Midrange suspension setups

[misnomer]

OK, my front upper strut mounts are shot. It's recommended that I just replace the struts as well. Good excuse to replace everything. Should I bother with springs at this point? Where I live I can't go too low, even the pro kits seem they'd make it tough on some of the roads. Anything in the 1 - 1.4" drop range?

Main topic of conversation though. . . What shocks and struts? I'm a good ways from rich, and was thinking about the KYB AGX and GR2s. For more of a casual driver, will I see much benefit from the AGX? Which is capable of providing a smoother ride? I expect them both to be stiffer than stock, of course. . .

Any other setups I should be considering?

[bing]

when i get me tax return i'll be doing a mid range suspension set up as well.

my N1 sits really low so i dont know what i'll do cause i dont wanna be scraping all the time.

whiteline springs are sold in pairs $75 ea. pair at PDM and word is they are really soft, like oem soft. they give about a 1.5 drop, which should close teh wheel gap some, without scraping, but the ride....

i think i'll need an adjustable set up, but there is no way i can afford AGX's, at about $400 us or so. But the GR-2's are very reasonable at $200 all around usd.

Honestly, i know i'll get flamed but...

i may grab the GR-2's and a cheap set of Arospeed coils for adjustability.  so i can keep the rear relatively high, maybe a .5 inch drop.

but that would keep me around $400 usd, so about $650 canadian which is reasonable...

my buddy has a nice 99 civic si, he grabbed a set of arospeeds cheap but he paired them with tokico blues, so having a good shock strut set up should compensate a little for poo coils shouldnt it???

[tnord]

i would think that if you got springs that were too soft, the shocks would have to do too much work and would wear out quickly

this is also the case if you get shocks that aren't stiff enough for a big drop

[bing]

tnord, whats your opinion on an arospeed / GR-2 set up

obviously im aware that arospeed is not high quality, but matched with the KYB's will i see any problems,

i intend to really close up the front wheel gap, but keep the rear up a bit. so i need adjustablity, but i cant afford good coil overs, or the AGX's

[drift freaq]

well I am running AGX's with HKS springs ( don't bother they are expensive and I got a hook up deal)
So I do recommend AGX's you may think they are expensive but they are actually quite affordable considering they are adjustable.
GR2's are basically oem replacement shocks.
As for springs I have never heard anything good about Arospeed.
As far as Whitelines go they drop the car pretty low . I know because my friend installed Whitelines and AGX's on a guys car and he did not even have to compress the spring to put it on.
That is more than a 1.5 inch drop.
They are supposed to be stiffer than the Prokits and not quite as stiff as sportlines but I am going to check into the kg/mm rating on them and do the conversion. I will post it.
If you consider tokico blues you are getting into AGX pricing territory. I would say get the AGX's . If you look you can get them for around $370 for all 4.
Too bad you  just missed a group buy we did on them for $360 a set delivered to your door.
hope this helps
Dave

[wizdom]

Anyone know if AGX's are available for an s14, 95 model.  I don't know if it's just me, but I can't ever seem to find some for my car.  
I got some crazy deals from shox.com for SuspTech sway bars(bushings included), and sportline springs for about less than 450 SHIPPED UPS.  Check them out, they respond pretty quickly.  
I've got GR2's shocks replacing the rear, but still have the front stock shocks.  Any suggestions on what to go w/in front, I want something much stiffer than gr2's.

[bing]

hhhhhhhhmmm.

i cant afford too much, i'm looking to blow about $700 canadian and i want both springs/ coils, and shocks and struts so i'm not left with too much choice.

i'm a student and my car is not the be all and the end all, so a top of the line suspension is not even a wish.

just want some adjustability and to lower the car, then again i dont want something that will break on me, just soemthing to do the job for a few years.

[HippoSleek]

My $.02 is to do what you need to do as best you can, but don't be ambitious if you can't afford to.  

AGX are great (and sadly, not available for the s14 - *maybe* summer 2002) and I would recommend them to anyone.  For the extra money, they'll offer more performance than springs (and you need them anyway).  Also, AGXs are already near the top of the line - they can handle your stock springs with ease and I know people running rates in excess of 500 lbs. with them (dedicated track car).  Also keep in mind that shocks are a pretty complex component - quality counts.

Springs are obviously not as technical as shocks, but a bad spring can ruin a good shock.  My biggest reservation about something like Arospeed is rate to length.  For a spring to be short, it has to be stiff or the shock will bottom.  If the shock bottoms under spirited driving (like Sportlines do), it makes the whole exercise useless.  Even off the shelf GroundControls suffer from being too short (effective shock travel w/ a stock kit at full height is usually less than 2 inches) for their stiffness (fortunately, you can get custom springs).  I still think the numerous reviews of Pro Kits firming the ride, lowering the stance a bit, and maintaining sufficient shock travel are the best thing for a basic set up.

Okay, so the points to this ramble are: 1) don't be afraid to leave the stock springs if you have the choice of good shocks/no springs or bad shocks/bad springs; 2) be afraid of off brands b/c they may be geared toward the look and not the performance; and 3) skimping on one peice might ruin your investment in another.

FWIW - I track my car on a stock suspension and only recently found the limits of that suspension (which are the shocks <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':('> &nbsp;).