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well heres my debate over lowering springs or coilovers.

i'll be lowering my car (02) sometime this spring. i'm thinking doing any where from 1.5-2 inch drop (not going to low since canada has snow). my original plan was to get a set of tien ss coilovers. but heres my problem;

the coilover cost about $1300 (off 2kracing.com) and the city i live in has a retarted amount of pot holes (year round).

then i was looking at the lowering springs, they cost about $200 (2kracing.com) for the four springs.

so i was just wondering, what else i should look at. like do i need a camber kit, will i need new shocks for the springs, and what else should i be looking at? i'm pretty new to this so i have little knowledge. i just want my car to handle better, look better with the 17's, but i also want them to last a decent amount of time.

so any help, advice, or any thing would be appreciated.

 
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get coils. especially if you live in snow areas..... because you can lift it up just in case you need to put chains or anything.

if you get lowering springs, ur gonna needa to get struts as well, tokico blues wont last long if u plan to drop it more than 1.5.

if cost is the question, why dont u get some teins basics or some other. they are only about 800-1000 bucks.

also get camber kit....its not just recomented, its needed.

 
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check out dezod's website as well. its better than urs.

http://www.dezod.com/cat_coilovers1.cfm

 
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cost really isn't to much an issue, it more of if i can save money i will but don't wanna buy crap.
and i also don't plan on raising the car during winter, it'll stay low, reason i'm not doing a big drop.
thanks for the website, because i do need to search more.

 
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^then coilovers is what u want if money is not an issue.

what if u buy a set up springs, and you put em on. then you realize that ur rear is ALOT lower than ur front (because u have alot of NECESSARY stuff in there, not just junk), and ur car looks funny?

then what? if u had coilvers, you could just add some more height to ur rear within mins... (jack up the car, take off the tire, turn the lower seated block)

 
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that makes sence, i never put that in mind much.. but i heard every time you raise lower coilovers you need an alignment done? if not so much then i think i know what direction.

 
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Pro to coils is just like sleepy says, you may always adjust accordingly. Another pro is that you can maximize your handling capabilities (not counting sway bars and braces and all the other good stuff) more so with coils with adjustable dampening. Don't get me wrong, you can get some koni adjustables and have the same ability, but that is more work to install them also. Cons to coils is, (the most common complaint that I hear) the incredibly stiff ride, and price tag.

Pro's to springs and struts is cheaper, and usually most comfortable ride. Handling is also nice, but from what I gather is not as good as with most coils.
Con's are as sleepy covered, not adjustable height.

And as stated above, camber kit is a must, not a maybe for any drop 1.5" or more.

I personally have tokico blues with tanabe df210's and I love it, although there are times when I wish I could go lower..... until I come up to a speed bump and just barely can creep over it. My opinion was intended to be totally unbiased. Good luck.

 
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yes and no.

when you first drop ur car, drop it to a heigh that you like. (as for me i am pretty slammed, i have almost no finger gap between fender/wheel)

after u get the height you like (most ppl have like a two finger gap or so) THEN get an alignment.

toe = zero degrees
camber = -1 degree.

why -1? becaues if you need to raise ur car up, you can raise it up to 2-3 inches w/o really affecting ur tire wear....(or getting another alignment to correct the camber)

plus, running -1 camber gives you better handling than 0 degreees.

 
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toe is a greater factor than camber when considering tire wear. and raising and lowering the car more than an inch at a time can severely throw toe out of oe spec. yes you should get an alignment every time you raise/lower the car or mess with most suspension components. please read the FAQ next time first, https://www.civicforums.com/forums/4...ease-read.html

 
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Cheapest coil setup is D2 for $750
cheapest spring setup is
~$140(springs) + $400(shocks) +$125 (camber kit) = ~$650

Plus $100 for an alignment for either.
I have a pair of 1.75" lowering springs for sale, but have no clue what shipping would be to Canada.

 
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well IF you get coilovers, get the full set with dampers and not the cheapie sleeve kits, cause they usually ride like crap

my vote is on springs

 
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Koni/GC setup uses sleeves - and its probably one of the best units out there with regard to price. It costs about $1000, but handles with setups a lot more expensive. In fact, I have it, and love it. It rides better than stock yet handles so much better. I can also get it to sit 4 inches off the ground if I want.

 
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you "should" get a alignment every time you raise or lower the car.

but given that ur toe is set to zero.

a -1 to +1 degree will not effect ur tire wear. tat was the point i was trying to make. especilly if you are only gonna be raised a few months. then you'll drop back down.

 
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what do u call eibach ground control? is that cheapie? they cost more than ur springs.

agree. +1 for you. i have them myself and they perform ridiculously just as well as the 1500+ ones.

 
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I have to disagree with you there, both on principle & from experience. a +1 or -1 Deg of camber change is plenty enough to cause a damaging amount of toe change, especially on the rear of the car where toe changes significantly with ride height changes.

 
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im kinda confused about what your trying to say there...

 
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had em and now on Tein SS-P's. Prefer the Teins and so does some other members of the forum. The Teins ride soooo much better for a DD. As for handling, until winters over and i slap my RS-2's back on, I cant tell you how much they differ from each other.

 
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woah there hold on, i never said anything about brands...

and im not disputing that the koni/gc setup is bad either, im just saying that IF one were to get a coilover sleeve kit, they should probablly get the dampers as well.. as the stock shocks wont even come close to cutting the mustard for the springrate that they usually come with

 
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hmm front toe i agree with you, but the stock factory toe for the rear is .16 degrees of total toe, thats .08 each side.. whoever sets this to zero on the rear is setting it incorrectly...

 
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are you guys still running stock specs??

 
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I had the same debate when I was lowering, here's what I did.

I decided to go with springs and only springs because they're cheaper and give close to the same result. It's not the same ride comfort and I don't have the flexibility of adjusting the suspension 11 different ways but I wondered if I would even do that. Would I ever get under my car just to change the damper or raise it .25 inches? Not likely. And my stock (yes, stock) struts are still going strong after 2 winters in Calgary, a summer in Atlanta and a winter in New York. The springs I chose were Tein S-Tech for $200 and installed them myself, the front and back have close to the same gap after settling and it handles great. And with the 18s it looks awesome.

So unless you got $1000 to spare (I don't) then I vote for springs and just springs.

 
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aaaaaaaahahahah too much to read... this is wt happens when i dont go on for almost a week

 
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Some more for you to read. When you get your suspension on, install a camber kit as well, it is required if you don't want to buy new tires in 6 weeks. And when you take it to a shop to get an alignment done (also required for said purposes), have them adjust the camber kit as well. This made all my rubbing issues go away.

 
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this is exacly what i wanted. input from people on both sides. but i think i still have some more look around.
thanks boys.