Hey guys, I was at my local shop tonight checkin' out how much it would be to get a drop (Skunk2) and some Strut Bars (Neuspeed?). Any way, the guy asked why I wanted Skunk2 and I told him that I heard they were good springs. I also told him that I was in AutoXing and I wanted STIFF. He said that Skunk2 is more of a "Show" spring, "it's just TOO stiff, it bounces A LOT!!" he said. I asked for a good alternative and he obviously, being a salesman and not knowing the budget constraints, suggested TEIN...but that's a little TOO PRICEY! lol So he then suggested Sprint Performance Suspension coilovers.
My question....DOES ANYONE HAVE THEM???
If so....DO YOU LIKE THEM? DO THEY HANDLE WELL? ARE THEY STIFF BUT NOT TOO STIFF? (if that makes sense). Also, for $162.95 ... are they worth the money? I'll only be using them for about two years 'till I scrap the "Street legal goodies" and turn this bad boy into a "Trailer car" for racing....(meaning I'll upgrade to TEIN, do a swap, lose the CAT, etc.)
BTW, will I need a camber kit with these? It's a 2" drop but he didn't say anything about needing a kit...HELP!!
Here is a link to PTuning's site featuring the SPRINGS
Definitly dont get Skunk 2. Your shocks will blow in like a month. Teins are good springs i would go for them. Neuspeed and eibach also make good springs
I too would go for the TEIN's but again...$$$ is an issue. I've only got about $300 to play with, so it's either Sprint Performance springs, or Progress Technology springs, etc. I'll look into Eibach and Neuspeed, thanks.
Find out the spring rates of all of them. They won't be nearly as stiff as true coilovers (tein 336/448, JIC 450/500, KW V2 350/500). Springs sold are decent in autox but you will need something stiffer. You can get custom springs with rates you want. The reason you bounce is because people don't put shocks with them. If you were to get sleeved coilovers for autox get GC with konis or get the tein basic. Sorry, but if money is an issue, don't modify your car for autox. It is an expensive sport...
I say take your intake out and put the stock one in and race on your 15" steelies or get a set rotas and race in stock classes.
Here's a tip... Especially considering I just topped off my suspension set up.
I have spent $3100 in an attempt to make my car handle better and stand a chance in STS. I'm sure I could have spent more, but keep in mind, thats just money in the suspension, wheels and tires.
Now... if you don't have that kind of coin to play with, but still want to autocross and do well, try this....
Get yourself an extra set of stock size rims (that 14x5.5 for LX/DX or 15x6 for EX), They don't have to be expensive, Mini wheels, Saturn Wheels, Miata wheels (you might have to get them re-bored) all fit and can be bought, probably for cheaper than Honda wheels. Put some Falken Azenis on them (I would say get R compounds, but they're expensive as hell), change the shocks to Konis, get a Cat back and go race H-Stock. Just as fun, and just as competitive... but a whole lot cheaper.
If you're just f*ckin' around, then anything is stiffer than stock, but probably no where as stiff as it should be. I wouldn't drop it too far, suspension travel is your friend, and the lower you go, especially on a stock length shock, the less travel you have.
I need to add something...
It should be said that I didn't blow all that money at once... I did it one mod at a time, but the springs and shocks were the LAST thing I did. I'm making a point of that for a reason...
At first, the slowest thing in the car is the guy who's behind the wheel. Sure... the car leaves some improvement in the handling department... its set up for grandma to not end up facing the wrong way down an onramp, but the fighting you have to do to keep the car going the way you want it makes you better. And until you can push the car to its limits, it does no good to upgrade it.
Now to be totally honest... these Hayame coils seem like a steal if they hold up... BUT I won't trust them just yet. I would wait and see what happens with them, and make sure they survive the street beating before trying to race on them. So let the daily drivers use them for a little while and make sure they're ok first. They may be good, they may be bad, who knows yet... All I know is I've never seen a race car with them... which may or may not say something... lets just wait and see.
3,100 isnt really that expensive when you compair it to a Street Prepaired cars budget.... To run CSP in an 88 CRX, nationaly compeditive that is, my friend had 35,000 in the car... Not including purchasing price. which is why he went to F125 (Kart) his nationally compeditive kart only has 10,000 in it.... So now that the karts have beat the snot out of him (hes got some old motocross injuries) he wants to race in a more "comfortable" car/class.. So STS it is. (one of the cheepest preped classes you can run)
But any way, if you can Run stock for a while, you'll have fun and get great experiance... If you are dead set on moding your car STS is a good class for our cars (it actually stands some what of a chance of winning, Locally at least) and when compaired to the other more Preped classes STS is very cheep to run.
No, you're right... STS is cheap compared to some other classes. But if he's saying money's an issue, then thats a lot. He says Teins are too much... thats only 1/3 of the $3100 I said... which is why I tried backing off the wallet as much as I could.
Yeah I have to say that though STS is cheap compared to other classes, it can get costly. I ran a few autox's last year on 17's with NT450s and not lowered, and the car was just not responsive as compared to the other cars in my class and my region. It may also have been that I am new to this, but I also feel that the car needs some suspension help in STS.
Originally posted by Boilermaker1 No, you're right... STS is cheap compared to some other classes. But if he's saying money's an issue, then thats a lot. He says Teins are too much... thats only 1/3 of the $3100 I said... which is why I tried backing off the wallet as much as I could.
true, so since $$$ is the big problem, this is what I reccomend he do
1.Before you go out and buy springs, get a set of Konis. (This will allow you to run stock better while you save for STS things) (Around $500 + install)
2. Wheels and tires, a cheep set of rotas or other light weight cheep wheel (15X6.5 is ok, 15X7 would be preferable 15X7.5 would be the best). Rota slipstreams (11.8lbs in 15X6.5) will run you about $100 a wheel (this will bump you out of stock) slap a set of Falken Azenis on there (205/50-15) you can find these for as cheep as $65.
3. If you have an 01 or 02 go out to your car right now and Disconnect the front anti-roll bar. thats way too much roll resistance on the front end and makes it understeer like a Pregnant moose. if you have the $$$ get the 03 front anti-roll bar
4. Pick up an RSX rear anti roll bar ($80 new), this is a quick cheep way to increase the rear roll rate.
5. after you've driven it like this for a few events (build slowly, 1 piece at a time) then start looking at springs, Probably Ground Control (and go through ground control when you buy them, so you can get a custom spring rate).
6. save some more and start looking at the different tie bars (front rear upper lower)
(notice that engine parts havent even come up???)
after every thing else is set up with your suspension.... Then start modding the engine to the max of the rules...
at leat thats what I would have done If I new then what I know now.
Originally posted by robbclark1 Find out the spring rates of all of them. They won't be nearly as stiff as true coilovers (tein 336/448, JIC 450/500, KW V2 350/500). Springs sold are decent in autox but you will need something stiffer. You can get custom springs with rates you want. The reason you bounce is because people don't put shocks with them. If you were to get sleeved coilovers for autox get GC with konis or get the tein basic. Sorry, but if money is an issue, don't modify your car for autox. It is an expensive sport...
I say take your intake out and put the stock one in and race on your 15" steelies or get a set rotas and race in stock classes.
Ok ok, thanks for all the great advice. You misunderstood me and I mis-stated my question. TEIN's are too pricey RIGHT NOW!!! I'll get them within a year or two, but for now, I think a drop, some sway bars, some steelies with Falken's, and maybe a tie bar or two, lol is all I want to do. I have the money for the TEIN's, but I just don't feel comfortable dropping a grand into the car for, basically, one part and I'm still new to the sport. SO.....the reason for the drop (sprint springs) and sway bars, falken's, etc. has a dual purpose. Yes it's mainly performance based, but I need a drop BADLY...the damn thing looks like it's lifted for gosh sake!!! lol
But again THANKS TO ALL....again you've helped emensly!!! (sp?) lol
I understood your question, i was just stating my opinion on the situtation. While sprint springs will lower your car they will not make it very effective in autox. You could probably be faster than a raised civic, but the spring rates on the Sprint springs are really soft. Plus putting a lot of stress on your shocks will force you to get news ones quickly, which means you will be forced to spend $500 on Konis. And if you don't know much about Konis you will have to cut your front struts to make them fit. Lowered cars also put a lot of stress on the front control arm bushings. Ask Zzyzx. His didn't last that long (maybe 2 years).
I know you want to modify your car, but if you are serious about autox then I would start in the stock class and go from there, when you have the money to prepare for a better class. I mean it is fine to race in STS with just I/H/E but you will be up against competition with lowered cars, big sway bars, and camber plates. Just something to think about.
i had sprint springs pretty nice ride i might say but i took them out and switched to neuspeed sport which is a little bit better, sprint was just too low for me
Originally posted by robbclark1 I understood your question, i was just stating my opinion on the situtation. While sprint springs will lower your car they will not make it very effective in autox. You could probably be faster than a raised civic, but the spring rates on the Sprint springs are really soft. Plus putting a lot of stress on your shocks will force you to get news ones quickly, which means you will be forced to spend $500 on Konis. And if you don't know much about Konis you will have to cut your front struts to make them fit. Lowered cars also put a lot of stress on the front control arm bushings. Ask Zzyzx. His didn't last that long (maybe 2 years).
I know you want to modify your car, but if you are serious about autox then I would start in the stock class and go from there, when you have the money to prepare for a better class. I mean it is fine to race in STS with just I/H/E but you will be up against competition with lowered cars, big sway bars, and camber plates. Just something to think about.
Ok I see your point. You're right that Sprint's aren't that great for autoXing, at least not compared to TEIN's and such, however, I firmly believe that anything is better than stock, lol. About me going up against lowered cars with more goodies than me...I don't care. The way I look at it, racing against better cars can only serve to make me better...right? Exactly, and besides, my first time out...I ended up 29th out of 50 in the Novice index. I think that's pretty damn good, considering that I was beating Integra's with turbo's, RSX's, etc. I truly don't think it's ALL car. I am a good driver looking to get better. I see the mods that I want to do as a TOOL to get better, not as a SOLE MEANS to be better.
So again, I thank you for the advice and I hope to benefit from your wisdom in the future as well. (I'm not being sarcastic here, I'm sincere). I truly look up to those who have been at it for a while and all I want to do is learn. I do, however, have a tendency to learn the hard way, lol.
Ok, other options since you say that Sprint springs are not stiff enough...what about Progress? Or Eibach? Or Gold Line Race Series? Or H&R? Or TEIN High Tech / S. Tech Springs? Any other suggestions for lowering springs? I think I can specify what spring rate I want them for a couple of the companies..so what would you recommend for stock struts?
