Synki

I thought I would ask all you guys here since you guys mostly have dropped Maximas. I'm planning on getting new spings sometime this week. My Max only has 23k miles and i know i'm going to be breaking my warranty. I'm going to be using the stock struts. I don't need the "Honda" look where my wheels are tucked inside my wheelwell. I want the sporty BMW loos where there is very little gap. I'm not concerned greatly about ride comfort. I want sporty look and great handling. Any sugguestions are welcome. Thanks!!!

Shingles

LOL, what the heck is the "honda look"? I love all the stereotyping about hondas...

anyways, forget about using stock struts if you want handling with aftermarket springs, that's simply won't work. Plus you will blow your stock shocks and then have to pay labor again to replace the struts, might as well do it from the start. If you don't care about ride comfort, get Koni shocks and Eibach spings. If you want a little more comfort, get some H&Rs. Neither one will slam your car.

-Shing

Synki

I'm guessing it would be a bad idea running aftermarket springs with stock struts? I was looking at the H&R springs. I have heard some good and bad. I've heard Eibach are great too. Yea, you know what i mean, where the tires are all tucked into the wheelwell. It was the first thing to pop into my head.

Che

i had h&r installed when i first bought my car....about a month later, i had eibach put in....the h&r springs are just not stiff enough for me.....i have had my eibachs on for years and they have been great! just my .02

Slickismax

iTrader: (4)

I have GC coil-overs on stock struts, put about 8k miles on them since it was lowered, handling is awesome! At Maxus, we went on the Sunday drive through the mountains, and I was pushing hard into the corners. Just ask Matt93GXE about that! lol! I will prolly go with Koni's when I replace my struts. As far as ride, they ride between the Eibachs and the H&R's. I've ridden in a car with Eibach, and it seems that my GC's ride better.

Keven97SE

You *could* like I did when I first got H&Rs, but you'll hate the ride quality. It SUCKS. Very bouncy and not sporty at all, even though body roll is less. It's best by FAR to wait until you can afford struts, too. And I do NOT recommend Tokicos. They suck. Really no better than stock. Konis are awesome but very expensive ($480/set). Well worth it in my opinion, though.

buss95max

hey i like my h&r's....nice drop and i handle way better..its like a whole new world...i still have my stock struts too...but im going to replace my front struts for koni's...its all a money matter..
btw im getting my front koni struts for 140...im cool on the 400+ for struts...

buss95max

yeah..forget what i said...i need to replace all four..i guess i'll be spending 400+ for koni struts..

chris j vurnis

Hello Synki:

You'll get the lowest drop with Ground Control coilovers...
H&R and Eibach progressive rate spings will give you only 1.25" below OEM height. You can lower your car much more with Ground Control coilovers with 2.5" diameter Eibach springs...Go with Koni struts... Tokikos (OEM brand) are not up to the task of lowered springs no matter which spring option you choose...

If you don't care about ride quality now, just wait a few months or a few years when you have all sorts of annoying interior rattles... And the maxima doesn't handle any better with progressive rate springs... just ask anybody who has ever autocrossed with them....

If you want BMW looks and BMW performance, then just go buy a BMW... Take the thousands of dollars you'll spend on a Maxima trying to beef it up and just put that money towards a BMW.

You can't turn a front-wheel drive Maxima into a car comparable to a rear-drive BMW... And if you do, it will be with a far, far less comforable ride quality...

If you want a cheap front-drive car that can take on (when modified) a BMW in handling with decent ride quality, then try an Acura Integra GSR.

I am not trying to say that the Maxima is a poor car, it just takes a lot of money to set it up decent with a good blend of handling, lowering, and ride quality... About $3800 in parts and several hundred additional dollars in labor... that is not including a few hundred dollars worth of dynamat to stop interior panel rattles... And then you still have to spend cash for powertrain upgrades...

If you are dead-set to upgrade your Maxima, then fine... Just be aware of the money involved...

You can buy a stock 95+ Acura Integra or a stock 95+ BMW that can easily exceed a stock Maxima in handling...

hodgeee

I have heard a lot of people trash the tokicos. I have used them in three different cars, and have found them to control ride greatly, and still maintain a pleasant ride. they even helped smooth out the ride on my 95 mustang GT, which had specific ride springs, which really suck for the road.

I will give you the fact that they did not seem to firm up the ride as much as I would have liked, but now I have had them on the Maxima for 1 1/2 years. As well as the other two cars were lowered also. No leaks, no problems, and I have raced the car twice in SCCA solo events. Also Koni does not have shocks for the Maxima. You have to send them in your struts, so that they can modify them with their own valving. You can get them from Stillen and other distributors, but when I talked to a customer representative about it, he said that they use original Tokico struts that are then modified, and repainted. This is why he said they are a lot more expensive than the average strut that they sell for the type of car they are going on. When you talk about heavy duty, high performance struts they get real expensive, like for the mustang. The cheapest High performance ones I could find were $160 to $180 a piece.

Koni's are bad *** shocks and struts though. Did you have problems with Tokicos before?

hodgeee

I have heard a lot of people trash the tokicos. I have used them in three different cars, and have found them to control ride greatly, and still maintain a pleasant ride. they even helped smooth out the ride on my 95 mustang GT, which had specific ride springs, which really suck for the road.

I will give you the fact that they did not seem to firm up the ride as much as I would have liked, but now I have had them on the Maxima for 1 1/2 years. As well as the other two cars were lowered also. No leaks, no problems, and I have raced the car twice in SCCA solo events. Also Koni does not have shocks for the Maxima. You have to send them in your struts, so that they can modify them with their own valving. You can get them from Stillen and other distributors, but when I talked to a customer representative about it, he said that they use original Tokico struts that are then modified, and repainted. This is why he said they are a lot more expensive than the average strut that they sell for the type of car they are going on. When you talk about heavy duty, high performance struts they get real expensive, like for the mustang. The cheapest High performance ones I could find were $160 to $180 a piece.

Koni's are bad *** shocks and struts though. Did you have problems with Tokicos before?

josh95se

nm