TeLLy like stiff ride - Hayames installed, alignment done!
Thread Starter
Yes, it's an Acura EL
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Joined: Dec 2002
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From: 416-905, Ontario, Canada
Rep Power: 368 
TeLLy like stiff ride - Hayames installed, alignment done!
Reposted from the suspension forum, cause I wanted you guys to read up:
Well, OK so I got my Hayames in and couldn't really do a full review last night, as my toe was off (0.15LF, 0.35RF, 0.15LR, 0.05RR). The height and rear firmness issues were the only ones I could address last night, and address them I did in multiple posts earlier today. As of right now, after a day of settling and an alignment job, my front and rear gaps are just a touch over 1 finger - perhaps 1/2" between tire surface and fender.
Install issues: well, nothing to speak of, this install went smooth as butter. Once we flipped the tie rod, the only issues were: 1) We couldn't get the Neuspeed tie bar back on - agonized over this for a while, knocked a bolt loose from the upper strut mounts and had to take the wheel off again to find it stuck in a crevice on the shock assembly. Reassembled and good to go. 2) My friends and I each thought the other had torqued down all the wheels. We'd missed one....nearly lost my left rear wheel on the way home.....thunkity thunkity thunk. Scary ****. Torqued and again, good to go.
The toe was so ridiculous on my car, it was dangerous to drive. Turning was an adventure. But I eventually got it to IACTech after work (btw, they're having a special, 70 bones (CANADIAN) for an alignment job). They said the toe was so bad, they were having trouble getting up the ramp for the alignment rack. They had wood planks for the car to ride up on, but the angled wheels kept sliding them off. Anyhoo, got that done and off I sped.
I then got to really take my car for some spirited driving because I had to pick up my baby brother, deliver a set of bumper lights to Canada Post before 7pm, and deliver another set to a friend's house, all before dinner plans with the family at 8pm. So I used the opportunity to really grind into those turns, stereo off, to listen to and feel the way the car handled on the road.
Cornering and turning is friggin fantastic, in fact the amount of oversteer I am getting is taking some re-calibration of my driving style. That thicker front sway bar is tempting now, LOL. I can feel every little inch of the road, and while that may be a bad thing for many of you, I'm loving the feedback I get. Pretty soon I'll be able to tell you whether that little bump was a penny or a dime, ha ha. In a straight line the car is nice and steady, doesn't stray at all thanks to the alignment and the fact that everything is stiffer. The steering wheel response is nice and tight - more so than my stock or with my H&R's on stock shocks. Going over bumps used to be an unnerving experience, but now it's no biggy. The car does react to every little bit of bump, so there's a lot of me shaking in the cabin, but it sure as hell beats the retarded bouncy bouncy of my blown rear shocks. The car stays its course when going over bumps now too - HUGE plus. Also with the stereo off I listened for every tiny little bump, grind, clank, and pop while I did my thing round the curves. I heard NONE that weren't there before. The rear sway bar's bushings need grease and my floor bar squeaks against a piece of plastic panel - that's all. During install, I torqued everything to Honda spec (except that rear wheel don't remind me, LOL) and used the spanner wrenches to tighten the crap out of those locking collars. So if you're hearing noise, it's probably your install or your car.
Height - yes, I did take it down as far as it would go in the rear, with a 3/4" preload. Stiff enough, IMO, although when I put my sub box back in I may be tempted to add more. Definitely no less for me though. Up front, sheesh, I don't remember, but I know it was quite a bit - I'll have to take a pic at some point. Decently stiff, slammed it just short of tucking.
So overall, from my 24 hours of having these on, 4 of which actually consisted of having them on WITH ALIGNMENT, I'll have to give them a hearty 2 thumbs up. Note that I did not talk about how well they held up in the downhill battle or cone-conquering. Why? Cause if I wanted genuine $1100 motorsport coilovers that would give me a severe drop and still corner like a ****, with 36-way adjustability etc etc, I would have bought $1100 coilovers. I paid $650US for these and I expected a coilover set that would lower my ride adequately and make my street and highway handling better than stock or lowering springs with stock. Guess what, that's exactly what I got. This is by no means a shot at those complaining about these coilovers - your opinion is your own of course, but what I'm saying is that you DO get what you pay for. This is just a testimony saying that these coilovers do work, and I didn't really do anything out of the ordinary to make them work. Funny, SedanBoy's setup works pretty well too - Hayame's batting a thousand up here in Toronto, Canada.
Well, OK so I got my Hayames in and couldn't really do a full review last night, as my toe was off (0.15LF, 0.35RF, 0.15LR, 0.05RR). The height and rear firmness issues were the only ones I could address last night, and address them I did in multiple posts earlier today. As of right now, after a day of settling and an alignment job, my front and rear gaps are just a touch over 1 finger - perhaps 1/2" between tire surface and fender.
Install issues: well, nothing to speak of, this install went smooth as butter. Once we flipped the tie rod, the only issues were: 1) We couldn't get the Neuspeed tie bar back on - agonized over this for a while, knocked a bolt loose from the upper strut mounts and had to take the wheel off again to find it stuck in a crevice on the shock assembly. Reassembled and good to go. 2) My friends and I each thought the other had torqued down all the wheels. We'd missed one....nearly lost my left rear wheel on the way home.....thunkity thunkity thunk. Scary ****. Torqued and again, good to go.
The toe was so ridiculous on my car, it was dangerous to drive. Turning was an adventure. But I eventually got it to IACTech after work (btw, they're having a special, 70 bones (CANADIAN) for an alignment job). They said the toe was so bad, they were having trouble getting up the ramp for the alignment rack. They had wood planks for the car to ride up on, but the angled wheels kept sliding them off. Anyhoo, got that done and off I sped.
I then got to really take my car for some spirited driving because I had to pick up my baby brother, deliver a set of bumper lights to Canada Post before 7pm, and deliver another set to a friend's house, all before dinner plans with the family at 8pm. So I used the opportunity to really grind into those turns, stereo off, to listen to and feel the way the car handled on the road.
Cornering and turning is friggin fantastic, in fact the amount of oversteer I am getting is taking some re-calibration of my driving style. That thicker front sway bar is tempting now, LOL. I can feel every little inch of the road, and while that may be a bad thing for many of you, I'm loving the feedback I get. Pretty soon I'll be able to tell you whether that little bump was a penny or a dime, ha ha. In a straight line the car is nice and steady, doesn't stray at all thanks to the alignment and the fact that everything is stiffer. The steering wheel response is nice and tight - more so than my stock or with my H&R's on stock shocks. Going over bumps used to be an unnerving experience, but now it's no biggy. The car does react to every little bit of bump, so there's a lot of me shaking in the cabin, but it sure as hell beats the retarded bouncy bouncy of my blown rear shocks. The car stays its course when going over bumps now too - HUGE plus. Also with the stereo off I listened for every tiny little bump, grind, clank, and pop while I did my thing round the curves. I heard NONE that weren't there before. The rear sway bar's bushings need grease and my floor bar squeaks against a piece of plastic panel - that's all. During install, I torqued everything to Honda spec (except that rear wheel don't remind me, LOL) and used the spanner wrenches to tighten the crap out of those locking collars. So if you're hearing noise, it's probably your install or your car.
Height - yes, I did take it down as far as it would go in the rear, with a 3/4" preload. Stiff enough, IMO, although when I put my sub box back in I may be tempted to add more. Definitely no less for me though. Up front, sheesh, I don't remember, but I know it was quite a bit - I'll have to take a pic at some point. Decently stiff, slammed it just short of tucking.
So overall, from my 24 hours of having these on, 4 of which actually consisted of having them on WITH ALIGNMENT, I'll have to give them a hearty 2 thumbs up. Note that I did not talk about how well they held up in the downhill battle or cone-conquering. Why? Cause if I wanted genuine $1100 motorsport coilovers that would give me a severe drop and still corner like a ****, with 36-way adjustability etc etc, I would have bought $1100 coilovers. I paid $650US for these and I expected a coilover set that would lower my ride adequately and make my street and highway handling better than stock or lowering springs with stock. Guess what, that's exactly what I got. This is by no means a shot at those complaining about these coilovers - your opinion is your own of course, but what I'm saying is that you DO get what you pay for. This is just a testimony saying that these coilovers do work, and I didn't really do anything out of the ordinary to make them work. Funny, SedanBoy's setup works pretty well too - Hayame's batting a thousand up here in Toronto, Canada.
Thread Starter
Yes, it's an Acura EL
iTrader: (23)
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 8,248
Likes: 0
From: 416-905, Ontario, Canada
Rep Power: 368 Thanks to loudsubz, mikeweb, and el-driver for the install help btw, and for coming to the rescue when i was pulled over to the side of the road in the rain cause my rear wheel was fallin off.
DAYUM, bro, u guys did this all by yourselves?! wow, the only time my car is lowered is when i got about 3 fat chix in the back... tellyman am gonna have to hit u up to lower my ride then. congrats on one of your accomplishment bro!
Thread Starter
Yes, it's an Acura EL
iTrader: (23)
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 8,248
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From: 416-905, Ontario, Canada
Rep Power: 368
Originally Posted by SIR_EL
DAYUM, bro, u guys did this all by yourselves?! wow, the only time my car is lowered is when i got about 3 fat chix in the back... tellyman am gonna have to hit u up to lower my ride then. congrats on one of your accomplishment bro!
Thread Starter
Yes, it's an Acura EL
iTrader: (23)
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 8,248
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From: 416-905, Ontario, Canada
Rep Power: 368 My right front 3rd locknut has come a lil loose - gotta tighten tonite. Then after my bodywork next week, you will have all the pics you can stomach.
Got a quote for me? Full kit....fit and paint
Got a quote for me? Full kit....fit and paint
Last edited by Pharoh; Jun 24, 2004 at 01:11 PM.
Thread Starter
Yes, it's an Acura EL
iTrader: (23)
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 8,248
Likes: 0
From: 416-905, Ontario, Canada
Rep Power: 368 No sorry, I called him yesterday and today, and both times I got put on hold for like 5 minutes, I just hung up. I'll just ask him in person when I drop off the car on Monday.
where are the pix of you hummping it now that they are in 
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