[Focus man. Focus.]

Thanks guys, I am super happy with the way it sits. I will post more pic's once it settles in.

[BananaClipper]

love it!

[lowblackdub]

Looks great! That's a good installation price too! Did the car require an alignment after the install?

[Focus man. Focus.]

I am sure it does. I haven't had the time to get it done. I will within the next couple days. The guy at the shop said he was pretty sure he got it close. He has been installing suspension kits for years (what he said).

The steering wheel is straight, it goes straight. So for me, for now, its ok.

[naz]

sorry.. i hate to be so negative but.... are you 100% sure the prokit springs are designed to work with stock dampers? (the drop is minimal, like the H&R OE sport springs, so this could be the case)

and yes you need an alignment

gosh.. springs w/o dampers or alignments (bet you don't have summer tires either).. you might as well have just cut the stock springs since its pretty clear you just wanted the lowered look

[ZTWsquared]

"Designed" to work with stock dampers? ... probably not - but of course Eibach wants to sell their dampers too.

My experience so far has been very good (pro-kit with stock dampers) in terms of how the car handles - especially on the street but even a couple of times at Mosport at high speed; the instructor who rode with me was impressed with the cars handling and he drives a Porsche. Would it be better with stiffer dampers and sway bars - undoubtedly - but it's still good the way it is.

What I'm expecting (but hasn't happened yet after 1 year) is that the stock dampers will have a much shorter life span, and when the time comes to replace them I will put stiffer dampers on at that time.

In the meantime I'd say there's nothing wrong with running the stock dampers - the Pro-kit will still give you both the looks and the handling you want.

naz,May 23 2008, 12:48 PM Wrote:sorry.. i hate to be so negative but.... are you 100% sure the prokit springs are designed to work with stock dampers?  (the drop is minimal, like the H&R OE sport springs, so this could be the case)

and yes you need an alignment

gosh.. springs w/o dampers or alignments (bet you don't have summer tires either).. you might as well have just cut the stock springs since its pretty clear you just wanted the lowered look
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[paulicat]

3 years on my stock dampers till I noticed they needed changing. Km wise it was about 50,000.
The handling was fairly decent the whole time up until recently when I noticed a couple extra bounces going over larger bumps/dips on the highway.

[naz]

ZTWsquared,May 23 2008, 05:05 PM Wrote:"Designed" to work with stock dampers? ... probably not - but of course Eibach wants to sell their dampers too.

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what i mean by this.. more specifically... is that each damper has a "range" of compression and rebound forces they can dampen effectively.. the exact value depends on the spring length and the spring compression rate. so if you take a spring that is very close in length to the OE spring, such as an H&R sport spring or (it seems like an eibach pro kit spring), then even though the spring rate has changed the damper is still working within its designed tolerance range.. and therefore does not need to be replaced.. based on your feedback it looks like the pro kit springs can work fine with stock dampers

by this reasoning.. the reason eibach sportline springs require other dampers is that they lower the car (almost certainly by changing the overall spring length) and also have different spring compression rate.. so this combination of shorter spring (which means less stroke for the damper) plus presumably higher spring rate to compensate for the reduce spring length.. puts the stock damper out of its designed range

for what its worth... this whole process of matching springs and dampers is very very tricky because most people (myself included) don't have the tech to correctly understand how to specify or adjust the compression and rebound settings of a damper to give the proper dampening curve for a given spring..... which is why for 99.9% of people going with a 'matched' set of springs and dampers is better... (hint: almost everyone you see at autoX twirling the knobs on their koni yellows has no friggin clue what they are doing)

EDIT: remove some stuff... to the OP. congrats on your setup.. focus ppl have confirmed your springs work with stock dampers.. so hurray!

[Focus man. Focus.]

Thanks NAZ. I am happy with the outcome.

[torradan]

Looks good!

I wish I had read this sooner, I would have done it for you.
(only payment required: your help and a 4 pack of guinness).

Anywho, I think I may just have to order up a suspension kit soon, I'm still riding 4x4 style.

[Focus man. Focus.]

torradan,May 23 2008, 03:10 PM Wrote:Looks good!

I wish I had read this sooner, I would have done it for you. 
(only payment required:  your help and a 4 pack of guinness).

Anywho, I think I may just have to order up a suspension kit soon, I'm still riding 4x4 style.
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No worries Bud. It was done quickly and didn't cost a lot of money. Thanks for the late offer though. :D

[zx5power]

looks good bud I remember after i lowered mine I stared at it for days .... mines been about 5 motnhs or so and stock dampers holding up fine ... im gonna try upgrade to some stiffer ones and sway bars once they wear out .