for any hard turns,too much body roll
 
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1996 EK4

Make - Tanabe / Koni
Model - Tanabe GF210 springs (4.1/2.8) / Koni Sport dampers
Anti roll bars Stock.
Bushes - Full Energy Suspension polybush kit.
Comfort - 4/10
Handling - 6/10
Price - £400 dampers, ~£250 springs
Positives
Nice ride height, about 1" gap between tyre and arch.
Adjustable rebound on the Konis made a noticeable difference to handling at trackdays and autotest events.
Adjustments are linear, repeatable, digressive (if somewhat stiff in high speed bump) and with no crosstalk between bump and rebound.
If you require, the Konis are rebuildable and customisable to any spring rates you wish to run.
Handled well on smooth roads/tracks.
Negatives -
Seriously overdamped as a combo. The spring rates were too low for the damper valving, the ride was crashy making the handling sketchy on bumpy roads
When pushing on, the low spring rates become obvious with noticeable roll and pitching.
Being rebound adjustable only, the adjustments made little difference to ride quality.

Make - Spoon
Model - Fixed dampers and progressive springs (6.3/5.5)
Anti roll bars Stock front, 24mm rear.
Bushes - Full Energy Suspension polybush kit.
Comfort - 10/10
Handling - 10/10
Price - New, around £800-£1000 for dampers, £250 for springs. I paid around £450 second hand.
Positives
The progressive springs are perfectly matched ot the digressive valving of the dampers, meaning the ride is smooth while large body motions in roll and pitch are firmly controlled. This makes them a perfect road setup, and they have held their own on autotest events. Not tried them on track yet but I expect they will excel there too.
Negatives -
Ride height isn't very low at all, not that this is a bad thing, but may put off some people.
Non adjustable, again not necessarily bad, as a road setup you want 'fit and forget' low maintenance equipment, these fit the bill nicely.
Not massively stiff, again not necessarily bad, more of a personal taste thing. Bear in mind stiffer does not automatically mean better handling!
Body motions maybe not as controlled as they would be with linear rate springs.
 
Current setup...

Coils: Buddy Club 12k front / 8k rear
Shocks: Buddy Club N+ spec
Bushings Hardrace bushes throughout, mugen RTA bushes, superflex rear arb mount, energy suspension front arb mount
Sway bars: oem
Bracing: Spoon front upper / Unit-8 H-brace / J's racing rear upper / Cusco rear lower / Safety devices 9 point roll cage / J's racing inner wing braces
Extra: SPC forged front camber/castor adjusters, SPC rear camber adjusters, Buddyclub roll centre adjusters, all new oem honda track rod inners/outers/ARB drop links front and rear. car completely stripped - circa 950kg, spoon 1.5 way plated diff
Tyres: Toyo R888 medium 195/50/15
Wheels: 15x6.5" +42 Regamaster EVO, 10mm front spacers
Engine mounts: Innovative 75A / no torque mounts

Pro´s: Handles like nothing else i've driven, shocks numerous people who come out in it. Since the addition of the cage/wing braces/spoon diff it's unreal now

Con´s: Causes you to drive like a loon, the diff is nasty at low speed and clunks/snatches like nothing else

Best part: Everything fitted and set up in the drive way by me :wow:
 
Stickied this thread!

Try and keep the chat to a minimum though, want further advise on someones setup? PM them :nice:
 
2000 vti

Make - Eibach/ASR/Hardrace/Buddyclub/OEM
Model - Pro-line springs.
Anti roll bars - Stock front, ASR 32mm rear and ASR brace with hardrace. LCA's and droplinks.
Bushes - RTA and some others replaced with new oem bushes.
Comfort - 7/10
Handling - 7/10
Bracing - tegiwa front and rear upper struts.
Camber - buddyclub front camber adjusters.
Price - £100 springs, £300 ASR brace, arb and hardrace items.

Positives - with replaced bushes and a full laser alignment to set the geometry of the suspension the difference was massive over stock. Its nice and comfortable for day to day driving, not bouncy at all. But its also firm enough to hold the car remarkably well through the corners. and its a very cheap setup.

Negatives - the rear of the car is slightly higher than the front due to the springs, which annoys me. not being able to adjust the ride height as its a little too low at the front for me!
 
EG6 SiR II

Make - Feels Honda Twincam
Model - Coilovers specific to chassis model - EG6
Anti roll bars - stock
Bushes - Feels bushes
Comfort - 9/10
Handling - 9/10
Price - New from VtecDirect they are something like £2600 which is a fair amount of money

Positives - Worth every single penny, When on their softest setting they are so compliant over bumpy english back roads, the body roll is not that far from stock just a bit tighter. When on a hard setting say 8 out of 12 clicks they are very stiff and there is no body roll at all. they give me huge amounts of confidence in corners..i have never been to a track to test them on the hardest setting ut i should imagine they would inspire alot of confidence.

Negatives - Price....thats it there really isn't anything bad about these at all. they are superb i would never have bought them but they were on the car.
 
I have included a few extra fields:

'99 EM1 Coupe

Camber - adjustable front and rear. Custom setup
Other adjustable arms - castor and rear LCA's. Also have beaks subframe bar/ASR brace
Anti roll bars - CTR Front 28mm. Spoon rear 32mm
Strut bracing - Front 3point top strut, front lower H-brace/ rear top strut
Shocks - Weitek Race series Coilovers
Bushes - all standard for the moment
Tyres - Advan A043
G'Box - s80 with OEM ITR diff
Engine mounts - polyfilled OEM
Comfort - fook all.
Handling - animal!
Price - cost a good bit
Positives - Animal handling in the corners. Shocks provide absolutely no body roll. Weight is distributed pretty well throughout.
Negatives - Have only tested this on the track. IMO shocks would be too hard for road hence why they are not popular amongst rally drivers.
 
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Make -Skunk2 (Springs 1000lbs F 850lbs R)
Model -Pro C
Anti roll bars Front - OEM EK9, Rear - OEM EK9
Comfort -0/10
Handling -10/10
Price -7/10 Sure there are cheaper kits out there, but the longer they last in my car the better my value for money will get! When these finally give out I'll upgrade to external reservoir dampers with bound and rebound adjustability, but for now they work just fine.
PositivesDamper adjustable, and the adjustment actually gives a change in the feeling of the car, rather than the "32 different levels of hard" that some other brands can deliver.
Negatives -Very heavy, as the lower mounts are made from good, old fashioned steel! This makes the setup very robust, but much heavier than other brands that are made from aircraft grade aluminium.

I will edit my post after I get the car back from my mechanic, as the car will run spherical bushes all over which I would say will change the handling somewhat...
 
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make; h&r
model; sport cup kit(60mm drop front, 40mm drop rear, 30mm rebound front and rear)
anti roll bars; oem ek4 front(26mm), oem dc2r rear(22mm)
bushes; full replacement hardrace kit, spc front upper control arms, buddyclub rear camber arms, hardrace rear compensator arms
wheels; mugen mf8 16x7 +52(10mm spacer front, 15mm spacer rear) 4x114.3 rolling on dunlop direzza z1 starspec 205/50/16
comfort; 8/10 freeway, 6/10 city
price; 7/10. got them shipped from tirerack to australia for approx. 1200au landed, local boys wanted the rrp of 2500.
positives; rides well for a sport orientated kit. somewhat damper adjustable.
negatives; might be a bit rough for the ladies.
overall review; they appear to be h&r sport springs(although spring printed model numbers don't appear to match anything) along with koni yellow shocks(painted grey) valved to h&r's specs. rides well on highways as you're going fast enough to skip over the small imperfections in the road but on city streets(sydney australia streets are bad, just ask any aussie) it gets quite bumpy so get your sports bra's on ladies.
 
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