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hey whats up i'm new to this forum my names Dickie i'm from CT
i just bought a black '05 civic lx and i want build a car that handles
very well ,i'm 35 yrs old i'm not into lowered car's ,body kits, big wings,
carbon fiber , i looking to make a fast and clean off ramp car,
now i've purchased (not yet installed due to winter) black w/polished lip 18" axis reverb wheels w/BFG G-force t/a kdw's 215-40-18's, DC sport strut bar
and rear bar , please don't yell at me if this question has been asked
i looked in FAQ but didn't see it .
ok i would like to know if is there much of a difference between koni's w/ eibach springs, than if i was to buy teins basic's coilovers ,i'm talking about the ride & cornering, i don't want a car that bounces off the ground when i hit bumps and this is a daily driver
i would like to spend $800.00 max but if is worth spend the extra $600.00
to get what i'm looking for the first time then thats what i'll do and buy the coil overs . if there is any one that has either one of these set ups and can
give me some insite or recommend another way to go, i'm new to sport compact car 's .i've always drove trucks and chevy muscle cars
any help would be great thanks ,

 
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Konis have adjustable damping, tein basics dont. The konis are a more difficult installation because the front struts are inserts and you need to hack up the stock one to install them. That often discourages people from buying them, it did to me the first time, but I just ordered myself a set of them. You're probably going to get a better ride from Konis and eibachs, if for nothing else that the springs are progressive rather than straight rate, either will be harsher than stock.
If you want a car that handles well, smaller wheels would have helped too, but its too late for that.
You'll get rants and raves about both setups.

 
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I can only comment on my setup which is a Eibach Sportlines with Koni's, stock EX swaybars, Ebay front and rear strut bars, DC lower tie bar and SPC rear camber kit. I'm running 205/40/17 Kumho Ecsta 711's wheels and tires. I use my car as daily driver in doing over 300 miles a week. The performance and comfort level is great. My car handles twisties and off ramps like its on rails. Being a progessive rate spring, its pretty close to stock on the smooth roads but gets a little choppy on bumpy surfaces.

 
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Well, I autocross quite a bit, and right now my setup goes like this.

Springs :Eibach Sportlines
Dampers : Koni Sport
Front anti roll bar : OEM 03+ 15.9mm
Rear Anti Roll bar : Hotchkiss Tuning 2 point adjustible 25.4mm
Wheels tires:
Street, 17X7.5 with Continental ContiExtremeContact in 215/45-17
Autocross 15X6.5 (I need 15X7's) with Falken Azenis sports in 205/50-15

For the street the konis are set to full soft front and 1/2 turn up from full soft rear, when I autocross fronts are set to full soft Rear is set to 1/2 turn down from full hard and then adjusted as the track requires. (Some times stiffer some times softer depeingin on how much rotation is needed.)

handling wise... the car pretty much goes where ever I point it. On the street with all season tires and the rear dampers set so low the car is actually quite stable, though it is tail happy enough to keep me happy, and scare my pasengers. Havent had any major problems yet, but there have been some " hey, the tail is steping out on me, better get back on the gas" situations. Nothing I havent encountered and learned to deal with in autocross...

On track, The car still pushes at its limits, though a little throttle lift gets the *** end rotating nicely. I'm 99% sure the hanling issues i'm having now deal directly with alignment.... I need more negitive camber on the nose (I'm looking to run around -2 up front) Comments from others who have autocrossed my car have been positive. mostly they coment on how predictable and stable it is.

At this point I'd have to say that my car isnt really a fast car, but it is a fun car.


Just a note on progressive springs... They can feel wierd when pushed to the limit thanks to the changing spring rates... I think if I did it all over again I'd get a set of Ground controls with custom spring rates to tie in with the Konis.

 
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sounds like i might go with the koni's, now i'm not afraid to cut up my stock struts but just how much of a pain in the *** is it , i've work on cars my whole life so i'm able to do the work myself , whats the average time to do such a job , and can i rent a strut/spring compresser or do i need to bring them to a garage ?

 
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Took me and my friend about 4 hours to do the whole car (install rear shocks and Cut up the front struts) suprisingly, the rear shocks were actually more of a pain to get in then the fronts...

and no, you dont really need a spring compressor, but it wouldnt hurt to have one handy. you should be able to rent one for free from places like Checker auto

 
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oh yeah i forgot to ask what koni's are the good ones RED or YELLOW
and what about the koni sport kit is that any good?
one more ,does my car have Factory rear sway bar ? it's an LX MODEL.
THANKS

 
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I have koni yellows and neuspeed race springs and its a great set-up but if i could do it again i would go with groudcontrol for sure...but the yellows are really nice

 
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Only the Yellows are avalible for our cars, and they are the Performance Dampers. (Reds are basically OE replacements)

as far as the Rear bar, only the 01 LX didnt. so your's should have a rear anti-roll bar.

I dont have any info on the Sport kit... or if it is even avalible for our cars.

 
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Hello I too are new to this community. I'm a rotary mechanic who has no more money to put into his 7. I'm planning out a daily driver that will cost no more than 5K. Any whoo I've worked with a lot of different suspension setups and while there is a difference between all the brands the marginal difference is small. The noticeable changes are when you move between the street/track/pro series of the selected manufacture. Given you live in CT where climate is an issue ride height adjustment is a must. Higher in snow condition lower in the summer, coilovers will provide you with EASER height adjustment vs. no threaded struts. Adjustable dampers are a plus when fine tuning, however it is not always needed, you sound like an aggressive driver when time calls for it, adjustable dampers for the most part are used to increase damping rather than decreasing it. Proper spring damping rates would provide better cornering and stopping distance rather than maxing out the damping rate on the shock. Tien offers a wide selection spring rates for their coilover shocks and the spring price is ruffly the same as the price for any other quality spring. I’m the type of person who likes to do it right the first time, saying that weather it’s Tien, Gab, HKS, or anyother manufacture if you can get true coilovers the first time do it.

 
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If you need quotes on either setup, check us out at: www.iapdirect.com Another setup to consider is the Omni-Power full coilover setup which is within your budget and will offer you ride height adjustability. That setup is not out yet but should be out very soon if everything goes right.

PM me if you have any questions.

 
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quick question here...so let say i got the koni's and sportline.. what if i blown the koni's the one with the oem struts (if this possible) "CAN i still use the oem struts??.. i mean removing the blown koni's replacing with new one.. THANXXX

 
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(ROTORYNOMORE)Tien offers a wide selection spring rates for their coilover shocks and the spring price is ruffly the same as the price for any other quality spring. I’m the type of person who likes to do it right the first time, saying that weather it’s Tien, Gab, HKS, or anyother manufacture if you can get true coilovers the first time do it.[/QUOTE]

now if i was to buy tein, hks, gab, coil overs can i call and tell them the type of driving i do and have them set me up with a spring rate and valving ?
if i have to spend $1500.00 to $1800.00 to get what i'm looking for
than thats what i'll do,(BUT I DON'T WANT TOO) but if i can get away with koni's and Ebiach
and being a novice at this will i be more than happy ? .

also i don't plan on lowering my car more than 1.5 like i said before
i hate the look of loward cars.

 
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THANKS FOR THE LINK I'LL CHECK IT OUT

 
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hmm says u got the 01+ civic omni powers available for 770. u know that there is a difference from the 03-05 ones on the front struts. just letting u know.

 
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Depends on how safe it would be to drive after its blown. Your car will still drive, however the Koni's wouldnt be dampening. I've read that when a Koni becomes defective, Koni will send you out a replacement first then afterwards you send them back the broken part. This way you can still use your car in the meantime. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

 
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MINES AN '05 LX

 
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You can call them and tell them you want whatever, they'll throw some rates at you and you still probably won't be happy. The truth is that the feel of the car is a personal issue. You need to play with it. The cheapest way to do this is to buy Konis and a set of ground control (with custom rates) coilovers. You can play with rates all you want until you get them right, and ground control springs can be bought used a dime a dozen. Any set of coilovers can be spring swapped for any spring rate as long as you don't go out of the shock bounds (most don't have much for a lower, its the upper you need to worry about.)

 
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Just so you and Rotarynomore understand where I'm coming form. I have a tendency to push for Konis if some one is going for performance, over a Pre-built Coilover. Not becuase thats what I have (I know people can have a tendecy to claim theirs is the best simply because thats what they have). I push for Konis because thats what I see the Vast majority of the people I race with run (Autocross) and its also what I've seen the majority of Club racers run. In fact if you look at Amature and pro racing (Production cars) you'll notice that pre-built coilovers (Tein, Buddy club ECT...) are acutally extreamly rare. Most teams run Shock A (Koni, Penske, Moton) tied in with Spring B (Eibach, H&R ect..).

The biggest difference I see between Piecemealing your suspension together and buying a Pre-built coilover is an issue of convenience. Piecemeal, you have a lot more options, but you need to do more reasurch and understand more in order for you to build the setup thats right for your needs. with a Pre-built coilover, your trusting that company A did their homework and built something that works well with the car, and hopefully is what you want/need.

 
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thanks guy's for all the help, i'm go'in to do some more research and comparing , but i think you helped me make up my mind ,i'm go'in with the koni's and Eibach spring combo,
thanks Dickie

 
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[/Quote] now if i was to buy tein, hks, gab, coil overs can i call and tell them the type of driving i do and have them set me up with a spring rate and valving ?
if i have to spend $1500.00 to $1800.00 to get what i'm looking for
than thats what i'll do,(BUT I DON'T WANT TOO) but if i can get away with koni's and Ebiach
and being a novice at this will i be more than happy ? .

also i don't plan on lowering my car more than 1.5 like i said before
i hate the look of loward cars.[/QUOTE]

The manufacture you choose for your suspension will do all the valving and install the spring with the compression rate you decide on. In the future you can always change the spring yourself.

As far as height I understand that you dont want to lower that 1.5", the advantage of coilovers is you can raise it durring the winter season. I'm assuming you drive the same car in the winter season as you do the rest of the year, raising your car durring this time peroid would allow the snow tires or tires with chains a better clearance.

Ask yourself this, Will I improve in the next year or two enough to upgrade to coilovers? If the answer is yes then why would you buy two suspension systems in a two year time spand spending $2000+ for both when you can just buy one that you will mostlikely never change, thus saving you money.