ive been looking into a set of coilovers and im wondering whats the ease of lower and raising? do i always have to lift up the car when i lower it or raise it? how long does it take most of you?

 

Tein RA owner here... with my jack, I can jack up the rears at the same time, but not the fronts. I can do the rears in about 20 minutes and the fronts in 15 each for a total of 35 minutes. Not too bad.

 

is there any easier way to lower/raise the car?

 

how often are you planning on lowering/raising?

You need an alignment after every adjustment.

 

maybe twice a year, for winter and for spring/summer. we do get a lot of snow here in chicago so im worried that my car will be a shovel after i get my lip kit. i do plan on getting a alignment. i was reading that ntb offers a 3 or 5 year alignment purchase, with unlimited alignments. so i might be fine with that.

 

You have to re-clock your bushings every time you raise it back up and lower it back down. You also have to get an alignment every time you change the ride height.

I know you said you were going to NTB for the lifetime alignment, but make sure they do it right. This isn't a civic....you can't just roll around without it being properly aligned, especially in the snow.

I live in the Chicago burbs too...we didn't get a lot of snow at one time this year. We get maybe one or two big snow storms every year where there's 5-6'' of accumulation. The plows are out before the first flake even hits the road.

If you don't hard parker lower it, and think while driving you should be fine.

Also...wouldn't it just be easier to take off the lip during the winter months? Even at stock height, it takes one time for your lip to hit a block of ice that a truck laid down and bye bye lip.

I think taking off the lip is easier than raising and lowering the car every time.....

Personally, I just have a 99 Si as a DD to tool around in.

It might pay to get a $500 beater. $500 is about the cost of snow tires. You can put your S2000 on storage insurance to save money. You don't run the risk of breaking or damaging expensive S2000 parts. The S2000 isn't the greatest car to drive in the snow. Find an EF that's a little rusty but runs well.

I'd say $500-800 and a trip down to the DMV is worth it (although, the trip to the DMV part is pushing it....) to save the hassle.

But then again, a lot of people drive their S2000s in the winter...so it's not impossible. I guess I just prefer not to. No snow. No salt. That's how I roll.

 

lol your math is a little off. it actually takes you 50 minutes

i own buddy club rsd's (which i think is how the RA's are?) and they are a little tedious to adjust because you have to disconnect the bottom of the shock and then turn it round and round. it would probably take me between 1hr-1.5hrs. luckily i dont do it very often at all

 

Why would you disconnect the bottom of the shock? Undo the lower perch, Make sure the spring perches are tight. Grab the coilover body via the spring and twist the whole body into the lower part.

It has pillowball mounts...so the top portion turns as well. You don't need to disconnect anything from anything.

 

If you adjust ANY coilover on the S2000 you need to get an alignment?

I know you're supposed to get an alignment as soon as you lower the car regardless of the drop type, but every time you wanna raise and lower it, the S2000 need to have an alignment done?

Also, is this true for any other Honda/Acura? I have a TL on Tein Basics and was thinking of going maybe 1/4 and inch lower...

 

It's true of any car with any coilover with an independent suspension.

The geometry changes when you change ride heights. It doesn't matter if you raise or lower. Every time you change heights, you have to do an alignment.