23109VC

anyone in so cal have H&R springs on stock shocks in so cal that would be willing to take me for a spin in your car so I could see what it rides like?

i recently took a ride in a car equipped with the aspec suspension and while i liked the handling, the stiffness and especially the bounciness was too harsh for me to put on my daily driver. Big thanks to "kvn8" for letting me test drive his car!! the handling truly was miles above my stock car... but given that I use my car for a lot of a "family" commuting with my kids in the car.. the stiffness was too much. the ride was firm..but on any pavement that was less than smooth, the car seemed to bounce hard on bumps. rathe than the shocks soaking up the bumps, it seemed to crash over them... the car i rode in had 18" aspec wheels with nexen tires... stock size 245-45-18...

i'm hping a car with stock shocks and H&R springs woudl get the slight increase in firmness i woudl like, reduce teh floatiness, but retain a more smoother ride and not bounce so much... or am I mistaken and H&Rs will bounce too or be just as harsh?? some members here have PM'd me that they think H&R on OEM struts will be much smoother...

if someone was close enough to so cal...I"d gladly drive to you to check out your car and try it out before i did it on my car...

let me know.

thanks!!

037

H&Rs are stiffer than A-Specs. I think choosing a softer tire would fix up the ride. For good handling and softness I recommend the Continental DWS UHP tires. Bridgestone Serenity's also got some good reviews.

23109VC

H&R springs on stock shocks would ride stiffer than the OEM aspec setup?

037

yep

eVTEC

I believe H&R Sport Springs are progressive, i.e. softer for small bumps and harsher on large bumps; while A-Spec is linear so small or large bumps are the same harshness.

I have H&R Sport Springs on A-Spec struts but I think my front struts have gone bad because of the harder springs.

23109VC

eVTEC-

why do you think your fronts have gone out and how long have you had the H&Rs on teh aspec struts???

I didn't think about the progressive vs. linear issue.. that would make a difference...

from my perspective.. it sounds like the h&Rs are going to give a smoother less bouncy ride than aspec. I've read reports of some people who have installed aspec saying that once it was in, they felt it was very stiff and had considered pulling the shocks out.. i've never read anyone who had H&R saying they wantd to put stock springs back in...

of course, there are only a handful of either group, so it's anecdotal... but it's all I've got to go on...

wish someone local had H&Rs on stock shocks so I could get a test ride...

anyone???? evtec - where are you?

Chas2

Reportedly, lowering springs puts more stress on stock shocks...the shocks are always compressed, more so than designed, so they wear out faster, blown seals, etc, as opposed to a true coil over set up (e.g., A-Spec or Tein) where presumably the shocks are designed for a shorter stroke, etc, or whatever the design criteria are.

23109VC

yeah, I know. I"m just curious how long people are actually getting out of a setup where they pair H&Rs on teh OEM shocks...some shocks can take it and some can't...

I think UWRL has had his on his car for a few years... I also recall reading supergreen had just H&Rs but he eventially went to the aspec dampers b/c he decided the ride degraded on just the springs...

I wan't something firmer, but I walso don't want to mess up my car.

apsec was sounding like the best way to go until I rode in a car with it and it bounced my guts out on bad pavement... too firm.

Chas2

Are you sure it wasn't the tires?

I have found some tires with my cars exceedingly sensitive to higher than recommended air pressure, including my current UHPAS Yoko Advan S4's...

And on my wife's minivan, she was ready to sell the car until got rid of the terrible (though H rated) Bridgestones in favor of some very expensive, but very nice, Goodyear triple treads. She has not spoken of a new car for another four years, but she has asked me about new tires recently...

23109VC

honestly, I seriously suspected that, but only after the test drive was over and I was alrady home... it sounds from what I have read, that tire pressure and tire choice is a big factor on these cars..

my stock MXMs are running at about 31-32 psi... my car feels very smooth/soft... I haven't played with trying to jack up the pressure...but I woudl suspect that if someone were to run 18s..and had stiff sidewalls and high tire pressure - it would bump hard..and maybejust dropping tire pressure would help a lot???

although the fellow who let me test drive his car, commented that before he had 18" aspecs with nexen tires on it - he had the stocker 17s..and he felt aspec was just as bumpy/bouncy..so from his opinion, it wasn't just tires/tire pressure...

could his setup have been installed wrong?? i mean, how do you put the apsec in wrong/ the fronts come preassembled and you just plug them in... is there someting an installer could do wrong that would casue the suspension to be too firm??

so many peole have reported putting aspec in and saying total praise for it..how it's ideal, how the car shoudl be from th factory... then other says "wow it's really stiff"...

i guess I can just chalk that up to honest differnces in people's subjective opinion on what it too ouncy... but from what I rode 9in.. ther is now ay anyone would say it wasn't bouncy... it was bouncy. on a rough section of freeway with lots of expansion joints, teh car litteraly crashed over the bumps and bounced up and down very harshly.. it was that firm.

i need to ride in another car with aspec that has 17s or softer tires... play with tire pressure a bit and see what happens...

knv8

if this helps any, my tire pressure that day was at 32 hot, im usually on 35 and its not much of a diff. the bounciness is from the shocks

23109VC

32 is about what I have my MXMs at.... interesting.. so maybe tire pressure has nothing to do with it... maybe it's just those tires ahve very stiff sidewalls???

knv8

well like i said, my stocks with aspec acted the same, let me know how your test ride goes with the stock wheel aspec setup.

23109VC

I will let you know what I find out Ken. Thanks again for the test ride. Based on your observations, though, I'm guessing all cars with aspec ride like yours..and maybe I"m just hyper sensitive to the bumpiness.

I'm starting to think maybe, if I do any suspension mods at all, I shoudl start with just the rear sway bar upgrade, like you suggested. then if I want more, and if I really want it lowered - then just do H&R springs.. I can get those for $240 new. install would be $120-150 at a small speed shop. if I really decide I hate it, I can pay another $150 to go back to stock springs..sell the H&R here, and in th end, I'd be out a few hundred.. it's eithe rthat or just leave it stock... I love how my car looks, but just think it would look 10x better lower, with slightly larger wheels..

bluesxtreme

Why don't you try a higher psi just so you feel the difference that PSI will make? I felt mine were wayyyy too soft at 34-32. I went to 40-38 and it was a big difference. I'm assuming that you'd be fine if you had aspec and your current psi since you already have it softer than the recommended psi.

eVTEC

23109VC where are you located? I live near to the west LA so if you want to feel the ride, let me know.

From my experience with other shocks, the H&R on Acura RL is very progressive, way more than my 2003 Honda Accord. So for small uneven bumps, the car rides smoother than A-Spec. But when there is one large bump, like on freeway 405 here, the car actually feel like taking off after running through it! Again, I think my front struts are bad because I brought my car in to my mechanic and he said the minor squeaking sound (very low speed) means that the struts are bad. But he also said my reat struts are still good.

I already installed the 19mm rear sway-bar from 2009 Acura RL.

eVTEC

Interestingly, I set my tire pressure 2 more than recommended 35psi and I have no issue with thread wear at all. I am running a used set of Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 purchased at 80% thread. After running for more than 20k miles, I still have at least 30% left.

I know I drive like grandpa most of the time. But I take my car for spirited drive once in a blue moon and feel great about it.

23109VC

eVTEC-

i sent you a PM. PM me your contact info and we can set something up!

ichi d

aspec springs and stock shocks. thats what u need.

knv8

i raised my psi to about 38-39 hot, and it feels actually less jittery or bouncy then with 35 hot. maybe the higher psi is better with these tires, nexen
n7000 50 psi max.

23109VC

weird.... was it only a little bit less bouncyll or was it substantially less bouncy??? since I"ve been in your car, I know what you meant about that bouncy / crashing feeling when you hit the bad part of the freeway and it almost felt like it was crashign over the expansion joints... was that smoothed out a lot??

knv8

well the stiffness is still the same, but the overall jittering and bounciness has been reduced. i should have tried the higher psi a long time ago, but the last time i had my psi this high, it wore out my general uhp tires on my tl unevenly towards the middle. but those are different tires, so...

well if you are going to be around west la soon for that hr test ride, let me know...I may be able to make it out and make it a mini meet. you can see the new results with the higher psi.

T-jay

I have h&r's with stock shocks on 20" rims in new york. I love the ride, it doesn't ride harsh or bumpy. I keep my pressure at 36psi but I'm looking to get some tein comfort sports cause I wanna go lower when I get my new 20"s. The h&r springs for the rl is not the same as any other drop srping these were designed to use with stock shocks. If there were aftermarket sport struts for our cars h&r would have made race springs. I personally think you should try it for yourself cause no 2 cars ride the same. Bushing condition, strut wear, tires and tire pressure can make all the difference. When I had first put a tein suspension on my civic my car would bounce a lot on the stock wheels with thick stock tires. Went one size up with a lower profile and the car rides on rails. You'll never know until you try.

23109VC

very true.... i've heard a lot of good things about H&R springs...although only a few people here have actually done it...

it would lower the car a fair amount, which looks good.

if I had a TL....there would be 100 people in driving distance who have H&R coils... coilovers, sway bars, you name it.. with the RL... hardly anyone mods th em...

T-jay

I really recommend you get them. Mine sits a little lower cause I have about an extra 125lbs of music in the trunk! And it still drives great not to hard not to soft

tnobori1

Do you need a camber kit with the H&Rs? The total drop is about 2" from stock, right?

Chas2

Less, 1.5" and 1.4" and theoretically no you do not need a camber kit. Here are the part numbers
http://hrsprings.com/scripts/appguid...Find3&MakeID=1

Model Chassis Code Year Stage Fr Lower Rr Lower Part No MSRP
RL SH-AWD VIN code KB1 2005-up Sport Spring 1.5 1.4 50116 $369.00
RL SH-AWD VIN code KB2 2009-up Sport Spring 1.5 1.4 50116-2 $369.00

gman44116

iTrader: (1)

Bringing this one back from the ahhum,, dead??

What's the difference between the 50116 and 50116-2? Does anyone know?
I know the front Struts have different OEM part #'s (last 3 digits) between the two models but I have no idea what the difference between the two are...

Anyone??

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

Just wanted to share that there are h&rs in the black market.

https://acurazine.com/forums/car-parts-sale-361/rl-h-r-lowering-springs-872024/

oo7spy

^I would comment on the price, but...

..well you know.




http://thmotorsports.com/i-238963.as...FXGRPAodNC8ApQ

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

haha... still keeping your friend count low.

oo7spy

Oh, I get it. Like Facebook friends; right? You know, the ones that matter.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

hahahaha

23109VC

I'm the OP... that RL is now sold. I traded it in to the dealer.. it sold in a week or less. i talked to the sales guys the following week and they said the new owner liked the H&Rs...

I'm likely going to do H&Rs on my new TL SH-AWD..... although bone stock the TL is firmer than the RL was with springs... handling on teh TL is out of this world... theer is still some body roll..but i swear the SH-AWD system is more aggressive, kciks in soon, harder...

the car goes throuhg cornes as well as my old boxster.... it would demolish an RL in the twisties... demolish it.

BUT... the RL is way more comfy. the other day my wife commented that the TL is "bumpy"... I htink she liked the ride of the RL better... to me, the TL is more fun and comfy enough ...

i'll eventually have to put up a comparo thred now that I have lived iwht hte TL long enogh to make up my mind about likes/disliikes..

as far as H&Rs go on the RL.. if you even remotely woudl like your RL to look better - the H&Rs are a no brainer. the ride is maybe 10-20% firmer... at MOST. the ride is virutally tehg same as stock. after a week of driving the RL with springs, I could no longer tell it had them on it.. it just felt "stock".. the look of the car dropped on 18" looked sweet.

Addease08RL

Anyone got any suspension for sale looking for some coils....possibly springs to

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

start here

https://acurazine.com/forums/marketplace/parts/search/

HybridCB7

Hate to bring up an old thread but didn't want to start my own and found no answer to my question through a search.

Does anybody know if the 05-05 H&R springs are interchangeable with the 09 and up version.

The part numbers are slightly different 50116 for 05-08 and 50116.2 for 09-up. The MMC change didn't have too many changes besides aesthetics. Just wanted to confirm because I have a good deal on 09-up springs but want to make sure they will fit before purchasing.

oo7spy

I don't think anyone has confirmed. The suspension did change with regards to stiffness in the MMC.

You can get new H&Rs for like $230 shipped. How much better of a deal could it be?

HybridCB7

Enough of a deal that warrants me asking the question hahaha

I think I should be able to get them for $100-$150 shipped but they are for a 09-12 model.

I just called H&R(I was hoping somebody on here would know) and they told me it is the same part so I guess they are interchangeable.

oo7spy

No doubt the MMC and pre-MMC can both be dropped on H&Rs. 037 proved that. However, he used v2 on his MMC. I can't say anyone has put the wrong one on the car. Give it a shot and report back.

I don't think there are many times when the other model is cheaper and warrants a decision.