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Well I'm going to be upgrading my suspension on my 03 EX in the next couple of months and I wanted to ask about somethings before I make up my mind about what I want. I want to get neuspeed race springs, progress sway bar kit, neuspeed front upper strut bar, and some rear upper strut bar. Later down the road I plain on upgrading my struts. I want to wait and see how the Tockio struts are when they come out. Thats why I'm waiting on struts. My question is if my car will have bad understeer. I've been doing alot of reading on suspension on Honda-tech.com and I didn't get that many clear answers. Most of the suspension topics were on EGs, and nothing on EM2s. Anyways, would getting the progress swaybar kit be too much with neuspeed race springs? I've seen lots of people talk about stiff springs, and tick sway bars being a no no. I'm just not too sure though. I want my car to handle well and I want ao good drop. But I really dont' want to get a full coilover set. Any ideas? Thanks.

 
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its essiential that you get full coilovers


but you will dramatically reduce understeer with the mods
you just named

 
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Replacing your stock spring+strut system with a true coilover kit will guarantee reduced understeer and a higher rating on the skidpad. Adding an anti-roll bar (swaybar) will reduce bodyroll even further, although this may sacrifice ride comfort.

When it comes to upgrading suspension components, you're always fighting against three variables: price, performance and ride quality. If you do your research, you should be able to find a good compromise between the three. Although, I warn you, the best performance and ride quality can only be had with a true coil-over kit, such as one from Tein or other mfgs. These can be quite costly ($800-$1600 depending on the model and level of adjustability), but you will not be disappointed.

What one must understand about suspensions in general is that the spring-damper-wheel mechanism must be balanced to give you a good ride. If you simply want your car to look good, get lowering springs and a camber kit. If you want it drive well, go with a system that is designed such that the springs and dampers work together - ie: true coilover kit.

I studied suspension systems in great detail at school (Mechanical Engineering), and I say that in my professional opinion simply getting spring "A" and damper "B" is not a good idea. They are not designed to work together and may produce unwanted results.

I'm still researching which kit I'm going to get for my ride, since I'm waiting until the spring to upgrade my setup from the current mushy-understeer prone stock setup....

 
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Thanks for the info. I guess I'm just going to have to get a full coilover set then. I'm thinking about B&G right now.

 
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I agree partly with ELaudio, the spring and shock must work together. However, you can get just as good of performance frome a spring and shock combo as you can with a Full coilover set. so dont rule them out so quickly.

I say this because I am an avid Autocrosser, and in this sport many of the top drivers in the country run on just a set of custom rate springs with a set of Koni Yellow shocks.

What you need to do is find out what the product you want to use is rated for, example: Koni Yellows as they come from the factory are only good at controling springs up to 450LB/in. Koni will revalve them but even the Valved to the max Konis are only good to about 700LB/in. So Knowing that, you could choose a spring that is in the sub 450lb/in and the Konis would probably be more then adequate. if you got a spring that was above that mark then you wold need to get the shock revalved for the heavier spring.

So like I said, Dont count out Sprng and shock combos so quickly.

 
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yeah dont skip over shock/spring combos. Koni has a shock that is especilly designed to work with neuspeed springs. I hear it rides quite nicely.