Before anyone says anything, I have done a HUGE amount of searching and reading, and the questions that I have were not fully answered in past posts.

Alright guys, the time draws near.. I need to buy some springs before I drive my self insane with indecision. As per Steve's (SouthwestAuto..) reccomendation, I have abandoned interest in Progress springs because, according to him, they settle for an excessively long time with a bad result in the end. I trust his opinion as much as I can, without really ever talking to him about anything else, heh. So, now I am pretty much down to either Sprint or Tein. Both give the low drop that I want (low, where the gap is almost gone..). The main thing that concerns me is ride quality. The Sprints are said to be "stiff" when compared to stock, in the FAQ's. Teins are not listed. I will pair whichever spring I get with KYB-GR2's, so keep that in mind.

Will the Sprints or the Teins be more rough on the roads I drive (San Francisco has a fair amount of not so good roads)? I know there is a wide variety of opinions on what "rough" feels like, but consider that this would be the first time I would be riding on non OEM suspension, and that I had a 1991 Explorer before this car. I can take a bump or two, but I do not want to feel like I have to apologize to my girlfriend about the new "upgrade" that I did (she rides with me at least 2 days of the week..).

Short version:

Which are more stiff, Teins or Sprint? Which will be better long term, Teins or Sprint? I have 70 pounds of stereo in the trunk, and Teins drop less in the back than in the front, while Sprint drops an even 2" all around - should this be a factor in terms of Sprint sagging in the back, while Teins would eventually look even with the added weight?

Thanks and please help me with some useful info!

 

dude...from what I hear, Sprints are downright harsh on ur buttcheeks and teins are quite rough too, although I've only driven in a car with teins, my maxspeeds and h&rs....

IMO I'd go with teins for the nice drop

 

I have right around 75-80 pounds of stereo in the trunk. The Tein drop still looks even after 4500 or so miles.

 

Sprints are a 1.8" drop. To those who say it is harsh, have you ever ridden in a maxima with sprints installed correctly? Meaning that the bumpstops were trimmed. Ride in one with the bumpstops trimmed and no blown struts and tell me that the ride is harsh.

Edit: I've been riding on my Sprints for well over a year now and I have 0 sag.

 

I need to trim my bumpstops

 

Bump..

Steve, would you say that Tein and Sprint are equal in ride comfort? How about when compared to Maxpseeds? What I'm getting at is, is there a definite gap in ride quality between any spring that drops 1" and any spring that drops 2"?

 

i have about 6500 miles on my Tein/Gr-2s. I have no problems, i almost want a stiffer ride.

 

I see.. so how far off would you say the Teins are from the stock ride for someone who has never driven a dropped car (such as myself)?

By the way, I just placed an order for some GR2's from the ongoing GD in the GD forum, so now I gotta get some springs!

 

The Tein gives the most even drop. They also seem to settle less than most others. I've had my Teins on for about 7000 miles. The ride is much better than most lowered suspensions, and would be considered "very good" when compared to other springs with the size of drop that they offer.

While you can choose whichever springs you want, you did make a good choice with the GR2s.

Good luck in your research and purchasing.

The Tein springs should be around $150-170 shipped. The GR2s will be anywhere from $260-320 depending on shipping costs.

 

I had sprints and I could not wait to take them off to install Maxspeeds. Maybe I am a PU$$Y and don't like the feel of every road imperfection. Maxspeeds are 100 times more compliant. It was not my lack of trimming bumpstops either. You can tell when you hit the bumpstops. It was rough way before that.

 

Thanks for the info, studman and mm.

Hey mm, so you cut your bumpstops to the specs required by Sprint and you still felt that the ride was way too rough?

 

These are the suspensions that I have personaly ridden in:

00 maxima with Sprint and Tokico-Mine-Smooth even on 18's, bumps exaggerated, but not harsh by any means.

00 maxima with GCs and Tokicos on 20s- Relatively smooth, bumps are harsh.

01 maxima with Tein and Tokico on 17s. Smooth ride, bumps seem mildly hard, not as harsh as GCs.

02 maxima with Eibachs and 18s and stock struts, relatively smooth. Car felt very firm, bumps seem somewhat harsh.

Tein and Sprint are very close in ride quality when installed correctly. Maxspeeds, I personally would never put on my own car. We have a ton of customers come in and ask for the cheapest lowering spring, 99% of the time we get them Maxspeeds. Maxima's are not cheap cars, why go cheap with the parts? I'll probably get flamed for that, but I know my ****.

However you want to look at it, we have all the spring options you need, including the addition of the Tein S. Tech springs this afternoon.

 

Thank you, Steve. You have PM

 

Bump for Steve..

 

Same setup, and same mileage as you. The ride is absolutely fine...

 

i honestly don't know why people say Sprint springs are harsh...i've used Eibachs and they were a lot harsher than Sprints. i'm also on AGXs as well...

 

I am also in same situation as LithiuMax. If the ride quality isn't that different between them why not go with Tein and get "more even" drop? Maxima always looks a$$ heavy.

How about camber kits? Teins and Sprints go pretty low and it seems that one would need cam ber kits.

 

What are 'bumpstops' and how do you cut 'bumpstops' say an inch if installing Tiens and GR2?

 

Couldn't have said that any better!

 

it always amazes me how ppl that don't have personal experience with a product automatically denounce it because of a limiting factor, in this case we are talking about price


so because they are cheap, they are bad right??

hey NJmax...how bout you get a 5th gen, throw some maxspeeds in there and THEN tell me how shietty they are, ok???

I travel some of the WORST roads in NYC with my maxspeeds with NO problems.....I love them.....I wish they were a bit lower, but they are fine for me


To me, yeah the price was a compelling selling point, but not the sole factor in my purchase. I saw the drops and when I got mine only one member on here had teins, so I had no room for comparison.

I am far from cheap, I bought this 03 new, I most recently bought a set of chrome BBS 17" forged rims for her and they ran me $500 each....

I consider myself a smart shopper...I feel that these springs were WELL worth the $$$

 

Can anyone post a picture of a 02/02 max bumpstop. It seems to me that, unlike most other cars, bumpstops on maxima are integrated into rubber covering of a strut. Hence, how would you cut it and still be able to use stock rubber covers?

 

so does that mean if you dont cut the bumpstops, the ride will be harsh??

 

"Bush will find WMD in Iraq before you" finally buy your springs.
-Jeff92se



~limsandy

 

Cut the bumpstops or the ride will be harsh.