Suspension importance: Springs VS. Shocks
 

It appears to me that performance shocks play an important role on a lowered (with springs) car. This is REGURDLESS of ride comfort, and is about handeling ONLY.

Before I lower my 5Gen Coupe with H&R Sports, my car had very good handeling with a set of 205/40/16 Dunlope GT Qualifiers, and a Nuespeed front strut bar alone.

Now, being also lowered, there seems to be better handeling than before, since the center of the gravity of the car is lowered, and also there is less body roll.
However, the bounciness leads to UNSTABEL TURNES (that results the car tending to jump off the road) on the roads and ramps that suffer from bad surfaces and cracked/ bumpy Asphalt.

So I'm assuming that Before lowering my car, since the stock Spring rates and stock shocks worked together reasonably, there was a more stable ride than now, that the Springs have changed.

This problem however, happens with bad roads and f*cked-up Asphalt only.

Any thoughts??

Im glad you realized this..you are compleately right in every way about it...

"the bounciness leads to UNSTABEL TURNES (that results the car tending to jump off the road) on the roads and ramps that suffer from bad surfaces and cracked/ bumpy Asfalt. "

Get a nice set of gas shocks and this will go away, you car will also handel even better than it did before, ride comfort will be restored not compleately but very close to stock, and you feel more confident on the road...less griping the wheel tightly, and tensing up when you see a rough surface/bump adds to the safety of driving the car...

:dito:


my shocks are finally getting towards the end of there life.... 285 000 kms later :p time to spend some bling bling on new ones

Rick, I dont think Ive ever seen a set of shocks that old ,still in working condition, especially part of the life on lowering springs.. You should make a plaque for those babys and hang them on the wall!!..lol Good old Honda OEM :thumbup: what brand do you have in mind for replacement??

I see you guys agree with me.

So its money talk time again! :-(
I would rather not spend too much dough on the shocks. After all, its a Civic...

So forget about KYB and KONY.
How about something more conventional?
The GAS shocks that Canadian Tire carries? Or the ones from Walmart?

What do you think?

Hey BoosTZeX, I used to run a 55 shot ZEX on my DX motor for 8 months. The car was FLYING!!! But around spring time, I tought it wouldn't be worth the risks and I got rid of the kit. I sold it with installation.
Funny thing is, a week after I pulled the kit off the car, I got stopped by a Cop on HW 7. He noticed the number on my window from the track and stoped me. And guess what? He asked me to POP THE HOOD!! He checked everything and also he looked underneath the car with his flashlight to make sure CAT converter is there.
Very close man, I tell you. If it was a week earlier, my car would be IMPOUNDED !! My girlfiend and I would be walking home..... !!!

replacements are going to be a joke due to insufficent funds... i'm gonna have a pair of integra type r rear shocks... and unknown front shocks as of now.... still gotta find something

they do deserve a plaque... my drivers side rear has no fluid left in it... or it stopped leaking anyways... so i have some hot noises from bumps now :kickass:

if you're going the cheap way...get a set of kyb gr2's...they're only like 10-15% stiffer then stock and they have a reasonably decent ride...obviously nothing like koni's. probably alot better then crappy tire shocks though.

ok like you've said the stock combination of springs/shocks are that way for a reason... well 2 reasons....1 being ride comfort and the other being cost... but they are designed to work well together... with the right enterance to a corner I can get a bit of oversteer happening with the stock setup

that being said and due to my classification in the racing I do I'll be changing the shocks first and leaving the springs alone... body roll is not as bad as it's made out to be...

most people change springs first then do shocks when in fact beter performance can be found doing it the other way around ...

don't comprimise on the shocks .... KYB AGX's or KONI yellow's all the way around

the only reason i am comprimising is cause i owe way to much money for school... and my car has to stay on the road.... so i gotta comprimise right now.... next year when i'm rich i'll get some good shocks

ps. agx's wont work for me cause of the race springs

Thats good to hear that you didnt get caught!!!lol... Im not to worried about getting caught, I live in a small town, all the cops know my car, and I know allot of the cops around here... Most of them know I have handled dangerous goods at work for over 5 years (the cops always patroll the airport and see me fueling jets), I have a transportation of dangerous goods certificate from a training course...So I should be safe in that regards...

well you'd also have to display the proper hazard signs when transporting the dangerous goods....