Yeah, its interesting. Not a result that I'd expected....and I've driven across the US a handful of times in the recent past.

I do notice that CA has a lot of lifts and dips on the highways. Some of these surveys apparently just measure vertical change. If they're measuring vertical change...its possible that a 2ft whoop or dip that rises and falls gradually can be measured infinitely more harshly than a 6" deep crack.

But...in real life, a 2ft dip is 100X smoother than a 6" deep crack.

Shocks also tend to keep the body of the car stable over cracks in the pavement even though you're feeling tons of vibration and noises in the car lol.

You can get skewed data from surveys regardless....but surveying someone that's never left Cali, you could get waaaaaay skewed. Mostly because everyone in CA is soft asf in general.

So yeah, like you said...take it with a grain of road salt. #asphalt_puns

 

Imagine living in SF with a slammed S2000. I don't know how anyone does it, the steepness of the roads and the amount of dips would have me bottoming out daily. Yet people acted like I was crazy when I brought it up to owners from around there.

 

I'm late to this party but wanted to throw this data point out there re: "Honda OEM vs everything else" - when I bought my MY2000 a couple years ago with 79k miles, both OEM rear shocks were leaking and completely blown. The car lived in Los Angeles its whole life and doesn't have a spec of rust.

I replaced all four shocks with a "25k mile" set and it rides much better now. I'm still curious how Koni Yellows would ride. I will not install Ohlins or Bilstein coilovers because (as far as I could tell) they require lowering the car, which is beyond stupid in Wisconsin.

I wish there were more suspension options for keeping the stock ride height. It seems like you have OEM, Koni Yellow, and... is that it?

 

Drove my lowered s2k in MN (roads like WI) for 8 years... not beyond stupid at all. No worse than anywhere else really. I mean ,stanced is dumb to drive on in any regard, but just lowering this car the typical amount is no issue at all. Unless you are driving in snow...and in that case it is using the s2k as a winter car up north that is the questionable choice. Mine was fine other than being stiffly sprung for a street car, but that mainly was only an issue in downtown mpls where the roads suck in terms of smoothness. Never once ran into an issue with ride height.

I cannot say how Koni yellows compare to stock since I went to them at the same time as setting up for STR and ran them for 2 years. I still have my stock shocks and they are in pretty much perfect condition. No clue how many actual miles on them since both owners prior to me had it set up for ST classes and had Konis or Motons on it. I bought it put back to stock, but only ran it that way for one summer before going to STR. But the stocks were super nice when I had them on. They are in a box in my shop right now

 

Koni yellows are twin tube vs the OEM monotubes.

So Yellows won't react as quickly as OEM shocks even though they're very good shocks overall.

They are reported to make the car more forgiving due to their softer, more relaxed nature (as compared to stock), though.

Bilsteins only require a drop of like 0.5".
And I'm almost positive you can run the Ohlins at/close to stock height.

I've been to WI. You'll still be able to drive and go buy your cheese or whatever you people do.

Either system will work well for you.

 

There's also the Koni Orange (STR.T) which is cheaper and non-adjustable. Not much feedback - people turn their noses up at suspension that doesn't cost a mortgage payment (or two) and shaves milliseconds off their autocross time.

 

....well, no...

Street cars are fully about feel. I'm recommending the Bilstein or Ohlins as a solution, purely because of the way the enhance the driving feel and feedback.

They cost between $1400-2200.
Brand new stock replacements cost between $1000-1200, right? if you can find all the peices.

I wouldn't recommend either of those systems, off the shelf, for track use.

And I wouldn't recommend autocrossing for any reason.

 

Pieces? If you have an OEM setup all you need are the actual shocks, that is all, no? No reason I see to change springs et all.

 

4 new OEM shocks, just the shocks, came to $1200 the last time I priced them out on one of the Honda parts websites.

 

Meaning there's 4 shocks. 2 part numbers (front and rear). And they are specific to a certain year. Are all 4pcs available for OP's year? Iduno.

Plus any rubber parts or bumpstops that may also be worn out. Bumpstops and isolators are foam/ rubber parts that are potentially 22yrs old now.

And the cost for just the shocks is over $1K, right? So I'm not including the springs anyway.

Then all the trouble/labor of compressing springs to install.

My response was also aimed to compare the price-point of stock vs something that has advantages over stock. Someone was implying that the systems being recommended were worthy of a mortgage. Bilstein PSS9's include new springs and bumpstops. They're like $1400ish-1500ish.