Rice Thread

sunofwolf said:
why would you want to put up with a poorly handling car, most coilovers are absolute garbage and can snap in half if hit a rut hard. My srt-4 was badly lowered when I got it with 40,000, it took a lot of dough to fix it. Never do it again. If you stayed on the hwy it would work ok, but most of my driving is over bad roads. These cars can also cause a big accident driven way over the speed limit-hit a pothole and veer into the other lane. It looks cool till you actually drive it, then its awful.:tiny violin:Intergra r model 2001 with 82K for $29,000 a Canadian model -one of 250. Ebay. Way over priced is you ask me.
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Coilovers = poor handling? Then, why is my cornering speed higher without loss of traction compared to before I upgraded the suspension components (coilovers, sway bars, & strut bars; I did these all at the same time)?

I think a poor setup will equate to poor handling, not coilovers equate to poor handling; but, that is my opinion. And, no offense, the SRT-4 is no comparison to a 3000GT/Stealth, they're just too completely different cars. I loved the power plant of the SRT-4 but that is pretty much where it ends with those cars for me. My Stealth, while not a perfect platform by any means, is full of flaws but having AWD certainly makes the car a bit better handling under most conditions (even though it is prone to understeering due to weight and front suspension design). I just don't think we're in the same ball park when comparing the handling of the two cars. And, poor road conditions, regardless of car or aftermarket parts, is just a variable that has to be adapted to. My earlier point was that the height of the car (the STi in this case), while a factor, does not mean that it cannot handle the road conditions in Maine; I've done it, without issue.

Also, you keep saying your SRT-4 was lowered and it sucked as a result; how was it lowered (cut springs, lowering springs, coilovers)? If coilovers were not how your SRT-4 was lowered, then saying coilovers create poor handling doesn't make any sense (at least, not to me) but I don't know your overall experience, just what I'm inferring from your references to your SRT-4. You can set coilovers to put the car at stock ride hieght (at 0 cost); furthermore, most coilovers will allow you to adjust dampening to make the ride less harsh and more comfortable (at 0 cost). Coilovers aren't necessarily about lowering a car, just most people (myself included) lower the car as part of the install for appearance (I did end up raising the front of the car about an inch after that previous pic was taken due to rubbing the fenders under hard cornering, didn't cost me anything). A more recent pic showing how it sits now:
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Now, if I have this all wrong, and you're talking about lowering springs (or cut springs) then everything you've said about poor handling and costing you thousands to fix everything make complete sense and I'd tend to agree with you. Those are appearance only modifications (primarily, in my opinion) and do tend to result in reduced handling capability as the factory struts are collapsed more than designed. Completely different than a coilover system.
 
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I did say cheap coilovers are worthless, the good one's are very expensive. I have seen just to many very poor lowering jobs that make the car handle very bad over any kind of rough roads. Also wheel alinement is pain in the *** and now very expensive too. Coilovers also usually have very small spring to absorb bumps making the ride very poor. On a ST4- expensive coil over are $800 each or more, that's $3200+ not a bargain if you ask me.:spazface:
 
Size of the spring does not mean it absorbs less or more impact. Furthermore, good coilovers will allow you to adjust the spring perch where ever you want and then the weight of the car will compress them to what is needed. Most coilover companies offer different springs for different absorption rates depending on what you're wanting; for example, my coilover setup came with a 12/6 spring combination (front/rear); I bought softer springs at a 10/5 ratio to allow for the ride to be a little more comfortable. These two sets of springs are identical in size, the difference is the metal composition that adjust their rates of absorption and 'springiness' (for lack of a better term).
 
a regular coil has more to it then coilovers,. Coilovers are good for race cars, poor choice for everyone else.:bananapoke:
 
You state that as fact when it is opinion. I'm happy with how my car rides and sits. More spring does not equal better, a lot goes into metallurgy and just because a factory spring is bigger doesn't mean it is better. In fact, I'd argue that the opposite is the case considering most vehicle manufacturers are trying to keep costs as low as possible to maximize profits; I doubt that most stock suspensions are any good for performance (i.e. handling) unless they're specifically designed for it (such as most sports cars).
 
:sadbanana::joke:more spring better ride that's a fact. more adj more headache's, more money more time needed for wheel alinement=cost more every time you change adjustment. simple good. Not interested in coil overs. sway bars and tires and rims is way better investment. Honda worked hard to make a great OEM strut, right spring and bearing, I wonder what they cost? Everyday rides coilovers no way. rear sway bar and summer tires are the way to go for me $700-800, coil overs ? $4,000 just too much. Ok, I get coil overs after my stock suspension wears out, would not take something so new apart won't make much sense. I got my si for daily driving so it going to stay mostly stock, my vfr 800 is the true vtec monster 11750 rpm and 500pds don't think any Honda car is going to keep up with me LOL!
 
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