frantinez63

And drive that car in a place that has bad streets (bumps, potholes, dips etc.)??

(BTW: I wasn't sure which section/forum to post this in so I chose "Automotive Discussion. Please move if it's in the wrong place.)

I ask the original question because I am trying to get a feel for whether or not it is worth it to lower my car. To me, the main PRO of doing so is looks. Here's my situation, I have a 1992 Acura Legend Coupe. The struts are gone and need to be replaced. But, the OEM replacements are 1) expensive, 2) leave you feeling like your driving an old cadillac, 3) leave you with a fender gap you could stick your head into.

So, as you guys may know, the aftermarket support for Legends is pretty sparse. And, I have had a tough time figuring out which aftermarket suspension to put on my car. Plus, the opinions that I get from people regarding ride quality are SO variable. Some say the set-up rides great, others say they bottom out and the ride is harsh.

Right now, the 2 main set-ups that I am looking at are:

1. Koni Special struts. Set on low all around and full soft which yields .7 inch drop from stock. The reservation that I have with this set-up is that the drop will not be at all noticable AND that the 120k OEM springs will still make the car ride like hell. (Yet, I am unsure is my springs are bad).

2. Koni Special struts and H & R springs. This will lower 1.5 inches or so all around. With this, I will also need a front ball joint camber kit. My concerns with this set-up are bottoming out, scraping, and an all around crappy harsh feeling ride.

To complicate things, I am a graduate student. I make just enough money to pay tuition, car insurance, work on my car, and eat. That means, I cannot afford to install a harsh suspension set-up and then pay the labor charge to have it removed and the OEM set-up re-installed. I wanna be sure when I am having it installed.

For the record, my car rides on TL-S wheels with 215/45/17 tires. Here's a pic of the gap for reference. You can probably see why I want that 1.5 inch drop.



Please throw any and all opinions at me guys. I need some advice b4 I spend the $900 dollars on the suspension and bite the bullet to lower my car.

-Eric

GreenMonster

That gap doesn't look that bad IMHO... I think the maybe the TL rims/tires are helping out in that area. I'm still at stock 4x4 height on my CLS, and it's alot bigger (see for yourself):
http://john-perry.com/cgi-bin/mygall...o=IMG_0104.JPG

Being in the Northeast with snow, potholes, etc etc, I'm not in any rush to lower my car, but like you, I'll probably go with the H&R/Koni Yellow setup when my car needs new struts..

I don't really care about how lower changes the looks of a car, I'd be more interested in the handling gains...

EDIT: Eric, about your signature... we don't allow pics in sigs here... It breaks up the flow of posts in a thread, is ugly, and just looks ricey

frantinez63

Thanks for the reply. Your car is hot. I love that color. My next car will be a 2003 CL-S 6-speed (Red on Black only). I just hope there is one for sale in a few years when I am ready to buy.

-Eric

Teh Jatt

1 inch comptech drop and I'm happy with it


btw its 04tl

SpeedyV6

Are you sure that Legend hasn't already been lowered?

frantinez63

Yes, I am sure....my car has all OEM parts except for my Remus Legend-Specific exhaust.

-Eric

picus

I think it looks pretty good as is. My car is lowered 1.1" but it started with a huge gap. If my OEM gap was the same as yours I probably wouldn't have bothered.

Cheers.

ks112

i just got a legend coupe, 91 and it is lower then most other cars stock.

go join acura-legend.com

frantinez63

I'm a-l.com member but I just thought I'd get a few opinions here as well.

Plus, a-l.com is have its ol' reliability issues again

-Eric

Crazy Bimmer

Depends. Is a stiffer ride worth it just for looks? I did it for looks and handling though so the ride comfort was lower on my list.

I have Koni with Neuspeed race. I rarely scrap the front and never bottom out unless its a HUGE speed bump.

But mines pretty low.

Teh Jatt

^ love that bish.

1killercls

Comtech Springs and Sways with Tokiko Gas Adjust Shocks. Rides just about like stock.

Infamous425

if you have a limited budget and probably wont adjust your shocks i would go for Monroe Sensa-Trac shocks instead. they are on the softer side so whatever springs you got the ride wont be as harsh plus they are affordable.

frantinez63

N/A for Legends

-Eric

CLpower

Sportlines

frantinez63

Most of these set-ups are not available for Legends. Plus, guys, please respond with how your ride quality is IF you ride on shitty roads. FLA and CA need not apply ya know. Your roads are just too good out there.

-Eric

mclarenf3387

Comptech springs (silver) on stock struts.

I live in NJ and drive in the city a bit and the ride is fine. Its low, but its not exactly slammed either. I do scrape sometimes if I'm not careful on a steep driveway, but its usually not a problem.

And you not gonna find many people with springs that necessarily have an equivilant for the Legend. Most have Eibach, Comptech or Tein. A number of people also have coil-overs.

BadBadNeil

I have Tein Coilovers at ~ 2.5" lower than stock and it rides well, no bottoming ever. I do have to drive slow going into a few places, at my friends apartment parking lot I scrape a little even going slow, but it looks cool so I don't mind.

Osamu

haha this made me
nice to see another a-l member over here.

i'm lowered on eibachs, but i'm still running on some stock coupe shocks on my sedan. the ride isn't very good, but still liveable on irvine roads, but driving through downtown LA, it gets pretty bumpy quick. plus even w/ just eibach's my camber is at -2, so i'm planning on going back to stock one of these days.

i think your car looks fine the way it is, and if you can get stock shocks for cheap, i'd just go that route. but if it's not gonna cost you much more to get koni's, maybe spring for the koni's. but i can't give you any idea of how the koni's ride

i wish we had tokico's for the legend. I drove my friends solara w/ a tein/tokico set up, and it rode like stock.

Deity711

I feel like the only guy on AZ with a stock suspension setup.

rezurex

H and R sport drop with tokico blues on my cl-s. i will def drop the A4 im probably getting, as well as black 18"s. go for it, drop on your ride will make a big difference. prepare to feel all the bumps on the road though.

Infamous425

in case you missed it

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

Tein SS coilovers

fuckleberry

I wouldn't lower my car in NY Metro. You'd scrtach bottom more often than you sneese.

Shoofin

I did a few things in my area to prevent bad stuff from happening: I chose springs for my xBox that have the least amount of drop compared to others (1"), and also chose a tire with 45 series rubber(215/45/17), whereas the optimum setup is really 215/40/17. Thank goodness, I haven't bottomed out once, nor have I scraped the underside of my car, and haven't bent any rims yet, even though my commute on the belt parkway is loaded with bumps and potholes that you almost always can't avoid.



And for the record, this pic is before the drop:

Marlboro27s

my TL is slammed on tein/tokicos, and i drive alot in the city of SF. some roads are fucking terrible, but you just drive slow. the only thing i had to do was take of my 19s, because it was just too harsh.

i put my TLS rims back on and the ride is wonderful. dont worry about bottoming out it rarely happens to me. however i did scrap my exhaust tonight when pulling into a driveway

YBA

My car is lowered a bit. I used to have issues with speed bumps before. Now I have to avoid them altogether. It happens sometimes that I hit the front lip while driving in the city. I live in Montreal so it's pot hole heaven.





Cheers

njzprettyboy

^^^^^^^^damn that is a hot ride. are those F&R BBK? looking really nice man!

West6MT

Holy smokes YBA,.........sweet ride (I know someone will "fix" my sweet). If I make it to Quebec this winter to ski,.........I want to come drool over your car LOL.

spdy0001

Im on tokico blue struts and H&R sport springs. The roads here in PA are almost as bad as they get. I noticed it rides firmer than stock, but worth it. Looks better and corners on rails

Lord Helmet

I'm on H&R's too but currently with OEM struts. I love the looks, the ride, the fact that I didn't need a camber kit, and like spdy said, it handles WAY better. The only time i noticed my ride being harsh was a couple of weeks ago when I replaced the old Falkens with a set of UHP tires. They're much harder in the sidewalls and it's very evident on rough surfaces. I don't care though. It's much more fun to drive now.

big mike 13

tein basics..
wish i can go lower.. but NYC is eating me alive..
dented 2 header downpipes already.

but def. drop your car..

virtualbong

My baby is lowered 1.9" in the front and 1.6" in the rear.

I have Neuspeed Koni Yellow shocks and Neuspeed Sport springs.

Infamous425

sickness !!!

YBA

Thanks man


Brembo Big Brake kit with HRE wheels and Tein Shock to lower the ride...


More pic

https://acurazine.com/forums/car-talk-5/pics-fast-car-56k-please-look-elsewhere-311722/