Civic-EG.com Forum 3.3.1

- Fri Jan 25, 2013 5:25 pm #324968

To answer the OP directly, I use Koni Yellows and Ground-Control sleeves on both of my race cars.

For my '95 EX, I started with Koni Sports with Eibach 450 lb/in front, 550 lb/in rear spring rates. Used that setup for about a year or so. I then decided to redo the suspension. I sent the Koni's out to TrueChoice to be rebuilt for 650 lb/in front and 800 lb/in rear Eibach springs. I've had that setup on that car for a good 4 years now with not a single ity bitty problem.

For my '91 Si, I raced the car when my friend owned it for about a year before I bought it last year. The car already had Koni Sports on it with Ground-Control sleeves. I raced it for a few events with 400 lb/in front and 440 lb/in rear Eibach springs. Then my friend bought 450 lb/in front and 550 lb/in rear Hypercoil springs for it. I plan on trying out a staggered spring rate setup with the car for this season, I will be buying Hypercoil springs, I plan on running FL: 600 lb/in, FR: 550lb/in, RL: 550 lb/in, RR: 500lb/in. For the 2 years I have been racing this car on Koni/GC, it's been nothing but great. And I have no idea how many miles or how much abuse the setup has seen...

And just to throw it in there, I had Koni's on my '95 Neon ACR that I RallyX'd. Those shocks held up to some SERIOUS abuse and never gave up.

Can you explain how a shelf unit like the GC/Koni setup is superior to a high end coilover like AMR?

I wouldn't exactly call AMR high end. Good, probably, but not that. But to answer your question, Koni is probably one of the most widely known and used shock companies in motorsports racing. I can't count how many people I know that use Koni's on their cars. They are built SOLID, that's not coming from me, that's coming from a VERY well known Koni rebuilder. They are a very sturdy shock, as my experience with off roading with them have proven to me.

Ground-Control sleeves are also a very well known and proven company. Their products are high quality, durable, and last. I've had the sleeves on my '95 for a good 5 years with tens of thousands of miles on them, hundreds of autox events and they still look and perform just like new. They also sell with Eibach springs which are very good and widely used.

Let's be honest. People aren't buying Moton's for their civics. 1000-1500 is high end.......

People are buying Moton's for their Civic's, I know them. Koni/GC with new top mounts is not far off from $1000-1500.. But what's great about them, lifetime warranty, easily rebuildable, extremely durable and will probably out last the life of a ~15yr civic...

At 1000-1500 the coilovers are all the same, usually made over seas. At that dollar range they are usually all the same junk.

Completely false...

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- Fri Jan 25, 2013 5:38 pm #324969

Not completely false. 60-75% percent of the coil over market's budget coilovers are junk, they dont last. Sure they probably do ok on the street, but when put to proper use they fail.

60-75%? Where are you getting this percentage? What are you including?

Of course the no name stuff on eBay won't last and there are a few select companies that offer subpar products for cheap. But to say Koni and Ground Control fall in the same category as those is pure ignorance. The fact that you simply stated that a lot of these coilovers are made over seas proves your ignorance. It doesn't matter if they are made overseas. What matters is the R&D put into them and proper engineering. How many products do you personally own that were made over seas yet you probaly love them and stand by them all day long? And they work just fine right? Same deal. I personally know owners of performance parts companies who have their masters degree in engineering from prominent universities that are based in the united states but have ALL of their products manufactured in countires like China. Guess what? Their products work exceptionally well and their businesses are doing well and their customers are happy. Why? Because they know what they are doing. There are good number of $1000-1500 coilover setups that perform exceptionally well and are produced over seas simply for the cheaper labor and cost of production. That does NOT mean quality in the parts themselves suffer. It all falls back to the initial engineering and R&D.

There ARE people who use products like Koni/GC or Progress or w/e that are slamming the crap out of their car or use spring rates that are not ideal for the shock, or use improper spring dimensions, or w/e other stupid crap these people do with their suspension to cause them to fail. And the suspension may run into problems or failure due to it. The vast majority or people have NO CLUE on what their suspension is doing, how to set it up in relationg to other suspension mods/driving style/driving conditions, when or how to adjust the shocks, what the suspension is telling them, etc. But that is USER error, not product error...

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- Fri Jan 25, 2013 5:44 pm #324970

Not completely false. 60-75% percent of the coil over market's budget coilovers are junk, they dont last. Sure they probably do ok on the street, but when put to proper use they fail.

60-75%? Where are you getting this percentage? What are you including?

Of course the no name stuff on eBay won't last and there are a few select companies that offer subpar products for cheap. But to say Koni and Ground Control fall in the same category as those is pure ignorance. The fact that you simply stated that a lot of these coilovers are made over seas proves your ignorance. It doesn't matter if they are made overseas. What matters is the R&D put into them and proper engineering. How many products do you personally own that were made over seas yet you probaly love them and stand by them all day long? And they work just fine right? Same deal. I personally know owners of performance parts companies who have their masters degree in engineering from prominent universities that are based in the united states but have ALL of their products manufactured in countires like China. Guess what? Their products work exceptionally well and their businesses are doing well and their customers are happy. Why? Because they know what they are doing. There are good number of $1000-1500 coilover setups that perform exceptionally well and are produced over seas simply for the cheaper labor and cost of production. That does NOT mean quality in the parts themselves suffer. It all falls back to the initial engineering and R&D.

those are just percentages i threw up there, but companies lacking r/d on entry level coilovers would be ksport, teins, racelands, junk 2. And several others. Dont get me wrong they will get a car lower, but wont last compared to a good koni shock setup pared with a good spring. Spring rates are key and unless you custom order your spring rates, Entry level coilovers dont always have the correct rate for the chassis. I'm not talking just the eg and dc chassis.

- Fri Jan 25, 2013 7:26 pm #324981 a good setup to me simply depends on your particular need/want. like for me, i'd NEVER spend $1200+ on coilovers. it's unnecessary. a set of $500-1000 will be MORE than enough, and will last plenty long enough.


i understand (and i think everyone else does too) that you get what you pay for, but if i don't drive my car hard and take care of my stuff - my $500 Function & Forms may hold up just as long as a set of GC/K.

But don't get me wrong, the comfort is worlds apart (i'm guessing) but this all falls into the same thing as an exhaust in my book. if you take care of what you have and don't settle for cheapos, you can still get plenty of life and happiness out of something a little cheaper with little-to-no R&D.





just my $.02...

2007 Honda Civic Si