I have a few uneducated questions about suspention,
first of all i wanna clear up what is a strut vs. shocks..?

and

which would be better to get, springs and sway bars
or
whole new compelete shocks and stuff like that

(btw, im really short on the funding)

thanks

 

well we don't really know what YOU mean by "short on funding" as to do this RIGHT....and complete....it will easily cost you over $1000 U.S.

 

do it in this order if you're on a budget:

eibach prokit 250
tires and wheels 700-2500?
rear sway bar (AWR?) 200
shocks 550-700?

misc info
struts = coil spring + shock
shocks = shocks (dampers alone no spring).
coilovers = coil springs with collar and adjustable sheet locks
enabling height adjustment
full coilover kits = struts with coilover type height adjustment
and adjustable dampness control on shock.

pillowball mounts = strut tops that have a ball joint and no
cusioning material for direct performance
feel. a must have for hardcore streeting
and performance driving.

 

ok, so what should i get... i mean, 1000 is too much for me to spend at the moment

 

z me pro- try the eibach Prokit first you'll like it. its soft
enough that the stock tires can still handle the firmness.
but hard enough that you can do some sprited driving.

its a good spring to start out with. if you wanna keep the
factory wheels/tires, then try the rear sway bar next.

its a cheap but effective setup.

edit: i cant speak for the other protege's as i have the pro5.
on the pro5, works great.


pseudorealityX- lighten up, no one's beating on ya.
we're all friends here. let your guard down and relax.

 

I agree with Jesse. Tires will be the best investment if cash is tight. Keep in mind that good tires will help out with acceleration and breaking also! As for springs, he's right about that too. I recently installed Eibach springs on my stock struts. Although I haven't driven the car that hard yet, I have not noticed that much of a difference. Heck, I think that my front tie-bar made a more worthy difference than the springs. If you want to get springs, I'd say do it right the first time and get the appropriate struts as well.

 

ok, so spring are bad? i would kinda like to lower my car too, what about the skunk2 coilovers?

 

like i said, i speak for the pro5's, not sure if the shocks are different on the gen1, gen2, and sedans (i really dont care),
but the prokits are a good addition to your pro5. the
spring rate is low enough that it will work on your stock
shocks. i was skeptical too especially since i usually only
buy full coilovers.

if you wanna lower the ride without hempering the comfort,
get the prokit. youll like it. other coilover spring-only setup and other springs are over sprung for the stock shocks. you need to get
shocks for those. even the s-techs are on the firmer side, in
Japan, they use the H-techs instead.

edit: check out my www.

 

I thought the S-tech's were softer than the H-tech's from Tein? I am using stock struts and Tein S-tech springs. stiffer dampers are next order of business definately. I don't have much bounce yet, but can tell it will be creeping in big time this summer. I would have done it all at once but would like to get a set of Tokico Illumina's. so I am waiting for availibitly which is said to be real soon. So I am 100% agreeing with Jesse. Tires/struts/springs/whatever else. If you do go with springs first, I would make it Eibach's unless you are definately upgrading the struts soon after...

 

if the car is lowered do you need to realign the wheels?

 

yes, with our suspension design you will gain negative camber after lowering and it also effects toe-in from what I have heard. Also the control arms and trailing links are disconnected when the struts are removed, and can be alignment adjustments are un-intentially made during reassembly...

 

yah, h-techs are softer than s-techs. s-techs drop the car
more though... i dont think they sell h-techs in the US so
you'll probably have to special order them from japanparts.com

i would like to know about those tokico's too when they are
available for the pro5's. but for now the eibachs are really
good with the stock shocks to a point i dont feel necessary to
change them for my normal driving. i think i can probably get
about 20k miles on these stock shocks.

 

What springs would u guys say provide the "softest" ride?
I live in NYC so im curious as to what would maintain the closest to ride quality>?
Eibach?
Tein?
H&R?
ION?
Progress?