Should I get cheap springs and good shocks (MaxSpeed springs Toxico Blues) or better springs and cheaper shocks (Progress springs KYB GR2's) ? Which would work out better?

Tokico blues are cheap. Konis and Illuminas are "good"

Find the combination you "want" not the one you can "afford". You'll be happier in the end. Start off on the spring page and work to the shocks recommended for your spring. Or if you know you want a very performance oriented ride, check out the coilover page. And always remember, you get what you pay for:
http://drewm.dyndns.org/~drew/maxfaq...MaximaHandling

whats the application.. street cruising "sporty" ride with lower look, or autox stiffness performance..

Blues suck- slightly better than stock.

Well what do sitff and soft actually describe?

i have only had one setup. if you want handling and performance get eibachs and the get the kyb agx's ...if your going looks go cheap ! this post will self destruct in 5, 4, 3, 2..........

I wanted to spend around $500 total. I'm only planning on lowering my car because I'm planning on getting rims and I dont want a really bumpy ride.

Well the last thing you want to do is lower your car incorrectly, or buy shocks you'll need to replace in 10k miles, then you'll be spending even more money.

If you don't care much about handling, go with H&R or Maxspeed (cheaper) springs. If you want more drop, go progress.

Unfortunately there's no soft shocks for cheap. Kyb GR-2s are somewhat harsh, and Tokico Blues will blow the rears after a while.

You could possibly try Tokico blues in front and GR-2s for the rear.

But if you wanted to do it correctly, you'd save up and get Illuminas all around.

Also, you never told us how much you value each of "ride comfort" "handling" and "drop". That would give us a better idea, and hopefully pick you out better parts.

H&R with some koni's

is NISMO ever going to come out with springs for the 4th gen?.. i've been waiting over a year now for some light.
also, i rode in a H&R/GR2 combo not only did it look good.. it rode better than stock. smooth, firm, no bumpiness, or harshness. the only thing that is keeping me from going that route is the slight difference in drop from the front to the rear.

i read in many placs that gr-2's are good shocks/struts and not HARSH
i am going to go maxspeed/gr-2's as soon as my stock ones blow

can you explain why the H&Rs and MaxSpeeds should be
considered when handling is not an issue and price is???

please explain why more $$$ means better handling?
BTW, the poster indicates that they don't want a bumpy ride...

thanks,
FLO_BOY

Handling isn't that big of a deal to me. The only thing that matters to me really is ride quality. I live in Indiana and a lot of the roads were tore up from last winter.. I dont want to bounce up and down over the slightest imperfection in the road.

I understand...and I can tell you that my ride IS different...I think
you'll be hard pressed to have the same ride after dropping the car,
and for a number of reasons:

1) lowering springs have different spring rates than stock (read: firmer)
2) the new shocks/struts are much stiffer to handle the increased load.
3) you have less suspension travel, so, LARGE bumps aren't absorbed as well.
Although, I have yet to bottom out (ofcourse, it's only been a week!)
4) If you up-size your rims, you'll lose sidewall on the tires (that is,
you'll go from a 55-series to a 45-series (or less!) and that will
result in your tires taking less of the harshness out of the road.
5) If you're car isn't an SE, the difference will be more noticeable too.

Personally, I was really worried about my ride quality, but, so far,
I think I'd be hard pressed to complain...the two people who helped me
do the install (DEV and COSTCO) said that the ride was great in comparison
to their set up...

When I bought my MaxSpeeds, they were listed as "close to SE stock", so
I bought those...and I like it

anyway, hope this helps.
FLO_BOY

DAMN ORG!!! deleted my post when it didn't go through

alright, point form now...ride quality WILL go down (sorta) because:

1) lowering springs have a higher spring rate (read: firm)
2) shocks/struts to handle springs are stiffer.
3) you will have less suspension travel (but, should still be OK).
4) when you buy bigger rims, you have to buy lower profile tires,
which means your tires absorb less of the roads imperfections.
5) if you don't have an SE now, the difference will be more noticable.

your car will look much nicer though...

AND, if you buy the right spring/shock/strut combo, the ride won't
be too different...I have MaxSpeeds and KYB AGXs and think the ride
is more than acceptable.

my $0.02,
FLO_BOY

What cures that problem is "good shocks", and picking a good setting for them (not too soft) Illumina, Koni, AGX, with AGX being harsher than the first two. In addition GR2s are based off of AGX at a fixed setting, so I'd expect them to display the same harshness that the AGXs display.

But it all depends on what your tolerance of stiff lowered cars is. Also keep in mind that a lowered suspension with 18s will generally ride rough. It comes with the territory.

And if the roads out there are generally crappy, and you have cheap rims, prepare to bend a rim.

The site I've put together lists a LOT of good information, it's a really good read for everyone:
http://drewm.dyndns.org/~drew/maxfaq...MaximaHandling

I've been reading all this stuff about how setting the AGXs to a "too soft" setting will actually cause a worse ride.. I originally had them set at like 1 and 1 . So I went with the advice of turning them up, but I've only noticed that my ride has gotten harsher. I put it on 2 and 3, and I think I will be going back to 1 and 1 soon, which definetely felt softer.

I'm thinking its my B+G springs that are kinda firm, but I dunno.

Most people think that 2/3 was not dampening enough, try 3/6 or even all the way up at 4/8. My recommended starting settings for AGX are 3/6. You're not going to hurt it by turning it up, the car won't shake itself to death or break in half. Everyone always seems to scared to find settings that might just end up being the best thing they've ever done to their car.

I'm not scared that the settings will break my car in half, even though I do have a lot of rattles in the cabin since installing B+G and AGXs. Its simply too harsh for me, I guess different people have different tolerances for that.

I was hoping that turning it up would improve the ride, but in my opinion, it only got firmer, so I'll be turning it back down soon.

when they(Fronts) are set at 1/2 - that's just not enough dampenig resulting is floaty rough ride.
set them at3/4 (Fronts) ride is just too damn stiff and unconfortable.
that's why i'm getting rid of front KYB AGX and getting soem Tokico's HP - keeping H&R springs
if that does not satisfy me - going back to staock SE springs

Nick

when they(Fronts) are set at 1/2 - that's just not enough dampenig resulting is floaty rough ride.
set them at3/4 (Fronts) ride is just too damn stiff and unconfortable.
that's why i'm getting rid of front KYB AGX and getting some Tokico's HP - keeping H&R springs
if that does not satisfy me - going back to stock SE springs

Nick

I can vouch for this. I just had the H&R/KYB GR-2 combo installed a couple weeks ago, and couldn't be happier. Handling is firmer and tighter, but the ride hasn't suffered. The drop is perfect - any more of a drop would be too much. The combo cost me like $600 on Tire Rack with the strut mounts and all.
-Chad