kikkomon

I installed these coil overs today. The install by took me around 3 hours by myself from jacking it up to jacking it off... the jack stands. The hardest part was prying down the rear suspension while removing the bottom strut bolt by myself.
1st impressions. Dampers set to 16 from full soft. Max is 24. Car felt very stock if not softer than stock. I was pretty disappointed because I wanted that tight race car feel hence the higher spring rates. I turned the knobs to 20 from full soft. Still felt stockish although the roads I was on were fairly smooth. I took it on the highway and still felt stock doing 70-80mph. Only time I felt it was different was when going over larger bumps. Also the smaller quick bumps aren't as harsh as stock. I finally made it to an exit ramp and turn in is sharp. The car feels more planted. I've only put about 40 miles on the new setup and haven't really ripped any turns yet in case something fails I don't want to wreck my car. I'm going to turn the dampers all the way up to 24 and see if that tickles my fancy. I opted for the fortune auto springs that came with the dampers. Overall I expected a stiffer ride where I felt every pebble in the road. That is totally not the case. The car definitely exhibits much less body roll and it seems to me even though I didn't get the harsher ride I was looking for, this setup is actually pretty good. Especially for those looking for a compliant ride with good handling. I wish I had gone to a stiffer spring rate but reading all these forum posts on here doesn't put your arse in the seat. My car is an '01 and my stock shocks are available. They are still stiff and work great. Maybe in the future I'll send these back to Fortune Auto and get 16k front and rear and higher dampening. Don't get me wrong, the car feels great. I just wanted my teeth rattled.

Car Analogy

Good suspension is not stiff or harsh suspension. That is a myth.

Roll and turn in, yeah, thats important. But harsh suspension is crappy suspension.

kikkomon

Yeah I understand that. But I wanted it to "feel" like an F1 car. I agree this suspension is very good for the cost. Just got back from another drive. It IS a bit stiffer than stock. You can feel a bit more of the road. When you hit a bump with the stock suspension there's more of a jolt. I'm guessing the compression stroke of the stock suspension wasn't as refined. Just a guess. I'm liking it more and more. Going to drive it to see Fluffy tonight at the Eagle Bank Arena. Hopefully he's funny and doesn't tell a sob story.

Rajjuhh

What spring rates did you go with?
I have Fortune Auto 500 coilovers also, at first they seemed very soft, even on the stiffest setting. I was kind of regretting my spring choice because I thought I could have gone with stiffer springs.
After a good 1-2 months of dailying my S2000, it started feeling stiffer giving more of that "feel" you are talking about.

kikkomon

12K front and rear is what I chose. What spring rate did you get and on what spring?

BTW for anyone that's doing this. I got my ride height perfect on the 1st try. I measured the stock shocks removed from the car. I then subtracted 1 1/2 in from the stock shock and that's where I set my coil overs. I ended up with exactly 5/8 in drop all around. All corners are perfect. You can base your measurements off this and get close to where you want on the 1st try. It's my daily so I didn't want it dragging. It's the perfect height for a daily I believe. I have about 1 inch between the tire and the fender. I turned up my dampers to 21 from full soft. It's plenty stiff now. You're right though, I thought they were too soft at 1st. Maybe they needed to be worked a bit. After going over a few whoopty doos and crappy roads I feel they're more than stiff enough. I'm on RPF1 17x9 +45 front and rear. Fronts wear 225s and rears are 245s. No rubbing what so ever. Stupid thing is on the stock springs, on deep dips in the road at speed the tires would on rare occasions bang the fender liners knocking the plastic clips out. $2.18 a piece at Honda.....

Rajjuhh

Went 10K front and 8K rear.
I went with the THMotorsports spec coilovers, just went with no spring upgrades, regular spring.

B serious

You shouldn't really have trouble removing the rear shock.

Loosen all the bushings, as you'll need to re-clock them anyway (hopefully, you did that).

Unbolt one of the 4 ends of the swaybar links.

Voila. Even any fraile and delicate flower should be able to remove the shocks without much grunting and struggles.

Tips for next time, I suppose.

Jah2000

Go wild like they do in Japan with their S2k racecars... F20k R22k or F26k R28k

lol ;D

kikkomon

Explain please.

kikkomon

I have my dampers set to full stiff now. I still wish I had gotten stiffer springs. 16k front and rear woulda probably been the sweet spot for Fortune Auto springs.