Are adjustable coilovers better than the lowering springs?
I got some KYB GR2's for my 95 MAX and need some good springs to go with them. I stay in Chicago so you know the streets are all F-UP, so I want something that can handle all the bumps and potholes but at the same time lower my car.

Can anybody help me with this one?

 

H & R springs. theyre the best. Coilovers??? dunno.

 

Do yourself a favor and stay away from coilovers.

 

Coilovers makes the max look so good but comfort is more important for me. You'll have to trade off comfort for looks/handling for coilovers. They ride like crap (so stiff your back will hurt). Go with H&Rs, you'll have a dropped car and have comfort!

 

Where you live in Chicago? I'm near the north.

Go with lowering springs for the GR-2s

 

Take our advice and go with H&R springs , they are ok for roads around here , anything else will give you harsh ride and plenty of stress and depression !!!
been there , done that - started with Sprints and KYB AGX , now I'm on Tokico Hp's and H&R's - ride is good , but one day i will come back to stock SE springs.

cilck here for pics and height measuremants of H&R springs

also where in chicago are you ?

Nick

 

WOW!! I am shocked at the quik responses. I want to thank everyone who replied. I guess I'll go with the H&R's but what about the eibach and Maxspeed Springs, are they any better?

For those in Chicago I used to stay in the North side by Belmont and Cicero, now I stay in the South.

 

wouldn't Progress be next after H&R in terms of drop and ride quality?
i'm debating between the two in order to obtain a nice ride and decent drop for my 5 speed that doubles as a sled in the winter... not to mention poor roads.

 

coil overs arn't as bumpy (if at stock heigth)as every one says they are you can raise it back to stock height the only diffrence is if you lower it 3.25 in. of course you'll have a ruff ride but you can always but it back how ever you want it I have H&r's im gonna be getting Ground Control.

 

Maxspeed springs are cheap (that's why I got them) and decent Haven't been in another car with a different setup Eibachs should be fine too, but people like H&Rs better

 

So what if I drop the coilovers at 1.5 in. will that have a great effect on the ride for the bumps. Also, how much for the H&R's?

 

So the Maxspeeds haven't given you any problems? What about in the Winter?

 

that would defeat the purpose of having coilovers. At least on the look side.

 

Speaking from a person that has GC AGX set up I really like the coilovers. People say how stiff they are and i kinda like it stiff. Yah i feel it a little, but the car keeps it's line and to the road. I have the AGX's so i can control the bumpyness rather well with different settings. I think people make out coilovers to be out alot worse than they are but ive only experience overs and havent had springs. I live in RI what i consider the pothole breeding ground and where not one road doesnt contain some sort of patch work. Yah the ride on these roads is definately not stock but i dont think it is that far off. I also get snow up here so i didnt want to be a snow plow in the winter with my car being too low on bad unplowed streets. Yah the springs wont lower it as low as mine right now, but i really like the finger gap i have and the convinience of spinging a perch to raise it for winter driving.

 

The reason I am leaning towards getting coilovers is the adjustability factor. In the summer time I would love to have that slammed look and when winter rolls around Id like to be able to raise it back up to stock height. I know I would have to get use to the ride but when I see all the looks I get driving around in a slammed max that will make up for it.

 

this person i met has CGs and after a couple of winters the things got frozen and they wont adjust now

 

I had ground controls and finally sold them. They aren't bad, but the lower you go, the rougher the ride is. If you're planning to go w/coilovers and stay 2'' and under, your ride should be a bit stiff, but ok (and the shi*t looks nice.) But anything over 2" is gonna get bumpier and bumpier.

I sold my ground controls and went w/progress springs. I will also be switching out my blues (one blown out the ying yang) and replaced w/kyb agx's.

Also, coilovers depend on where you live. That ability to adjust is a bit help.

Up to you bro. Stay away from maxspeeds.

 

The coilover spring rate never changes no matter where your ride height is at. Therefore the ride quality never changes. Up high you have more suspension travel so bigger bumps are absorbed better. Down low you have less suspension travel which causes your struts to hit bump stops on bigger bumps. (very harsh)

Ride quality (very stiff) is the same on descent roads, at any height. They handle great, but they don't ride good.

 

again.

 

Does anyone In NY have coilovers?? I want a ride!! I have no idea how harsh it is. They look amazing and handle good too....

 

I am sure wherever you live has nice roads. Not everywhere has nice roads like cali. New England where I live has terrible roads. People on the org trust other peoples comments. When you make a post like that some people may take your word without looking at the whole picture, and spend a lot of money for nothing, because they overlook the fact that certain conditions vary. A 2 inch drop with lowering springs rides very harsh unless on 100% smooth roads. Theres no way a 3.5 inch drop rides smooth on anything but smooth roads like the highway.

 

NYC has the crappiest roads, what do you ppl recommend for my neck of the dumpsters

 

Ask the NYC people here: http://forums.maxima.org/forumdisplay.php?f=15

 

Ok i have had coilovers before in another vehicle (Arospeed , with stock struts/shocks) in a 93 accord, when i rode with a finger gap and greater drop, it rode great, but anything less, say around tucking rims/tires just is unbearable. The reason for that is simple, once you lower your car about 2.5-4.5 inches, you reduce the amount of shock/suspension travel needed to slow down/absorb the bump/obstruction. therefore you will feel more of the bump as the velocity of the shock coming up hits the bump stop. <br>

I used to ride in my honda with a finger gap for handling(comfort), and looks, and then whenever i would go out to events or shows, i would slam it all the way down tucking all four corners. I ordered some weapon r Coilovers, and they are getting shipped today. so I will let you know how these go, I plan on paring them with gr2's. If you like adjustability get Coilovers. also imagine if you get a flat tire, and all you had was a donut in the car, and you had coilovers, you can raise the height of that spring perch by hand to match/compensate for the height of smaller donut. spring cant do that.


just my .02 cents.

 

btw, I had cut the springs in my max, and she sits so nice, but the handling is ruff, and the springs are unsafe as they dont sit squarely on the bottom of the strut. right now my car is sitting really low, the back tire is tucking, the front is about a lil less than a finger gap... fyi.

 

 

Whats the point of dropping your ride lower then 2 inches anyway. DOn't your wheels rub extremely bad? I mean a 2 inch drop looks really nice, but it rides awful and sometimes rubs.

 

do they even have coilovers for the max? btw, yea in the winter here, you would die if you didnt raise them back up so id say get coilovers with new shocks then the ride wont suck...

 

I am happy with my Eibachs, my friend has coilovers on his Altima and its a very hard ride.

 

BTW, I have 19's slammed, and like I said the rear is tucking. No rubs.... I can go with 20's tucking, no rub. Holla. get informed.

 

I've got progress and like the ride quality but don't really like the slant that my max now has. It is noticably higher in the back. Low front + High rear = Muscle car and Max doesn't = muscle car.

 

GR-2s, Konis, AGXs, Tokico Illuminas will NEVER be able to compesate for an extreme 2+" drop. Strut/shocks are dampers and they dampen the recoil/compression of a spring. The shorter the coil and/or tighter the wind of the coil, the higher the rate of the spring. The higher the rate of the spring, the more dampening you need. None of the available strut/shocks for the Maxima can match the requirements of the 2+" drop. Never. You're fooling yourself if you think other wise. The only effective coilovers are true coil overs which use threaded and shortened struts that are valved for the correct spring rate. I believe JIC is the only company offering this setup and these kits are expensive, but they do perform very well. Ride quality is compromised quite a bit over say an H&R/Koni/Illumnia setup, but you do get excellent handling and pretty decent wheel travel.


Dave

 

If you want the comfort of H&R, but a little more drop, go with the Progress. I have Progress with Illuminas and they look good and ride great, even across the moonscape of roads in NJ.

 

i agree with everything this man says.. i only had a harsh ride on my JIC's because i stoopidly had them set for 7 front and 9 in the rear.. i soften up the rear and its been great.. handles great.. rides great... i still hvae to find sometime to soften up the front to

 

I've noticed Tein springs give you a 2.2 front and 1.8 drop in back the most of any springs that I've seen. If anyone has Tein I would like to know how they ride and do you need a camber kit?. Just a thought......

 

anything lower than 1.8 inches will require a camber kit or a set of camber bolts if you like your tires