Lowering

[nismoprjct240]

I've got a 93 hatch 240 and I was wondering, should i go with springs to lower it or save up for some C.O kits....Cuz the Teins are like 1500.00, and i found some sprint spings for lik 169.00, but it lowers in 1.8 in front and rear and I didnt know if that would be to low?? any suggestions

[SHIFT_control]

Here is my .02. What setup are you trying to get? Track or street? Also, how low do you want to go? If you are gunning for a street setup and not very low, personally I would go with either the sprints or eibach springs and KYB blues or yellows for shocks. Track use or street with ride height adjustablility, go with the coilovers. It's all on personal preference.

I had some extra cash 2 years ago and I picked up the NISMO shock/spring combo from the dealer. (I worked there to so I got a good discount, but they were still $700). They were perfect for what I was doing with the car at the time. Now I am saving up for some Powertrix coils (moving to more track than street). There is a review on here somewhere on them and I was pretty impressed. Hope this helps. Spring/shock combos are usually better for beginners, usually much cheaper and much simpler to install/setup.

[Ian]

you'll regret wasting money on springs and shocks once you get coilovers.

you dont have to spend that much if you dont want to on coilovers. Megan Racing are plenty good and they're only about 850. You can also opt for hte Tanabe entry level coilovers S-OC Type II which are listed on Tanabe's site for 850

[OptionZero]

if you have to ask, u should get neither. You should leave it stock until you can answer that question yourself.

[A Spec Products]

tein and sprint springs are cheap for a reason, you get what you pay for, too soft spring rates imo but okay for daily.

yes i agree with shift_control, a good setup would be a good spring + kyb agx setup or something like that but these days most zilvians just ditch the spring/shock and go straight to budget alternatives like megans, etc.

first determine what you want to do with the car (seriously, no wishing) and find something to suit your needs. try to find some friends or other 240 owners with current suspension setups and ride in it or drive it to determine what you are going for.

[Lurkable]

If you're only worried about getting something to lower the car, and don't care about how the new suspension will feel or act, get some cheap coilovers. I've never bought springs and shocks, but I can't understand why you wouldn't want to pay an extra couple hundred bucks to be able to adjust the car's height whenever you feel like it...coilovers are worth it.

[ranisron]

you get the choice to be a 4 wheeler or a nice, stiff low ride... coilovers do the job.

however, I would say to go with strut/spring combo first to learn the dynamics of the car, when you feel that your car has reached its limit, get coilovers. it's not like everyone would go to track and have fun every weekend...

[NemeGuero]

word.. if you want it low and don't care how it handles.. cut the springs haha
springs are good to learn on. then, when you can outdrive your car (AND NOT UNTIL THEN), get coilovers

[Ricks15]

A if yo u get the tein's be sure that you're stock shock are ok!!!!! Do rigth the first time not like me I put the springs on the car and the shocks are bad but F**K it I don't care.

[!Zar!]

Looks like all you car about is style, so cut the springs.

[Drunk Bastard]

get coilovers, or GET OUT~!!

[nismoprjct240]

I have been leaning towards coilovers for a long time I jsut wanted to see some opionions first before i spent the money on them...I will have to check out tanabe and megan racing thats not a bad price on coils. I do care what it handles like...I love cornering in this car and also i would like to get into SCCA

[ranisron]

the only experience I have had was my Altima with GC - I like them. I have KYB/Sportline on the 240sx right now, WAY too soft for me. On the other hand....

I rode with S132 in this coupe once (K Sport coilover), it is supposed to be like 7kg front /5kg rear, and I felt my ass was coming apart (I am weak). Again, Indiana roads are okay to have coilovers on. You will love bumpstops....

[Replicant_S14]

...I love cornering in this car and also i would like to get into SCCA

SCCA is huge and could mean a lot of things. If you mean solo, get yourself some decent tires and go run a season before you do anything. Asking advice on forums is fine but keep in mind, some people are full of shit and think their commuter cars are LM prototypes.

[TougeRacing]

u can never go to low...slam it till something touches the ground besides the wheels !

[MakotoS13]

if you have bad roads and never see track time i say progressive rate springs. they lower the car a decent amount AND don't kill you like coilovers in bumps. a lot of people say its no big deal but i have 8/6 KTS's and on full soft it looks like i have cut springs on a bad road.

if i lived in a place with better roads i'd be 100% for em but sometimes i wish i had gotten progressive rate springs instead.

[nismoprjct240]

the only experience I have had was my Altima with GC - I like them. I have KYB/Sportline on the 240sx right now, WAY too soft for me. On the other hand....

I rode with S132 in this coupe once (K Sport coilover), it is supposed to be like 7kg front /5kg rear, and I felt my ass was coming apart (I am weak). Again, Indiana roads are okay to have coilovers on. You will love bumpstops....

Cool Thanks everyone...Where bouts in indiana are you from ranisron??

[ranisron]

bloomington, Indiana. about 1 hour and 30 minutes north of you... there are quite a few guys up in Indianapolis...

Ran Is Ron :p

[nismoprjct240]

cool...yeah i like indy its fun to cruise around? Is there alot of street racing that goes on around there or any circuit tracks?

[ranisron]

I don't know anything about street racing, nor will I particupate in any of them.

there are AutoX in Columbus, IN (so, one hour from where you live). there should be plenty of road courses in Indy though - it's the racing capital of the world.

I do know quite a few back roads though :p

[theicecreamdan]

chop the springs and save up for coilyofers

[Omarius Maximus]

Don't lower your car period.
Not trying to flame. lowering a car is more complicated than getting springs or coilovers. Once you lower it, you have to deal with camber which means front pillowballs and Ruca. You'll also need adjustable tie rod ends to deal with bumpsteer. Even with all of this, the supension geometry will not be factory perfect. If you want better performance, get coilovers keep them at stock ride height, have them corner balanced and your set. But of course no one ever does that.

[Omarius Maximus]

If you stay at near stock ride height, then you'll save yourself a lot of tires and headaches. If you look at the nismo spring shock combo or eibach prokits, they keep the height very close to factory. There is a reason behind that.

[HyperTek]

if u wanted to properly go low on a budget.. u got the wrong car.. Just buy some megan coilovers and u will be ok. spring/shock combos suck... You car still will look high.

[kazuo]

If you stay at near stock ride height, then you'll save yourself a lot of tires and headaches. If you look at the nismo spring shock combo or eibach prokits, they keep the height very close to factory. There is a reason behind that.

Except that lowering your car doesnt kill your tires... out of whack toe does.

Yes, lowering the car changes the geometry, as well as bumpsteer, but it doesnt kill tires.

You can get toe back w/in factory spec even on a car slammed over 2", with stock toe link in the rear and stock tie rod up front.

Also, Prokits suck, contrary to popular belief -- they are still progressive like the Sportlines, yet have weaker springrates and more body roll. The Sportlines also drop the car another half-inch over the Prokit.

Lowering isnt necessairly bad; lowering the car TOO MUCH, without the PROPER MODIFICATIONS, is bad.

Even at 2", you're good, as long as you get an alignment afterwards.

Anything lower than that and you'd prolly want to replace some of the links for more adjustment, but its not going to "save your tires."..

[Omarius Maximus]

I concur Kazuo, my point was that lowering your car doesn't necessarily start and stop with springs and or coilovers. Depending on how low you want to go, it could end up being a significant investment.

I'm not a fan of progressive springs by any means but spring choice and spring rates are purely subjective.

[S14DB]

http://shop.btcv.org.uk/upload/images/standard/79_T14.jpg

[Omarius Maximus]

^somebody did that with one of the cleanist stock Koukis I have ever seen in my life. I wanted to rear end him right then and there. I would gladly sacrifice my kouki to destroy a ricey kouki. Rice and kouki should not even be mentioned in the same sentence. Therefore, please disregard my last sentence. Cut springs are the douche.

[Romeyo07]

hope you're not surprised. Sadly, many people go the cheap way to get "modded".

[240SeXy!]

:down: just like civics... bah so gehy, allways cut springs, bah.. :duh: :duh: If i had four hands id put all the thumbs down!

[that180guy]

you guys gotta remmeber, wen it was the old days with/out ubar millions of aftermarket shits, everybody cut their springs. period. i mean, dont cut lik 5 coils so ur springs all hangin flimsy n shit, but im just stating, its not all bad. you can read a physics book, etc but lets not get into the super technical aspects.

and people should really stop comparing shocks and springs to coilovers, for the fact that there completely differnt in design.
coilovers(the ones that are built well at least) have their dampeners valved to the springs they use/ or the type of springs they use. so its much more smoooth and buttery. shocks and springs on the other hand, are usually bought seperately and mismatched. now im not saying its always lik that, ie; the nismo sport set up, which was most likely designed to work together. all im saying is, there on differnt levels.

rule of thumb:
higher spring rate = lower ur drop = if shocks not stiff enough, it gets bouncy
lower spring rate = not nessicarily lower = works better with softer shock, but can work better with stiffer shock(ie; i had a 325i on stock springs and koni yellows)

my $0.02s

[theicecreamdan]

coilovers(the ones that are built well at least) have their dampeners valved to the springs they use/ or the type of springs they use. so its much more smoooth and buttery. shocks and springs on the other hand, are usually bought seperately and mismatched. now im not saying its always lik that, ie; the nismo sport set up, which was most likely designed to work together. all im saying is, there on differnt levels.

in a perfect world coilover dampeners are perfectly matched to the spring rates...

[theicecreamdan]

^somebody did that with one of the cleanist stock Koukis I have ever seen in my life. I wanted to rear end him right then and there. I would gladly sacrifice my kouki to destroy a ricey kouki. Rice and kouki should not even be mentioned in the same sentence. Therefore, please disregard my last sentence. Cut springs are the douche.

that makes sense... I like my car alot, I think that all 240s are gods gift to the world, and anybody that defiles one should be destroyed. Therefore if I see a ricey one, its ok to destroy 2 perfect koukis and all will be well in the world... you are the douche

[that180guy]

in a perfect world coilover dampeners are perfectly matched to the spring rates...

dude, did say they were perfectly matched? in fact alot of them arnt, but some of them are matched quite well, and some folks take the time to balance them. dont put words in my mouth.

[Replicant_S14]

you guys gotta remmeber, wen it was the old days with/out ubar millions of aftermarket shits, everybody cut their springs. period. i mean, dont cut lik 5 coils so ur springs all hangin flimsy n shit, but im just stating, its not all bad.

That's sensible. Race teams cut springs. The only difference between them and some random redneck is that they know what the rate will be before they cut.

and people should really stop comparing shocks and springs to coilovers, for the fact that there completely differnt in design.

This on the other hand, is crazytalk.