I drove my friend's RSX w/ Tein coilovers. They handle great. I was afraid of getting JICs due to harsher ride on bad roads but on my friend's car, ride was actually smoother than my spring/strut combo. I'll be seriously considering coilovers now.

 

You might want to consider the D2's as well

http://forums.max-world.org/index.ph...topic=3271&hl=

 

How do you guys get to the adjustment ***** on the rear of a 5th gen ? My Max has this big brace behind the seats right through the "pass through" section of the trunk into the cabin. Doing rear shocks sucks on my 01 due to this. Friend of mine has Tein SS on his 99 Civic Si coupe and he lowered it almost as low as it can go in the front and they bottom out all the time. Ride is very very stiff its not for my taste. Another friend of mine has Tein Flex's on his WRX and they ride awesome since his car is lowered using the mounting point bracket like the A1s or A2s. I just put some Kei Office drift coil overs on a S14 240SX with external oil resevoirs car is stiff but it handles like on rails. I'm going with JICs... my friends with TEINs have all kind of problems all the time. I run Ground Controlls on Koni yellows and I hate em- since I put em on 3 years ago. I've had 8 Koni shocks repleaced so far...

 

let's not forget cattman coilovers, for those non-track, daily drivers. soft but firm setting and height adjustment like all coilovers. every ring on the spring perch represents 1/16" so you can adjust your height pretty accurately. have had them on since nov. 03 and have loved them since day 1.

i also feel myself belonging in the 90% of the people that don't adjust the feel of the car. i had agx's and found a setting that i liked (i actually didn't like it, just settled with it) and never touched it after that. witht he cattman's, they come with a setting that is ideal for street use, and with NYC streets beating on me everyday, they've handled fair.

 

Polo, I would love to take a ride in your car to compare Cattman coilovers to Maxspeed and stock shocks. I have just been given the impression that all coilovers = harsh ride or bumpy ride.

 

1) i have always offered to anyone that was interested, i would drive them around to get a feel for the cattman's.

2) the ride is harsh now, but it's misunderstood as to what is causing the harsh ride. i'm on 19's, with about 1" of rubber, so EVERYTHING is a rough ride now. before, i was on stocks, and as low as i was (i was lower on stocks) the ride felt magnificent. for the daily driver, i loved it. but then i put 19's, and now it's just bumpy as all hell, but the lack of rubber is really the cause of that.

3) standard coilovers give a harsh ride, ie ground controls. jics are not standard, those are a coilover SYSTEM, as are the teins, as are the cattman's. they are designed with a strut made for height adjustment, with linear dampening, meaning rate is the same, no matter the height. with ground controls, you arep lacing them on struts taht were not made to settle low, giving you no benefitting spring rate.

4)something i need to add. back when cattman released his coilover system, the jic's were still $1700, so back then the cattman's were the BEST bang for the buck. it was only after that, that jic's released their moderately priced models, along with tein, at which point cattman was no longer the only one. also, the cattman coils are not on his site (still being revamped) so popularity is scarce. i know about 3 other members that have them and we're all satisfied with them, but then again, we dont' go track. we're just your everday joe schmo guys that drive to work, pay our bills, and drive back home, with some spirited driving in between. which is better? really comes to your personal preference. now that jic's and teins are at the same price level as catt's, you just close your eyes and choose. they are all good. they all lower your car, and they all offer a comfortable ride.

5) i just personally don't like people who praise jics and never rode in them. it's a jic, has to be good....talk about a blind opinion. or jics > catt's, when they've never ridden in them...are you kidding...that's just intelligent marketing. JDM has to be good. that's what soem people have been hypnotized into believing. made in USA has to suck....soem people have blown jic's...they've waited weeeks upon weeks to receive replacements (i recall a very annoyed .org member having this happen to him). i blew my strut a few weeks ago. contacted brian last week and told him that i use my car every day...the next day, a replacement strut was sent to me, w/out me sending mine back. no downtime, when i swap it out, i can send the busted one back. there is a hold on my CC for that new one, which will get taken off as soon as they receive my busted strut. and i got the new strut in a few days. i have yet to replace it, i'll prolly do that along with new pads on saturday.

let me not rag on jic's, cuase after i blew my strut, i was ready to think that "you know what, maybe jic's ARE good" but then talking to a few guys, they seem to think that jic's are just a bit too rough, no matter how much you adjust them. so i felt better. both products have their ups and downs. at the end, it's the correct form of sales marketing that'll get you to purchase your coils.

 

Lost if info man. You kinda got me re-considering as well. Afterall Brian's place is just 1.5hrs away from me...hmm

Btw-How much air do you got in your tires (psi)
After I got my 19's they had them pumped upto 45psi which was obvious rough as hell. I dropped them down to 32 and IMHO is rides just like it did when I had the OEM 17's on it w/more rubber.

 

Never did, i just used a 10mm wrench.

 

hmm are the adjustment ***** like on AGXs ? cause on my 01 its a pita to adjust shocks in the car- Konis. I'm talking bout the rear shocks... maybe 02-03s don't have the huge rear brace the 00-01s have.

 

well POLO all i can is that the cattmans DO NOT lower the same way as JIC's. You cannot turn the strut and shorten the whole coilover by way of the adjustible height lower bracket. That is the MAIN reason why i didnt get them. The cattmans lower the same way as the Tein SS which is what i didnt want.

 

i meant actual drop heights

so you've ridden in tein's and cattman's to ultimately decide that jic's differenty type of heigh adjustment is a benefit......how did the rides feel?

 

I have not ridden in teins or cattmans. BUT I do know that by lowering it the way that catmmans and teins do, this puts a lot of STRESS on the coilover. IT shortens the stroke of the shock. Cattmans lower the same way gc's do. MAYBE this is the reason you have already blown a strut? I have my jics very LOW and they ride amazing. I can take it about 1.5" lower and i will still have all the suspension travel and shock dampening travel as i would have if the jics were raised all the way up. The cattmans DO NOT allow this, which is bad for the coilover(especially when you want to ride very low). So its not all about JUST ride quality, its about design and how much stress that design can put on the shock(which in turn may result in a BLOWN SHOCK)