What's better for handling?

[shamoo]

I have a 1997 Integra LS...my shocks have finally gone. 2 years of driving lowered on stock shocks will do it. Anyway, I'm thinking of getting new performance shocks. Which would be best for performance? I'm looking to spend around $400-450 for them not including install.
Another question is. Right now, I'm riding on a cheapo set of coilovers from OBX or something. I have a spare set of Sprint springs in my garage. Should I use my Sprint ones when I put in the shocks? Or stay with my coilovers? I want better handling, not looks. The coils I have now are really stiff, but don't really care about the ride. I want better handling.
Thanks.

[Rich]

There is alot of things that goes into seting up a good suspention package. Even more when you are on a tight budget. I have mixed feelings on slip on coil overs, some are good, others are bad, not to mention, do you REALLY know what spring rates you have? Another thing is, what kind of handeling are you aiming for. I can spend all day typing my fingers off telling you how to set up a race ready suspention on a budget, but I don't think that's what you are looking for. One major factor in suspention tuning is, what kind of cornering are you looking for. Are you going to be blasting up a mountan road, or the race track, or just putting around the auto-x course. These are some desitions that you are going to have to make before you envest what little you have for a good suspention setup. I would say, stay away from the ricer shops. It has been my experance that they have no clue what they are talking about when it comes to making corners. The most important thing is going to be a set of liniar springs. You are not going to want some progressive crap springs keeping you out of the gravel traps comming out of #10 at Seca. Give me an idea on what your exact goals are, and I will give you some sound advice.

If you doubt my knowlage in anyway, March SSC page #94, that's my suspention work. "The suspention is the strong point in this car" -Albert Mirko

[shamoo]

Thanks for the reply Rich. I didn't know there was so much to consider. Honestly I don't know what my spring rates are, but perhaps you can help me. I'm looking for a simple street car that takes corners very well. I like what you said about "blasting up mountain roads." That's probably what I'm looking for.
I put this post on other boards and I'm getting:
"You should put your Spring springs back on if you want the handling. Then get Koni Yellows as they have an adjustable perch that can further lower the car 0.5"/1.0"/1.5" and they are adjustable for stiffness."
On the other hand, one guy said that he also had cheapo coilovers from Arospeed and since they were so stiff he could take turns on a dime, but sometimes the contact on the road isn't solid because of the stiffness.
Arghh....please help.

[phmracing]

i heard arospeed coilovers are cheap imitations and shouldn't be trusted... go get some progress springs, and koni yellows, and see whats up, though that will be more than a tight budget is allowing.

[Rich]

Now that I have a little time to type, and a better idea what you are wanting, I can fill you in some.

The starting point for any good suspention system is going to be the struts/shocks, and the springs. The strut's only pourpose in life is to minimize the amount of bounce you get from your springs. Koni yellows, Tokico Illuminas, Spax, Carrera, Fox, and Arvin are all great dampeners. Due to the limitation of your budget, you are going to be held down by the price of them. A set of quality adjustable struts will set you back about $700. There are alot of good nonadjustable struts out there. The Koni reds, Tokico HP's, Arvin's are all great parts. They can be had for around $400 for a full set. With a set of tighter dampeners, you are going to be able to run a lower stance with your suspention. As your spring compresses, you are going to start hitting jounce bumper, then bottom out your suspention. This is the reason that cutting springs is a bad idea unless you know what you are doing. The spring supports the weight of the car, and fights against compression under the car's weight as it hits bumps, or while sitting in a hard corner. The stiffer the springs, the more resistant they are to compression, thus making a shorter spring safe to run without worries of bottoming. As you can see with you setup now, the stiffer springs fight the struts more, and causes premature death of the struts. You should ballance the springs with a set of high performance struts, allowing a lower stance, and greater center of gravity. 99% of the people out there think that lower is better, but that is FAR from correct. As you lower your car you are changing the suspention geometry, and effectivly killing what mechanical engeneers spend years designing. This is okay, to an extent. With out extencive mods, I would never lower a car more then 1-1.5". The spring rate is going to be needed to take into consideration. The higher the spring rate, the greater the force it will withstand, but the rougher the ride. One of the most important thing to remember, in cornering, you want to keep as much traction to the road, and as little body roll that you can have. Body roll isn't always bad, but it should be kept to a minimum. A med rate spring is always good for a street driven machine. Allowing for agressive carving up mountan roads, as well as intact kidneys during city driving. Another thing to consider is Progressive vs. Liniar. The progressive rate spring allows for a soft ride because the coils get stronger as they near bottom. this allows the keeping of an exteramly stiff lower coil section, and a nice plush top. This also has it's draw backs. Because the compression rate is ever changing, there is no chance for you to predict what the cornering abilites in your car are. The liniar rate spring is great in many ways, but it robbs from your ride quality. Because the liniar rate spring is designed to keep the same strength for the entire length of the coil, you can predict what the car will do on the twisties. I can't tell you what to get in the way of products, but there are some cheap mods I would do if I were you.
1)find some FOOL who lowered his ITR, and buy his springs.
2)take a carparts.com coupon for $40 off $100, and give it to 4 friends you kow. Each one orders one corner, nad you save a ton of cash. Put it all together, and you will be happy with the outcome.

[jexser]

I have the Tokico Illuminas on my Mustang, and could solidly recommend them to anyone who has an itch for an apex. The really nice thing about an adjustable shock/strut is you can loosen them up when you aren't on a fun run. They'll live alot longer when you loosen them up, but I haven't bothered! :) Too busy bustin' ass on the twisties!:D

[The Weapon]

Front and/or rear anti-sway bars are a great way to improve handling. But as the saying goes... "be careful what you ask for."
Suspension Techniques makes some good products.

Also, tires can make a HUGE difference with handling. You could have the greatest spring/shock set-up for your car but it won't mean anything if you don't have tires to handle the characteristics of the suspension components. Trust me, I know.

[Niño]

Dunlop SP8000's kick ass! :)

Slap on some negative camber while you're at it too. And if you have a bill or two laying around, get some better bushings cause the stock rubber ones suck!

[SiN-6]

for tires.. i cant wait until the S-03 is out...

[speedfreak381]

Speedfreak here,

Here's what you need to do! Get rid of both pairs of springs and buy yourself a set of Ground Contro coil overs and a pair of Tokico Shocks! That should get you a great ride.

Peace.

[g5raprentice]

i know that youre on a tight budget....but i got some REAL coiloversfor $860: H&R coilovers...pretty good...its only adjustible in height but the shock/strut is length matched to the spring rate...ive had it for more than a year and they still feel good...just some spring squeek but thats easy to take care of...handling is good and the ride is good as well...very responsive...just lettin you know...laters