I am interested in upgrading my existing stock springs and struts to lowering springs and the illumina struts. I have been reading all the information on the org about different brands and preferences, so unlike most, I have a simple question not related to a particular brand of spring.

Regardless of the choice of lowering springs, will upgrading to the Illuminas give me a better quality ride than the stock suspension, even if I do lower the car?

I have a brand of spring in mind, but I don't want to start another battle over preferences on lowering springs. I just want to know if in general, those folks that have lowered thier cars with Illuminas are happy with the handling, ride and comfort, as compared to the stock Nissan suspension, regardless of thier spring choice.

 

The answer is going to be "yes" from everyone.

 

^^^^yes^^^^

 

no doubt...the illuminas are amazing...on the softest setting, they ride VERY close to stock (maybe even a bit better..) and if you want better handling, all you have to do is crank it up to 5 and the car feels extremely tight, but the ride is a little more harsh..

 

this should pretty much answer all you questions related to ride quality:
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=459517

 

Thanks for the responses. I have been through the link you mentioned and read the reviews. Sounds like everyone is happy with the Illuminas regardless of spring choice.

My only concern is sacrificing comfort for appearance or performance, but I don't think the stock ride is all that comfortable to start with. I am hoping that I can drop the car and smooth out the ride with better struts/springs, without the ride getting bone jarring. At 43, I am not sure I should go away from the stock springs, but I like the look of a dropped Max.

 

If I were you I'd pair up the H&R's with the Illuminas. I have them on my Max w/ stock struts and the ride is decent but would be alot smoother if I had the Illuminas.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

I have already done a couple of suspension upgrades by adding the Otto FSB and a Stillen RTB, which I thought made a substantial improvement in my handling capabilities. The only other upgrades I plan for my Max are struts and lowering springs, but I only plan on doing them once. I expect to order the components by the end of next week.

I noticed my stock suspension was riding pretty rough last week and found my tires were inflated to 36 lbs. Once I dropped them back down to 32 which was what Discount Tire suggested for my Kumho Ecsta ASX's, the ride improved substantially.

 

I suggest a progressive rate spring.

Eibachs have been great to me!

J

 

Well, I have been looking at lowering springs for about 6 months and I keep coming back to the H-techs. I like the drop the best, based on the pictures I have seen, (1.6,1.0), but I just don't want to make the suspension too harsh, since this is my daily driver and I use it to transport clients. I suspect that by going with Illuminas along with the springs I can make the ride comfortable for my daily driving.