I am trying to purchase springs right now and these are the two i am deciding between, but i need your guys help. I have done a lot of research and what i am really looking for is an even drop and a little better handaling. I like that h-tech has the fron a little lower then the back but people seem to not like these springs and say that they dont handle well. Eibach the front is still a little higher then the back(i hate that) but seems to provide really good handaling. The ride is important but they seem to be pretty close in that aspect. Which ones should i go with and why. Thank you for your input.

 

cliffs (though you know my opinion already):

Eibachs: the best-handling spring available for the maxima (non-coilover). Ride is like SE stock. Drop looks pretty good.

H-Techs: the worst-handling spring available for the maxima. IMO, handling is worse than stock SE springs. Ride is quite nice on smooth roads, but bottoms out like a **** on rough/bumpy roads. Drop is probably the best-looking of any springs, but not worth the lousy handling, in my opinion.

Of course, both ride and handling will also be affected by what kind of strut you use with them.............

My rankings of "what springs you should go with"
1. Eibach
2. H&R
3. Maxspeed
4. Vogtland
5. Progress
6. Stock SE
7. H-Tech
8. Stock GLE/GXE
9. Sprint
10. S-tech

The other option, of course, is coilovers - where you can drop it however far you want, generally make the car handle well (if you adjust them correctly), and may have a decent ride quality, depending on spring rates, valving, etc.

the downside there are obvioius: cost, reliability, and firmer/harsher ride in most cases.

 

thank you for the input that really cuts my options in half. I am going to be rinning these with tokico illuminas. Please post any other inputs. thank you again. and no coil overs price is just to high. Thanks

I am going to be putting in two subs and just dont want the back to be sagging down. Is it an option to use other springs in the back that are also good and sit a little higher.

And also do you guys think if i go with the eibach spring i will have to cut the bumpstops?

 

I know the fronts were very lousy and very soft but I havn't really heard of anybody complain about the rears matched with Illumina's. I'm looking for a more even drop with my system that weighs things out slightly different from a stock car. So my question is, how were the rear HTech's compared to your other springs???

 

I think you need to drive my car. The second I put my springs on there was a VERY noticable upgrade in handling and I've never bottomed out...ever. And if you've ever driven on Louisiana roads you'd see that as an accomplishment for sure. The car has MUCH less body roll than stock, although it did have a bit more than a person with eibachs at maxus, and overall stability increased 10 fold. I used to be scared to take offramps at 60+ mph, and now when I'm doing 80 it barely feels like I'm moving I'm thinking you just got a bad batch, or I got a good one or something because anybody in their right mind would tell you that my car with stock springs <<<< my car with my h-techs. Now that's not to say there aren't better springs out there but don't say h-techs are worse than stock because it DEFINITELY (without a doubt) isn't true in my case.

That being said, I still want coilovers

 

I loved H-Techs when I had them for the look, and for the comfort on smooth roads.

That said, the front end bottomed out all the time..the front springs just weren't stiff enough. The rears were pretty good, I liked those. Stiff enough, didn't lower too much, still comfortable. For the short time I rode on H&R fronts and H-Tech rears I thought it was still decent. I eventually ended up putting the stock rear springs on, however, and now just run the H&R front springs (which I like) with Illuminas all around.

 

Keep in mind, I went from linear Maxspeeds to the H-techs...definitely a handling downgrade. Perhaps I just forgot how bad the stock springs are that I had a couple years ago.

so....forget my saying "worse than stock" and just stick with "worse than most other springs" in terms of handling...

 

Although the fronts were sloppy, it was the rears that constantly bottomed out for me. And my bumpstops were cut, Illuminas at "5", and I don't have a system in the trunk or anything heavy.

The variation in H-tech comments brings up another point: Perhaps the springs are simply inconsistent (quality control?) in built stiffness...

 

sounds like a good compromise.

 

LA02MAX, maybe your understanding of handling is different from irish44j's? Just about any spring that stiffens up your suspension is going to make the car feel nimbler in some ways and give you more *****-out sustained grip, but handling as a whole is about more than that -- e.g. transient response, neutrality (oversteer vs. understeer), etc...

 

I do have snap oversteer when I remove my LTB, but as far as I can tell that's the ONLY drawback to my setup. (With the LTB on it's 100% neutral, can't break either the front or back loose) Stability and initial turn in feels very solid and responsive, going around fast turns with lots of bumps doesn't unsettle the car, etc. I'm thinking what irish said is right, maybe they just have quality control issues and have a few good batches amongst several bad ones?

 

I've heard of fake Tein S Tech springs being sold on eBay. Could it be that the bad ones are fake H Techs?

I have a set of H Techs that I'm planning to install in the spring and I'm getting a little scared due to the negative reports lately on this forum.

 

That's exactly how I feel. I'm researching to find out whether or not to swap out progress springs (rear only) for HTech springs. Although many of those running HTech's are happy, those that are more advanced in suspension geometry (irish) seem to be unhappy with it. Some members don't bottom out whatsoever and others always do. So far, the only agreeable statement for the HTech's are that the front springs are too soft for a 32xxlb car. Anyone like to add to this?

 

Entirely possible, as I ordered mine on ebay

They are softer than others available, but IMO they're a good compromise between comfort and stiffness. I did notice the front end to exhibit a little more body roll than the rear but I've never had the front bottom out, and when I had 200+ lbs. of luggage (including my 110 lb. jack) in my trunk on my trip from Louisiana to Arizona the only thing that happened was my tire would hit the fender when going over huge fast bumps on the interstate, and that's only about 1 1/2" of compression...The reason it hit the fender is because I have 25mm rear wheel spacers and my beam is shifted to the right a little (I need to center it one of these days).

Anyway, if I could go back I would definitely get either maxspeeds or eibachs, but what can ya do? I'm thinking about just going for coilovers next...

 

I'm positive my H-techs were genuine...ordered directly from Tein, not an internet store or ebay....

 

Ditto - authentic H-Techs here as well.

 

That brings up another point, on housecor's website, his measurements are different than mine. Maybe I really did get different springs?

 

Hmm, things are getting fishy with HTechs. LA02MAX, you seem pretty satisfied with your combo. You've nailed all my questions but this quality control isn't helping things out for me. Maybe I'll ask this then... does your rear "uncomfortably" bounce or does your rear feel pretty firm?

These are annoying questions but I don't wanna install my front progress' with uber soft rears (again, quality control NOT people's testimonies). I have eliminated soft HTech fronts by having progress' but still deciding on the rears.

EDIT:

LA02MAX... what do you dial the rears to??

 

what all do you have done to your max? i am working on my max as well.