Is there any way to still find the a spec suspension or even just the aspec springs?

Would like to lower about 1 inch all around on the type s. Is there an aftermarket equivalent that would give that drop with the same ride comfort/characteristics of stock aspec or type s suspension?

 

The only thing close to that set up is Ebach "spell check that" lower spring with Koni Yellow.

 

I live in nyc and I use to have tein s tech springs on the car. The most regular pothole would make it seem like the car is going to break in half lol. The ride quality when it came to potholes was unacceptable and not comparable to even type s stock suspension. I feel like the eibach springs would be the same story.

 

Any amount of drop with any stock length shock is going to put the car on its bumpstops.

Different types of springs are going to have the same result. This car has limited shock travel.

You want to buy coilovers, either with a shortened case, or with an adjustable case.

I've had good luck with Tein Street Advance. I would not drop the car more than about 0.75" *maybe* 1". The beauty is that you can always raise it a little bit if your 1" drop results in sub par ride quality.

If you can restrain yourself in terms of drop, and you understand how to tune a shock for damping...this is the way I'd recommend going.

 

Are there any issues running Tein SAZs at that height? Tein's recommended range for the SAZ is -1.4 to -2.2" but the limits are -0.6 to -3.8". I have a set that I'll be installing in the spring and I'd like to run them around the same height as the A-spec suspension if it's not going to cause any issues being outside Tein's recommended range.

 

They are out of production, you would need some custom ones made to go along with some Koni Yellows.

 

3/4 of an inch is probably the most I’d like to lower myself. Basically aspec suspension height is perfect to me. With your SA’s what did you set the dampening to? I’ve ridden in cars with coilovers and although it seems potholes don’t cause the the car to hit the bump stops the ride can be bouncy. It doesn’t have that stock ride characteristics. How’s your ride at that height and do you ever hit bump stops on potholes?

 

Nope, it will not cause any issues.

With any modern/semi modern passenger car I can think of...you're using the bumpstops virtually every time you drive. Even with stock suspension.

The spring compresses until the bumpstop slowly becomes active...and then expands and the reverse happens, giving the shock time to work. Spreading out the energy over time gives you less impact. And a spring is also just softer than a bumpstop.

But lowering a car to the point where the bumpstop is always active (or too close to active) at static height will result in a very choppy ride. The shock has very little time to dissipate a huge amount of energy.

You'll still use the bumpstop on the Tein at 3/4" drop. But you'll use it about as much as the stock suspension at stock height. So you won't get that crash when you hit bumps like you would on a car with lowering springs.

I'm familiar with NYC and have spent significant time driving around there in 2 different cars with Tein SA. A 1G and 2G TSX. Very similar to a TL.

The ride isn't gonna be quite as plush as stock since the spring rate is much higher. But its totally driveable. Nothing unbearable at all. It takes someone very keen to notice the car is modified.

Set the damping to maybe 5 or 6 clicks back from full stiff. Everyone has different sensibility.

The mistake most ppl make is setting the shocks too soft thinking its gonna be comfy. A shock's job is to damp out oscillations from a bouncing and rattling spring. Damped is comfortable. Not too soft and under-damped. The analogy I make is this...

A trampoline is softer than a foam mattress is (think Tempurpedic or similar mattress). But which one would you wanna be on if someone was jumping next to where you were sitting?

 

@BROlando thanks for the info. Yea would you happen to know the spring rates for the tein street flex and is that the coilovers you would suggest for the TL? How would you stack up bc racing coils to tein? I heard you can get BC’s with 10k/4k spring rates if you call them and ask for it.

 

No problem!

I'm suggesting the street ADVANCE, not the flex. I hate the Flex lol

I can't remember the spring rates. 12K/5K? or something? check out Tein's website.

And nah...I'm not a BC fan, but I know others use/like them.

 

Ebach spring has moderate drop comparing Tein S Tech. If you decide to go coil over get Tein Flex Z for comfort, for those who pursuit spirit driving get BC Racing (non-low series). I had driven Base, Type S, Type S Aspec suspension and my Type S that has Street Advance and now sit on BC coil.

Tein offer great technology on the ECD and comfortable for daily driving, however when you decide to push the car to its limit during high-speed corner. The coil fails to keep up on the rebound stroke and yes even on full stiff setting. This is where BC Racing shine compare to Tein.

BC ride stiffer than Tein and sit lower than Tein EVEN at max height.



We have limited aftermarket suspension support because the TL solely base on North America Honda Accord platform. If I could pick a coil over assy my pick would be Ohlins Racing.

@sockr1 welcome to chime in whatever i might missed.

 

Easiest solution; move out of NYC.

It's not so bad on the other side of the Hudson

 

Why would you suggest getting tein flex over street advance? Are the flex more comfortable?

@BROlando why do you hate the flex?

 

Short answer? The ride is appaling.

Long answer?
https://acurazine.com/forums/1g-tsx-...e-nice-966137/

 

Flex Z offer more adjustment than SA. But the damper on rebound are awful for me.

 

What about Koni orange paired with tein h tech lowering springs? @BROlando i spoke with Marcus at heeltoe and he said the street advance will lower from 1.5 to 2 inches but that I could go higher which would affect the pre load and ruin the ride quality. With my roads I really can’t go any lower then .75 inches so I’m thinking koni orange with lowering springs might be a better option?

 

I have no idea what he means by affect preload and ruin ride quality. Maybe something is being lost in translation.

To a large extent, adding preload will improve ride quality because you're adding compression travel to the shock.

A Koni orange is the same length as stock and has maybe a little more rebound damping. No, I would absolutely not recommend any lowering spring and stock length shock combo for your roads.

Using the street advance at a high ride height setting is going to get you the best resulting ride quality. In some situations, it may even ride better than stock.

 

what I would do is go on Tein's site and look up the Street Advance for your car.

They post 2 sets of numbers. The absolute min/max drop the coilover will physically allow. And their recommendations for min/max.

If the coilover will physically allow a 0.75" drop is the only small doubt I have. I'm 99.9% sure they will.

I am, however, 100% confident that running them at a 0.75" drop will produce superior ride quality.

 

Thanks! I was going to reuse my type s top hats. You think using base top hat bushings would make a difference in ride quality?

 

Nope, stick with the type S bushings. They just allow the damper to react faster, which is a good thing. The actual difference in ride quality will be virtually nothing.

 

Even if you can find a company to make custom springs, how would we even go about getting that done? Do we have the a spec spring specs?

How would Koni yellows on the lowest perch with type s springs pair up?

 

I think csmenace is suggesting buying Koni yellows...then finding a threaded sleeve kit that fits your Konis. Then buying some flat bottom springs from Eibach that are the length and rate you want.

They used to do ground control suspension kits that were that exact setup.

What you'll you end up with is an adjustable coilover with threaded sleeves. But...still a stock length shock.

So...like the Tein SA..but with longer shocks...lol

 

Why the Flex Z hate! , I don't mind the ride of mine (set at right in the middle after playing with it some) with a hardly slammed but modest drop. I mean yea it doesn't ride like my 07 5AT that's all stock but I didn't expect it to.

 

I should note that I rarely drive the car with the Teins, so "I" would think I would really feel any unpleasant ride more so. I have replaced a lot of suspension parts with new oem within 1,000 miles so I guess there's that. But I agree though that ymmv and everyone has different opinions and feels...

 

Sweet ride! What color is that on the brembos? Looks nice. Maybe the roads around you aren’t as bad as nyc. Nyc roads suck.

 

Red - and you're right probably better in Missouri...good point.

 

Dropped two different TL's on H&R sports ... visually they drop the car so that the wheel gap looks the same in the front as the rear fenders. This makes the car look ass-high though. Have the H&R's in my '06 right now paired with Koni yellows. Standard perch up front and bottom perch in back. Front looks like it's higher but the actual chassis is level. Rides great to me and visually I am satisfied. That spring used to be super popular, doesn't seem like people reference them that much any more. I get why coilovers are a good idea but I know myself and I know if I can keep adjusting it then I'm going to keep screwing with it ... and I don't want to that lol ... not with this car at least

 

I disagree with that... Because forever you can buy Koni Yellow and drop 3/4" (or whatever it is, 20mm?) using OEM springs and be just fine.
If you buy a short spring coilover that is 12kg, you will definitely feel like you are on BUMPSTOPS. haha
But that's my opinion.. to each their own..
But I will say that KONI yellow and Orange prices are UP! Really high prices.
I noticed Tirerack just raised the Koni Orange up $10 per shock in the past 2 days

 

The concern with Koni yellows is if you do lower with oem springs and if oem springs aren’t as stiff you might end up hitting bumps stops which effectively will give you a horrible ride. I think what’s being proposed is with something like tein SA’s the thinking is it’s a complete system with the components being designed around each other so even though the spring rates might be higher it would in theory give a complaint enough ride. Ride quality can also be subjective so it’s hard to say anything definitively. One thing everyone can agree on though is hitting bump stops needs to be avoided. I’m not sure how Koni yellows/oem springs on lowest perch perform in regards to hitting bump stops.

 

if your concern is ride quality, then why are you worried about bump stops? Even oem springs Rarely hit the bump stops. But even if it does on a rare occasion, it is just firm foam.. Ride quality really comes from springs and shocks.
but you are more than welcome to buy whatever you want. Its a free world. haha

 

Because when I had tein h tech springs with kyb shocks and didn’t trim the bump stops like tein recommends causing the car to ride on bump stops often the car drove like what I would imagine a ford model T rides like with all wooden square wheels.

 

sounds like shock problem. But maybe you should take Brolando's advice and get some of those 12KG coilovers.. That should smooth'er right out..

 

fwiw ... there are 2 perches on the front of Koni yellows, and 3 perches on the rears. on the standard version that is available to us these days. on the front the top perch is stock and the bottom is 15mm lower. in the rear the middle perch is stock, the bottom is 15mm lower, the top is 20mm higher. the actual purpose of the multiple perches is so that Koni can apply one shock to multiple car models. I say all that to say that with Koni yellows you can drop a 3GTL 15mm +/- (depending how control arm geometry also affects it) which I think is about the same (?) as Aspec? You retain factory ride quality (for better or worse) but you gain rebound adjustment which is kinda fun to mess with.

 

Would’nt putting it on lower perches put you closer to bump stops and cause you to hit them more often? Also isn’t factory ride the best we can do in terms of ride quality?

 

nahhhh ... as I mentioned I've been on H&R's with Tokico's before and H&R's with Koni's now and never hit the bump stops, I even have them full soft right now. There's plenty of travel available. I definitely lean the car into turns too. I for sure wouldn't be worried about it with the stock springs. The factory ride is by far the most plush, so it really depends on how determined you are to preserve that. I would consider the factory ride "soft", though it is nice. Even with my springs now, I know for a fact a factory 4th gen WRX feels way more stiff. But I think that has to do with the fact that our cars' original intended design was "Touring Luxury" ... to help put it in perspective. What you're used to is going to have a big influence on your opinion of ride quality.

 

You use the bumpstops every time you drive the car, I can assure you.

With a stock suspension, at stock height, you have about 1" of (front) shock travel before the bumpstop is engaged.

Take a quick measurement if you're keen.

Also...what region of the country are you from? OP is from NYC.

 

You could be right, I honestly don't know for a fact how much travel I actually do have available (since the bump stop is on the shock shaft under the boot). I just know from past experience, in other vehicles, I have been verifiably 1" from the bumpstops (visible external stop on the frame facing a control arm) to even riding right on top of them, and those were VERY different experiences. Admittedly, the roads I drive on are not terrible, and I also look for road obstacles out of habit. I'm on the west coast, do most of my driving between the northern bay area and reno, nv.

 

Lol yep, I kinda figured you were on the west coast. You guys could have shocks full of cement and the ride would be fine.

Most modern cars (I'm not including trucks) have a limited amount of travel before engagement of the bumpstops.

For double wishbone or multilink cars which have a high motion ratio of wheel:shock, most use about 1" of travel before bumpstop.

Its done so that a relatively soft spring soaks up imperfections, but the bumpstop eventually kicks in to increase the effective spring rate and limit things like body roll in hard cornering, and also stops the suspension motion in a controlled manner before suspension parts hit each other.

There's a lot of worry about a 12Kg/mm spring on the Teins.

Well, if you lower your car on lowering springs and stock length shocks...you're putting the bumpstop into an always-active or always close to active situation. The rate of your lowering spring PLUS the rate of your bumpstop is (??) Probably close to or greater than 12KG/mm lol.

As far as just putting stock springs into the low position on Koni's....

If it were that easy to do and still maintained decent ride characteristics, then why didn't Acura just do it that way? Why'd they re-develop a whole A-Spec kit?

 

I realize that my information isn't always well received, BTW. There's common perceptions that I'm opposing.

**Not pointing at anyone in particular.

But everyone is free to check themselves and prove me wrong. I'd never be able to show my face here again! lol

 

This all makes sense. The only thing I’m not understanding is if the bump stops are trimmed and shortened why would they become active in that say 1 inch shock stroke in the example of konis with stock springs or even lowering springs that drop the car less than an inch.