Having done many builds and installs of drop springs and shock kits for the new Civic, I can say without a doubt that the best performing drop spring and shock package available now is the Neuspeed Sport Spring with Koni Sport Shocks. Why? Neuspeeds spring rates are 218 front and 448 rear and they are made in Germany on the best equipment and with the best spring materials available (very high quality). And that 448 rear rate is very important because the other poplular springs out there are in the 280-330 range. The 448 rear rate will really help the handling of the car.
And why Koni Sports... very simply they are the best shock for the money, without question. They have a limited lifetime warrantee and are adjustable from a very reasonable near-stock ride quality to a track-inspired performance level that the veteran enthusiast is well aware of.
This combo is priced reasonably at far under $1000 and cannot be beat by anything even close to the price. If you want the best performing setup with a killer look, then this is definitely the best.
Neuspeed says this car has 19x8, 45 offset wheels with 215/35-19 tires.
Please don't hesitate to reply if you have any questions.
If you are concerned that this is too low for you, then it's probably too low for you. These springs are for the person who wants the best performance rather than the best daily driver. The drop is similar to Eibach Sportlines, and many people think that's too low.
In my experience, roughtly 50% of people will think this is too low. But that leaves half that want this sort of drop and performance level. Which side of the fence are you on?
Thanks Chris. I'll try out the Neuspeeds. I don't go over bumpy or rough roads where I am so I'm not really worried about bottoming out or anything. Plus, I'm trying to do more autocrossing and tracking
if the Neuspeeds springs are better because of the higher spring rates, wouldn't one just buy a spring with even higher spring rate for better handling? when does it start to become a disadvantage with high spring rate?
The issue with the drop spring market on the new Civic is that the rear springs on most kits is extremely low for the car. So, the Neuspeed Sport springs do it right by upping the rear rate. Progress is better in this regard as well. But the Eibach springs and swift springs are quite lazy in this regard; although they are very comfortable (they just aren't as good for performance).
And like anything, increasing spring rates isn't always what you want because:
1) You may not want the stiffness (although the Neuspeed Sports are far from too stiff).
2) Your shocks may not support the spring rates. I would not run Neuspeed Sport springs on stock shocks, but the Koni Sport shocks are very well matched to them. Koni Sports are good to around 800 rear spring rates on the 8thGen Civic; so the Neuspeed Sports are not even a challenge for the Koni Sports.
Note: The rear spring location greatly affects how high the spring rate should be. On the 8thGen Civic, the spring location is so far inboard that the wheel rate is far below the spring rate (my calculation is 33%). The wheel rate on the front is 100% of the spring rate because it's a strut configuration, and the spring acts directly on the contact patch of the tire. So, even with the high rear rate of the Neuspeed Sport springs, the actual wheel rate at the front is still double what it is in the rear.
We run 550 rear rates standard on our coilover kits, and even that is very reasonable as a daily driver. The Neuspeed rates and drop really are the best drop spring out there for performance.
Hey chris hope all is been well, i have always liked neuspeed products and wish they had more love for our platform like they do with older hondas and euros. But anyhow i love my konis but always felt the eibach was a bit lazy as you mentioned. So maybe swapping out to neuspeeds i will be happier in that regard to get sharper responses both on and off the track.
It would be interesting if you make the change to get some pics and feedback on the difference between the two. I'm sure someone will be happy to purchase you used eiback prokit.
The Neuspeed Sports are progressive in *back* but not in *front* (Edit 5/3/11: wooops.... just caught my eye that I inadvertantly got this backwards originally; so I've editted it. See edit note below.). It is a very nice real world setup that doesn't beat you up and performs very well. The only completely linear setup would be coilovers with race springs.
Chris
(Edit Note 5/3/11: The Neuspeed Sports are progressive in *back* but not in *front*. From a suspension spring design point of view, the rear suspension definitely has more to do with cabin comfort than the front does. You would never see a spring kit that was progressive in front and linear in back. In Neuspeed's case, the front isn't progressive really at all, but the rear is somewhat progressive. Still the rear rates are significantly higher than the competition once you are past the progressive (softer) coils.)
yeah i may just do that as the eibachs are like brand new and really im happy with them just i feel something more aggressive will fit this koni better and the car better in terms of my aggressive sport driving.
I don't know the HFP spring rate, but having driven an HFP car, I would say they are similar to the Eibach Prokit/Sportline rates... about 10% over stock or so. That's just a guess though.
Where did you get that? I have not seen those yet. You sure that's accurate? The Progress Sport springs are 330 rear rates, which is second only to the Neuspeed Sport springs from a performance point of view.
i dont drive aggressively all that much, but i want a lower look without giving up ride quality. So what should i go with? and how often should we replace our shocks? I have 48000 miles.
I would go with the Prokit or Swift Sports if I were you. That's really the best drop spring that doesn't affect ride comfort and gives a nice look with a little better handling.
And Konis have a limited lifetime warrantee; so once you buy them, you should have them for the life of the car.
Those are for an RSX and not the same for the Civic. But yes the Progress springs and Konis will work very nicely together. The Konis work really well with any drop spring... they were well with stock springs too. And they can also handle coilovers.
but yes they will work fantastically with progress springs.
Wooops.... just caught my eye that I inadvertantly got this backwards originally (post #21 above); so I've editted it. The Neuspeed Sports are progressive in *back* but not in *front*. From a suspension spring design point of view, the rear suspension definitely has more to do with cabin comfort than the front does. You would never see a spring kit that was progressive in front and linear in back. In Neuspeed's case, the front isn't progressive really at all, but the rear is somewhat progressive. Still the rear rates are significantly higher than the competition once you are past the progressive (softer) coils.
Just wanted to be accurate in case anyone is paying attention in the future.
i was thinking the same thing, front would be linear and rear prgrossive, i could take a couple pics and post them to clarify too. I was also wondering would these springs out perform HFP springs around the track? because HFP are all linear
great to know, ive been waiting on my koni and i just purchased nuespeed sport springs cant wait to try them, also can you help me with my camber
idk is running 1 rear and .5 rear good for street and still handles are the corners better i want a set up more for street but occasionaly canyon and track days
my set up
koni yellow
neuspeed sport springs
buddy club rear camber are
ingalls front camber bolts
thanks
also when i get enought i wanna get the eibach custom springs and ASR plate you offer as well as the rear, its basically ride adjustment front and rear correct?
I would run 1.25 front and and stock specs for the rear, which is more like 1.8 negative. If you run only -.5 in the back, the car will exhibit some scary oversteer when you really don't want it (high speed off-throttle at the limit.... like an emergency maneuver.... or at the track). If you want the car to handle better, run 1.5-2.0 front, but you'll get an increase in tire wear. Run stock toe in back and 0 toe in front. If you want a really killer autocross setup, run 1/16"-1/8" toe out on each front wheel.
Chris: I understand that running these neuspeed springs will cause the stock shocks to blow eventually. But do you have a rough guess as to how long it would take. I want springs now (impatience ftl) and then I will upgrade to the koni's after about 4 months (<4k miles) and I'm assuming the stock shocks will hold on for that long if I don't drill every pothole on the street.
Hard to say. I think they will be a little bouncy right from the start, and you would be super tired of it within a few months. The shocks would last for awhile, but your perception of how they felt would deteriorate rapidly.
Chris
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