H@mmerm@n

I had the Comptech springs and Konis installed at Niello Acura/Porsche in Sacramento for $424 (included aligment). I had them leave the Konis at the softest setting for now.

The look is great, of course. No more 4x4 wheel well gap. The ride home from the dealer (mostly freeway of varying quality) felt tighter, but not harsh at all. I didn't do any really hard stopping, but front-end dive under moderate braking seems to be nearly gone. Same for that outer front-end dip that occurs when you round a 90 degree turn at moderate speed.

Now for my only complaint...no surprise...THE STOCK TIRES REALLY BITE THE BIG ONE!!! That initially became obvious several months ago when i got the sways installed, but it is even more apparent now. Kinda like trying to run fast and turn a corner wearing wooden clogs.

Southpaw

when are you putting pics up?

H@mmerm@n

Hopefully tomorrow or Sunday. I don't have a digital camera, but some of the dudez I'm meeting with tomorrow will have one.

astro

you should crank your rear shocks up to about 3/4 full and leave the front ones at about half...that will really help the big ass end of the car to get around corners...

H@mmerm@n

Astro, do you think it will help even with the stock rubber?

With only an hour or so of driving on the new setup it's hard for me to pass judgement. My unscientific analysis is it just seems that with the addition of springs (already had the sways) there's no lean or dive to the suspension at all to absorb any of the weight transfer in a turn. In lieu of something to absorb that momentum, it just seems to push the tires and understeer even more.

My car is begging for lightweight wheels and sticky tires.

[ 08-18-2001: Message edited by: H4mm3rm4n ]

technoid

Welcome to Club Koni, H4mm3rm4n. For city driving, or rough roads, 3/4 turn might be a bit rough. Koni suggests max 1/2 turn for us country GT touring dudes (which I agree), but you can ease your way up to 3/4 if you dare. With front wheel drive, I was told you want a stiffer suspension up front than in the back. That's why I dialed the back shocks 3/8 turn and my fronts 1/2 turn.

(Astroboy, can you comment on this? )

As for the stock rubber, H4mm3rm4n, I feel your pain. My OEM Michelins also seem to be the limiting factor now in achieving really super tight cornering. Upgrading to Toyo Proxes would seem to be the next step, but my OEM rubber is hardly worn at 16K miles.

BTW, are you happy with your Comptech axle back exhaust? It looks nice from the pix I've seen, but what about its sound, the performance gain, yada, yada, yada?

[ 08-18-2001: Message edited by: technoid ]

H@mmerm@n

Why, thank you, brother Technoid.

I left instructions with the dealer to set the Konis at 3/8 rear & 1/2 front from your suggestion in a post a couple days ago. The service tech called me early in the morning and recommended that the Konis initially be set at the softest setting, and that I could adjust them stiffer after I had driven the setup for a bit. It seemed reasoable, given that they're easy to adjust (the fronts anyway), so I told him to go ahead.

I plan do to quite a bit of driving the twisties tomorrow morning and afternoon, so I'll try the maximum flabby setup for a couple hours and then dial in your suggestions for the afternoon twisties and see how it feels.

We are in the same boat on the stock tires. After 13K miles they look like they'll go forever (my wife's old car, an 89 Accord, went 40K miles on the original factory Michellins ). I'm not anxious to pull them off and try to sell them used; I'd rather drive the piss out of 'em and try to get a few more miles of wear. I'll probably wait until I get around 20K miles before I consider ditching them.

As for the exhaust (yada-yada), I do like it quite a bit. Forget about horsepower gains...if there are any, it's too small to tell. The look and sound are very nice, not at all fartpipeish (new word?). The tip is only 3 1/2" in diameter (and is solid-looking) so only the very smallest-brained idiots could fit their head in it. Definitely smaller than a can of Yuban. The sound is a nice, low burble (think Barry White ); kinda like a V8, but not annoyingly loud.

Off-topic: I believe the "no stinking badges" phrase originated from the movie "Treasure of the Sierra Madre", no? Man, I haven't caught that movie in like decades!!!

[ 08-18-2001: Message edited by: H4mm3rm4n ]

technoid

H4mm3rm4n, sorry I took so long in responding to your post. Si!!! You are absolutely keereckt! Nice to meet a fellow CL-S afficionado with a classic movie background. Although I have the movie on Laser Disk, I'm still waiting for the "Treasure of Sierra Madre" to be released on DVD. (BTW, the hierarchy of my video equipment rack is: DVD player, Laser Disk player, Hi-8 deck, VHS deck, and last, but least, my Betamax--kinda gives my age away, huh?)

And..the guyz who astutely noted that Mel Brooks copped the same line in "Blazing Saddles" get an honorable mention for having a warped sense of humour. ("That's Hedley, not Heddy!").

[ 08-27-2001: Message edited by: technoid ]

Red Rider

" What in the wide,wide world of sports is a goin on here " !!

" The way you're all lollygagin around, you'd think it was 120 degrees, can't be more than 114 "

H@mmerm@n

If you really must pry...