Suspension is one of those black hole areas in the world. Trying to pin point what is right for an individual's taste or purpose is difficult. With so many selections out there and prices ranging from eBay to professional setups its hard to keep up with all the new setups coming out each year.
So where to begin...What was I looking for? My scenario is like many others. My car serves as a daily driver, weekend 1320 slug, and training wheels for track racing. Its a balance that can only be reached by compromises. Daily driving requires good ground clearance for getting over pesky speed bumps and having decent spring rates where my back doesnt shatter from every pebble in the road. Track racing on the other had likes higher spring rates to control body roll and weight transfer. Along side all this I have one other personal requirement that comes in the form of a 255/40/17 tire. The suspension must be able to cope with daily driving and keep the fenders off the tires on the track.
Who are the candidates? I started with a budget and focused on reputable name brands, sounded like a good plan. With those in mind Tein Basics were first on the chopping block. Priced reasonably at around $700 they have height adjustability and no adjustments for compression or rebound. After reading numerous reviews I came to the conclusion they were nice for the street, but may not be up to track duty. Then came along the idea of copying the Koni Sport and GC coilovers w/ Hypercoil springs. This was a much more expensive option that would please my wanna-be F1 driving talents. But on the other hand I cringed at the thought of the daily commute. So what about the tried and true? Koni Sports with Eibach Prokit. Lots of people have used them and they have the desired lowering characteristics. But then from out in the crowd, one of our fellow wise men suggested Koni Sports with H&R OE springs. I like H&R. My brother used a set of their cup coilovers on a heavy weight A4 with good results. Well a quick dive into the net revealed slightly higher spring rates (430/260 vs. 330/160) with the same 1 drop as the Prokits. It was the right combination I was looking for. Nice platform for learning on while serving the remaining year or so sentence as a daily driver. Just a quick note: H&R OE springs are only available for the 2WD models. Will they fit on a GSX? Yes.
Installation was straight forward. Vfaq is your friend.
So? How do they perform? Do you like them? Were the spring rates high enough to keep the fenders from rubbing? Ill start with ride quality. Stock but firm is the best term used. While bumps are a little more noticeable it absorbs bumps in the road better than my stock suspension (they were old 100K miles old). Speed bumps are much more pronounced which means Ill just have to slow down to negotiate them. And thats where the comparison stops. Ride height was lowered almost exactly by 1. Corning is just an explosion of tingly sensation now as the car just plain handles. When I used the stock suspension with the 255s it would negotiate a corner by grabbing and clawing out of the apex, bullying its way out. With the new suspension and back on my daily tires, it felt more delicate and nimble and was able to hold relatively close speeds. The turn in is much sharper and in the corner the feedback increased 10 fold. And these are with the Konis turned completely soft. A night of driving with the 255s on showed no signs of fender rubbing. I found some nice high speed dips and speed bumps, even did a little hard breaking and accelerating all in the name of science, but nothing to my surprise (I do live in Texas yes everything is flat and we ride horses to school). Any further testing however will have to wait for the track. So my marks? Ill give it an A+ for not just fitting my criteria, but exceeding my expectations. Dont get me wrong, these dont compare to well setup JICs, Hotbits, ect. on the track, but then again track suspensions dont make for good daily drivers.
So where to begin...What was I looking for? My scenario is like many others. My car serves as a daily driver, weekend 1320 slug, and training wheels for track racing. Its a balance that can only be reached by compromises. Daily driving requires good ground clearance for getting over pesky speed bumps and having decent spring rates where my back doesnt shatter from every pebble in the road. Track racing on the other had likes higher spring rates to control body roll and weight transfer. Along side all this I have one other personal requirement that comes in the form of a 255/40/17 tire. The suspension must be able to cope with daily driving and keep the fenders off the tires on the track.
Who are the candidates? I started with a budget and focused on reputable name brands, sounded like a good plan. With those in mind Tein Basics were first on the chopping block. Priced reasonably at around $700 they have height adjustability and no adjustments for compression or rebound. After reading numerous reviews I came to the conclusion they were nice for the street, but may not be up to track duty. Then came along the idea of copying the Koni Sport and GC coilovers w/ Hypercoil springs. This was a much more expensive option that would please my wanna-be F1 driving talents. But on the other hand I cringed at the thought of the daily commute. So what about the tried and true? Koni Sports with Eibach Prokit. Lots of people have used them and they have the desired lowering characteristics. But then from out in the crowd, one of our fellow wise men suggested Koni Sports with H&R OE springs. I like H&R. My brother used a set of their cup coilovers on a heavy weight A4 with good results. Well a quick dive into the net revealed slightly higher spring rates (430/260 vs. 330/160) with the same 1 drop as the Prokits. It was the right combination I was looking for. Nice platform for learning on while serving the remaining year or so sentence as a daily driver. Just a quick note: H&R OE springs are only available for the 2WD models. Will they fit on a GSX? Yes.
Installation was straight forward. Vfaq is your friend.
So? How do they perform? Do you like them? Were the spring rates high enough to keep the fenders from rubbing? Ill start with ride quality. Stock but firm is the best term used. While bumps are a little more noticeable it absorbs bumps in the road better than my stock suspension (they were old 100K miles old). Speed bumps are much more pronounced which means Ill just have to slow down to negotiate them. And thats where the comparison stops. Ride height was lowered almost exactly by 1. Corning is just an explosion of tingly sensation now as the car just plain handles. When I used the stock suspension with the 255s it would negotiate a corner by grabbing and clawing out of the apex, bullying its way out. With the new suspension and back on my daily tires, it felt more delicate and nimble and was able to hold relatively close speeds. The turn in is much sharper and in the corner the feedback increased 10 fold. And these are with the Konis turned completely soft. A night of driving with the 255s on showed no signs of fender rubbing. I found some nice high speed dips and speed bumps, even did a little hard breaking and accelerating all in the name of science, but nothing to my surprise (I do live in Texas yes everything is flat and we ride horses to school). Any further testing however will have to wait for the track. So my marks? Ill give it an A+ for not just fitting my criteria, but exceeding my expectations. Dont get me wrong, these dont compare to well setup JICs, Hotbits, ect. on the track, but then again track suspensions dont make for good daily drivers.
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