RED MX5

[QUOTE=glagola1,Jul 13 2006, 03:24 PM]I do not believe the stock performance of our car can be enhanced by lowering it 1.2"-1.5" on a shock system that costs less than a grand.

Now, regarding the original poster's query, his only requirements were:
1.

glagola1

Eh, you egged me on. I just get tired of people wanting to lower the car and do other things cheaply simply for looks. It's like they don't realize the gem they have.... ya know?

K-Lo

glagola and red mx5 you both have excellent points. i'm still running a stock suspension and I tell you, I don't have plans on changing it just to give the car a more aggressive look. I don't want any more of those compromises by going the affordable way. I'll just save up for a full coilover set.

RED MX5

Yea, I know. Honda put together a very attractive set of compromises in the S2000, and making cheap or illinformed mods to such a nice package is a bit of a shame.

RED MX5

I was in a similar position when I bought the Pro Kit, only I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to live with the geometry changes and loss of suspension travel that was going to come with lowering, and I didn't want to spend all that money for something I wouldn't be able to tolerate on a day-to-day basis. When the Pro Kit was installed the idea was to leave it in place for only a couple months, and if the drop turned out to be tolerable I had intended to proceed with some serious suspension mods. That's still in the plan, but the Pro Kit works so well (as well as stock under most conditions) that we decided to focus on other areas first. Originally I expected the Pro Kit to be irritating on the street and slow on the autocross courses, but it is neither.

Seriously, I had low expectations when we installed the Pro Kit, but since then we've made between $10k and $15k of additional modifications to the car (enough for a complete suspension redesign), and I still haven't seen any need for suspension upgrades. Since the Pro Kit is NOT a performance upgrade that's essentially the same as saying that I'm still satisfied with the stock handling. That's probably not going to change until I go to R compound (or larger) tires.

stooken

Thanks for the input guys. I guess what I was looking for was a balance between price and quality. I didn't want to spend too little and risk ruining anything. I love the feel of the stock ride. I know I wont be able to maintain that but I wanted something as close to it as possible.

I posted this question because I didn't want to throw on some cheap springs just to lower it for looks. As much as I want to lower the car, I do want to maintain the performance if not improve it.

I've considered the Eibach Pro Kit but 1 inch isn't low enough for me. I'm looking for a Espiler type drop but nowhere near slammed.

I have Koni's on my accord and I must agree, it is a bit of the soft side.

Of course, all of this can be solved with a good set of coilovers. That's why I'm considering the Bilstein PSS9's. Suppose I go with this set up, how should I adjust the dampening? I'm not too familiar with coilovers.

RED MX5

I understand. Unfortunately I don't have any experience with drops over an inch, so I can't be much help. If you do drop more than 1" I hope you have better roads than I do.

stooken

Haha that roads here aren't that bad.

RED MX5

^^ I wish I could say the same. We have plenty of good roads, but it's a mixed bag, and some of our roads are too much for any kind of sports car.