question for RSX guys, lowered

[CleanNeon98]

im helpin a buddy of mine lower his RSX, but for the love of me I cant find aftermarket struts for it except for Koni inserts (600+ dollars)...does anyone make these things?? I know a few parts from the 01-05 civic are interchangable for the RSX, would those struts work on it?? Thanks

[CHR!S]

aftermarket struts with lowering springs for rsx's absolutely SUCK. please have him stick to coilovers like D2, f&f, k-sport, buddyclub, etc

btw: the 01-05 non-si struts wont work

[CleanNeon98]

Originally Posted by CHR!S

aftermarket struts with lowering springs for rsx's absolutely SUCK. please have him stick to coilovers like D2, f&f, k-sport, buddyclub, etc

btw: the 01-05 non-si struts wont work

I actually heard they will if you use the 04-05 civic tie rod ends

[pearl]

do it right the first time ;)

[07NHBPCivicSi]

Originally Posted by CHR!S

aftermarket struts with lowering springs for rsx's absolutely SUCK. please have him stick to coilovers like D2, f&f, k-sport, buddyclub, etc

btw: the 01-05 non-si struts wont work

SHOCKS, SPRINGS, COILOVERS!!!

Don’t run the OEM dampers with any lowering springs, Progressive rate springs don’t have a definitive spring rate because as their compressed their rate will increase, although they will be more comfortable than a linear rate spring, which rate will always stay constant.

“For Street use, It really makes very little difference what suspension you buy. If you are looking for a soft ride, pick one with a low spring rate. Dampers, do make a difference here. However ride quality is mostly influenced by Mid to high shaft speed valving (mostly bump). And really good single ajustible dampers, ones that allow you to tweak your cars hanlding the best, Should only adjust low speed rebound.

And this is why what damper you choose for street use doesnt really matter... Because most if not all of these "coilover" companys run Single adjustible dampers that adjust both bump and rebound with the same knob, which is silly for any sort of tuning for handling. AND the dampers the do run adjust mostly in the Mid speed valving range, limiting their usefull ness for any thing other then tweaking your ride quality.”

“Sure “pre-built” coilovers are easier. They are very convient, the car handles better than stock but not as well as it could. With a bit of luck someone else has “tuned” the coilover to your car. Will it be tuned specifically for you, no. They are tuned for a wide variety of customers with many different wants out of a suspension kit. Most of which are street drivers.

If you decide to order individual suspension parts then you can choose exactly what you want for your car, the use of the vechile, and your own driving style. Can a “pre-built” coilover compete with a separate spring shock combination, maybe/maybe not.

If you are only driving you car on the street and you will never see the track or any type of competition then a “pre-built” coilover is probably fine for you. If you want the absolute best out of your car and can take the car there then I would say stay away from most of the “pre-built” coilover kits. Either way it won’t matter if this is a street car you will never get the max out of your suspension on the street, and chances are your car isn’t properly prepared anyway, why is this, you don’t know what adds that last 10th of a second unless your timed.”.

Why am I in such dislike of any of the “pre-built coilovers? Dampers and Valving!!!!

“With all of the items that come with your coilovers the damper is the most expensive part that comes with the kit. A lot of companies promote the # of adjustment "clicks" on their dampers as a feature, with out posting a dynograph of the adjustment range of that damper.... well its time to start questioning why. Because "32 way adjustible" really tells me squat about the damper other then it is suposidly adjustible. It doesnt tell me what gets adjusted, it doesnt tell me the range in which those things get adjusted in. in order to lower costs, they end up using dampers of a more primitive design. you'll notice that most if not all use dampers that adjust both their bump valving and rebound valving with one knob. There's a reason for this, as dampers of this sort are easier to design and manufactur (theres only one set of Valve stacks that need to be turned with the adjuster, Vs ones where you only adjust rebound that have two sets of valve stacks, one that gets alterd by the adjustment knob and one that doesnt). Great for the company as they can sell their "coilovers" for less, bad for tuners because you now have an inferior damper. Also valving adjustment range tends to be very limited with the "cheep" coilovers.

In the whole, why would some one want a single adjustible damper to only adjust Rebound rather then Bump and rebound at the same time... well, that deals more with ride quality and how the car reacts to rough surfaces and impacts. See, bump valving has a much bigger influence on how the car reacts to impacts then rebound... It could be said that stiffer bump valving sort of Fakes a higher spring rate. The problem with that is, since they have the side effect of "faking" a stiffer spring, you are also "faking" a higher suspension frequency.... meaning the car will have less traction over bumps and rough surfaces. With a damper that adjusts bump and rebound at the same time, you end up running in to an issue of "I need stiffer valving to get the car to handle and respond the way I want, but I cant run to high of a bump valving with out making the car unstable in turns that arnt perfectly smooth"

"Low speed Valving deals primairly with Handling, as it influences how quickly weight gets transfered around the chassis.
High speed Valving deals primairly with how the shock reacts to impacts, such as bumps and ruts....
Mid speed Valving deals a bit with both.
then you get in to Bump Valvling Vs Rebound Valving.
Bump Primiaily deals with ride quality.
Rebound Primaily deals with handling."


There you have it this is why “pre-built” coilovers are not ideal for competition. For most these are perfectly fine for daily/street driving, but if you even think you will do any competiton then double think your purchase of a “pre-built” coilover.
FROM 8th GEN CIVIC

[Danronian]

I remember reading an article a while back in Honda Tuning Mag about how there is pretty much no ride in the suspension, and that with lowering springs it's basically on the bumpstops. They did a retrofit with those Koni units and installed them with lowering springs on an RSX in the article.