rmpage

I finally got my Neuspeed sport springs and Neuspeed Konis installed this week. Nothing out of the ordinary, really. In fact, this is the exact same setup as virtualbong's TSX - right down to the Ingalls rear camber kit.

The advertised drop for these springs is 1.5" F and 1.0" R, but just like others who have used these springs on this board (JTso, virtualbong, et al.) my drop is significantly lower - 1.6/1.6 or thereabouts. To get a balanced drop between front and rear, rather than a rake, I had the shop use the middle spring perch on the front shocks and move up one in the back to get it slightly lower (the Neuspeed Konis have five perches instead of the normal three).

Here is the result:









And of course the closeups of my wheel gap at the moment:

Front:




Rear:




Conclusions:
These springs are noticeably stiffer than stock, but not by much. I actually got a much harsher ride when I switched from stock tires to my 235/40/18s. This suspension made almost no difference comparably. I was worried that I would lose so much comfort that I'd be pushed out of the sport-luxury category but this has not been the case.

I have had a few instances of rubbing though. Not in the range of motion of the steering (that clears fine) but if I hit one of those invisible-until-ten-feet-away frost heaves that we have to live with on our asstastic New England roads. The wheel gap isn't much, and I'm beginning to wonder if it's too little for the rate of these springs. Or it could be more a result of my tire width (235) instead. Feel free to offer any thoughts on this matter as I'm sure you will have some. Only two things I can think of are slightly narrower tires or perhaps raising the drop a bit to the next-lowest spring perch on all four corners. In any case, it doesn't occur frequently or harshly enough for me to make it a priority, so I'm not rushed to resolve it.

Also, I installed my Progress rear swaybar at the same time (on the stiffest setting). Body roll is almost completely done away with, and I haven't noticed any understeer.

Onramps are a blast now!

virtualbong

Looks awesome Ryland! Can't wait to see everything in person. I'm going to install my Greddy Evo2 Catback tonight. Just got back from PA (5+ hour drive), but I really want to put it on so it goes on tonight. Hope everything goes well

rmpage

Sweet dude. Hey, how does this compare to your drop? You run 225/40/18s right? Do you get the occasional squeak when you hit a frost heave from the front tires hitting the fenderwell lip? I'm trying to figure out if my tires are a hair too wide or my car was somehow lowered more than yours was.

I also just realized:
That was supposed to say oversteer.

HONgDA

iTrader: (1)

Lookin really good. Just needs a lip kit to compliment the drop and some tinted windows.

virtualbong

Your drop looks exactly like mine. I haven't rubbed once, so I'm thinking that its your tires that are making the difference.

AlterZgo

rmpage,

Your car looks great. Are you getting rubbing in the front or rear or both? What offset are you running on your rims? I'm running 235-40-18s on 18x8 +51 offset rims and do not have any rubbing issues at all. I'm lowered on Comptech springs w/ Neuspeed Konis. It's a bit higher than where you are now (1.5 finger gap in front and a tight 2 finger gap in rear). Have you done your alignment yet? Running less negative camber can also increase the likelihood of tire rub on the wheel well.

rmpage

Just in front, and the offset is +48mm. It rubbed frequently on the 10 minute trip to the alignment shop but aligning fixed a lot of that. Still more than I'd like though.

GIBSON6594

Looks good, makes me wanna drop my car so badly

savage

looks great man... cant wait to see it at the meet in a few weeks...

DietCoke

You should get the OEM body kit, it would make the exhaust look better. Everything looks great though, I love Arctic Blue...

rmpage

I've never been a huge fan of body kits so I've been holding off, but I know what you mean about the exhaust. It's just kinda hanging out there. I'm probably going to have to see a few in person to sell myself on the idea.

dzuy

high flow cat?

someone makes one for our car???

LannyM

That looks very very nice.

My guess would be that the tire size is the culprit of your rubbing vs VB or AlterZgo.....

Your tires are essentially the same diameter as stock but stick out .67" further. VB's tires are like .33" smaller diameter which probably gives him the extra clearance with the same drop. AlterZgo has the same size tires as you and similar offset, but isn't dropped quite as much.

I'm down a little more than all you guys and have yet to rub with 225/45/17, which is even smaller than VBs tires. Wheel is 17x7 45 offset.......

madmanmax3000

I have 215's on my rims (or maybe its 225...?), is that what you have? No rubbing should happen with that, right?

rmpage

It is a universal model. I used a Carsound Magnaflow 54306. I'm going to post a thread about it once I can get a dyno comparison and some better pictures, but suffice to say, it added at least as much power as my CAI did with very little additional noise. No problems with passing emissions either.
Heh, I kinda wondered if 235s would be a little wide when I got them. I'm not going to screw around with the perches unless absolutely necessary so I'll probably just end up getting some 225 tires when I replace them.

JPL530i

looks awesome!

MyK24a

225 is fine, its the offset of your rims that causes the rubbing too, don't go lower than +40 u'll be fine

AlterZgo

Hmmnnn. I'm surprised you are getting rubbing with that amt of offset. People have run the TL 17x8 +45 rim w/ 235-45-17s on lowered suspension w/o issues. Your +48 should be OK. I'm looking at a metric ruler and wondering is the very little 3mm difference btw my set up and yours could be the difference btw clearance and rubbing.

vwong is running 19x8 +40 offset 235-35-19s on his super slammed TSX and, while he definitely rubs, the front tire tucks under the wheel well. Your +48 should be fine even w/ 235-40-18s.

You can try turning the front shock adjustment knob to full soft (opposite direction of firm on the knob). This will fully soften the rebound, but will fully stiffen the compression which should prevent the car from coming down as much when you hit a bump.

You can also raise the front 1/4" so that the front and rear wheel well gap would be equal at about 1 1/2 finger gaps. Car will still look nice and low.

Today, I'm going to drop my rear spring perch 1/4" so I'm at about 1.5 finger gap all around.

rmpage

Great advice as always, AlterZgo. I'll try adjusting the front damping since I should be able to do it myself. If that doesn't work I'll probably end up raising the front by going one perch lower from the middle of the shock.

JTso

iTrader: (2)

Different brands of tires with the same advertised width don't always have the same actual width. Additionally, the width of the rims can affect the sectional width of the tires. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...p#sectionwidth

I have tested ES100 235 tires for about a month and ended up replacing them with 225 due to clearance problem with the drop that I have. It wasn't a huge issue, but I can't stand even the slightest rubbing sound.

virtualbong

Kinda off topic, but since you've been talking about using the shocks to adjust the height, I think I set the spring perch incorrectly. I wanted to lower the rear .25", but I think I may of raised it instead. I'm pretty sure I set the rear spring perch one setting down from the neutral spot. So that means that I raised it .25" right? Shit.

JTso

iTrader: (2)

When you lower the spring perch, you lower the ride height.

LannyM

What JTso said........

......to raise the front 1/4" you want to go UP one groove from where you are now.....

rmpage

Oops...by one lower I meant as it is installed in the car. That should make the shock sit higher out of the spring, resulting in a higher stance, right?

AlterZgo

No. If you are looking at the shock as it is installed in the car, the lower you move the spring perch, the lower your car will sit.

Imagine that you are looking at the side of your car with the wheel taken off. You see the grooves in the body of the shock. The corresponding positions will be as follows:



Remember that moving the spring perch up or down does not compress the spring. It simply raises the position of the spring up or down which will result in a corresponding increase or decrease in ride height.

AlterZgo

Another thing - the shock does not determine the position of the car. Whether the shock itself sits higher or lower has no effect whatsoever on the height of the car. The weight of your car is fully supported by the 4 springs. That is why raising or lowering the spring perch will raise or lower your car.

rmpage

Alright cool. I may just end up having the fronts raised up one perch, which would make it about even with the rear anyway.

virtualbong

Thanks for clearing it up for me LannyM and AlterZgo. So I did do it right

Tsx536

Looks great Rmpage....Both you and VB have very nice drops. I really like the look of your exhuast too!

fedlawman

One of the nicest looking TSX's I've seen. Love the exhaust and the SSR's - very tasteful.

Matell

A little off topic and I can't wait to see your post on the Cat, but where did your fabricator (or you) install the original mid-mount O2 sensor or are you using an O2 simulator? I know JTso's also working on a cat swap out as a project, as am I.

rmpage

The guy I had do it welded in a bung just downstream of the element. One of my main concerns was whether or not the Magnaflow would sufficiently clean the exhaust gas, or whether it would result in a CEL after driving for an hour. Everything ended up working fine. I was prepared to put in a sim if need be but then the temptation to just run a test pipe would have been even greater.

jmathew34

rmpage, do you notice any noises from the suspension setup? i.e. what some members are experiencing with coil-overs?

virtualbong

I have the same setup as rmpage and no noises on my end.

What about you rmpage?

rmpage

Nothing noticeable yet. I listened intently on the first few drives - windows down, going slower, radio off, and didn't hear anything.

LannyM

You shouldn't hear any noises at all with Koni's; they're basically as quiet as the stock struts. As long as everything is lined up and installed correctly, it will be noise free.

With the Tein FLEXes, I can hear a slight compression of the struts, but I don't want to overstate it; I would have to be windows open, radio off and then hit a small bump, and even then it's barely audible-no one driving in my car has ever noticed it. It's just the extreme pressures of the strut at work. Any noise louder than that would have to fall under the category of incorrect assembly/installation......