Hey guys it's Phoneix. I haven't been on here for a while. I've been busy with the business. I would like to hear from people that have installed the Maxspeeds on their Maxima. I would like an honest opinion of their ride quality. Please tell me if you have installed aftermarket shocks with the springs. Any help on this would be helpful.

 

As you have an SE model, the ride quality should be about the same. At least that's what I've heard from others over the past months.

I went from a GXE to Maxspeeds and KYB GR-2s so the ride was noticably more firm. Could definitely feel the bumps more. But that's the tradeoff for a lower ride and better handling.

 

I just switched my 95' GLE from stock to a KYB AGX/Maxspeed set-up. The ride is definately firmer, even on the "softest" shock settings, but I attribute all of the difference to the shocks, not the springs. I took a measurement of the spring coeficient (the resistence of the spring to being compressed) of the new springs at work, and then did the same with the old springs after I swapped em' out. There was only a negligable difference in the two.

To summarize in plain English, there is NO RIDE DIFFERENCE between the stock and Maxspeed springs; the Maxspeeds are simply useful to drop the car 1.5/1.4 inches. That said, I am very happy with my current set-up, as the AGX shocks can be "dialed-in" to whatever degree of stiffness I prefer.

If ride quality is your main concern, I would evaluate the different shock choices, and choose the springs based on the drop you want.

hope it helps!

 

i also came from a stock GLE step up to the kyb agx / maxspeed setup. My experience is the ride is much firmer. I used the stock 15's for a while and recently upgraded to i30 17's. Boy a world of difference and I would recommend it. The larger wheels seem to complement the suspension now whereas the 15's used to sway a bit. Each bump would verberate through the rest of the suspension and the car. (most likely due to the thicker sidewalls of the 15's wheels.

at this point, i am very happy with the ride and would recommend this setup. I currently have the shocks/struts adjusted to 2/4. I have them at 1/2 when i want to cruise for longer distances.

 

Okay. That's good to hear. I think I will test these out. Thanks guys

 

i think lowering springs have to be stiffer than stock springs, because they are technically supposed to support the same force but with shorter wheel travel, which means that they must be stiffer in order to absorb the same energy over a shorter distance.

 

its not just the springs that will matter, its if you do the bumpstops correctly and so on, a friend of mine has maxspeeds with kyb agx, and its CRAP, so harsh, so bumpy, just terrible, so take that as u will i would hold out for eibachs

 

I did my suspension swap about 5-6 months ago. I had the 96 SE suspension and changed it to the Maxspeed/KYB AGX combo. The ride quality is very similar to the SE susp if you keep the settings to 2/4 (front/rear), but I have mine set to 3/6. It rides a little (very little) harder but the handling is hella better!!! I would recommend this combo setup to anyone. You get an even drop plus the handling is superb!

 

its not just the springs that will matter, its if you do the bumpstops correctly and so on, a friend of mine has maxspeeds with kyb agx, and its CRAP, so harsh, so bumpy, just terrible, so take that as u will i would hold out for eibachs

 

eibachs will be harsher than maxspeeds

 

hmm my bro's car with the eibachs seemed to ride better than the friends car who had maxspeeds, altho know my bro has h & r's

 

Maxspeed/AGX = A harsh ride
Eibach/AGX = A firm ride
H&R/AGX = OK I can deal with it ride

Maxspeed springs are cheap springs and cheap suspension components = cheap ride qyality. They also rust very fast.

Bottom line, you get what you pay for.

KYB AGX front struts are IMHO not valved very good for use with any lowering spring. You can get your car to handle just as good and ride so much better by using the Tokico Illuminas up front. They are expensive, but again, you get what you pay for. GR2's ride firm, but not as harsh as the AGX's do. The rear AGX shocks do an excellent job controlling the beam setup. Most of the harshness of an AGX ride comes from the front end.

I'm starting to see more and more Max owners stear away from AGX's. I've pulled a few sets out of cars already, myself included.

 

Do you think that you are better off with AGX's in the rear rather than Illumina's? Or do you think that having a full set of Illumina's may be even better?

 

Go for a full set of Illuminas. I had AGX's and kept the rears, thats how I wound up with the setup I have. The rear AGX's and Illuminas are valved very similar. There both nice and firm. The front Illuminas are valved very differently then any other strut I've put in a Maxima. Moderate compression and very light, yet controlled rebound. The result of valving like that is your front end never gets pulled down. The ride sort of keeps the front end up, like a cloud, yet it's nice and firm. The car's ride is very fluid like.

 

He will be pulling my Maxspeed/AGX combo for me a soon as I can get the money together. Not sure if its the AGX's, Maxspeeds, or the 225/40/R18s that make the ride so bad but I am thinking about going back to stock. Love the look, hate the ride.