[manveet]

I Got this Query via PM, so putting it here for everyone's benefit ..

My response is in Bold

Hey,

Nice ohc you have there. i wanted some info on the Eibach lowering springs you have on your car.

How did you know which springs would fit your car?
Called up the Eibach Dealer in Bangalore, he told me that he would send OHC compatible kit.

Was it a direct fit or did you have to change the struts too?
Direct Fit - Replaced the earlier springs with these. But I also replaced the shockers just because the car had done 85k on the odo and I didn't want to open her up again for anything related to suspension, say 5-10k down the line.

i have a type-2 ohc vtec and was wondering if you could give me the part number of the springs that will fit my car.
The same springs will fit your car, suggest you call up the Methods dealer in Bangalore, take the no. from their website. I interacted with a guy called Ramesh (Manager Technical Sales). Eitherways, will try to post some pictures of the box (with part no.) in a day or so.

Also, is there an improvement in the handling and high speed stability?
Yes, definitely.

Thanks in advance.

The car has now done 88k, thats about 3k in the past year or since I've installed the springs.

[k_shanz]

Hows much did you pay for your springs? Is it very stiff?
Whats your ride hieght now?
Am having a zen and thinking of fixing a height adjustable shocks on the stock setup itself, but i would like to go for a branded spring. Is Eibach available for Zen?

[di1in]

I saw this circular rubber thing today. The mech called it the 'suspension protector'. It's supposedly made of various rubber compounds and is added with the shocks for reducing vibrations.

Any one have an idea what it really is? They do have customers with positive reviews.

[rjstyles69]

Originally Posted by di1in

I saw this circular rubber thing today. The mech called it the 'suspension protector'. It's supposedly made of various rubber compounds and is added with the shocks for reducing vibrations.

Any one have an idea what it really is? They do have customers with positive reviews.

Most likely the SPACER else this is something new.Spacers are usually added to avoid the wheels from scraping the wheel wells when you up-size the tires. Do you have any pictures of this so called part ?

[di1in]

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

Most likely the SPACER else this is something new.Spacers are usually added to avoid the wheels from scraping the wheel wells when you up-size the tires. Do you have any pictures of this so called part ?

Got a snap..

It gets added between the springs. This is what I've understood of the process:

The jack up the car so the wheel hangs freely and the springs don't have any load. Then the thing in the pic is added amongst the springs. It has a cut on one side so it can slide in, in the pic u can find it at the 3 o clock. After that the car is brought down and the weight keeps this thing in place. The curve on the edge is where the springs go in and get seated.

Costs 5.5k for a set of four. Found this at Abi's in East Fort, Thrissur.

[di1in]

Got some info on the constitution of this thing. It's supposedly made from 5 layers of rubber. These layers are of increasing layers of elasticity as we move inwards. The outer layers is hard so as to keep the spring from jumping out under load. The inner one's are very soft for the vibration damping function.

[ananthkamath]

The first suspension upgrade anyone must do is the shocks because that is what mainly affects the transient stability and overall body control of the car at any speed. In the case of the Honda it seems grossly under-damped to me a couple of times I've driven one of these when I was in India. The high speed body control (float) is quite bad in my opinion. Increasing the spring rate would make this problem even worse.

Typically Eibach makes their lowering springs about 30 to 50% stiffer than OEM. Your stock shocks are barely able to handle the stock springs, so they will wear out even faster with stiffer springs, besides being unable to damp the springs out well.

I would suggest investing in a good set of shocks first, and then go from there. If you know what you're doing, you can even cut the stock springs to achieve the desired ride height with only a moderate spring rate increase. Personally I wouldnt recommend even lowering the car unless it is always used on very smooth roads or is a track car.


EDIT: The rubber piece shown in the previous post, as I understand it, basically reduces the number of active coils on the spring, so effectively it increases the spring rate and also reduces available travel, while still maintaining the original ride height of the car. Both not very good things, you're wasting your money. It will NOT provide any damping whatsoever, this is guaranteed.

[sushrutha]

Originally Posted by di1in

I saw this circular rubber thing today.
Any one have an idea what it really is? They do have customers with positive reviews.

Originally Posted by ananthkamath

The rubber piece shown in the previous post, as I understand it, basically reduces the number of active coils on the spring, so effectively it increases the spring rate and also reduces available travel, while still maintaining the original ride height of the car. Both not very good things, you're wasting your money. It will NOT provide any damping whatsoever, this is guaranteed.

More of the rubber thing is discussed over here
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...uspension.html
Lets wait n watch GTO's feedback on the same say after doing 5K kms drive.

[di1in]

@ananthkamath But then how come the customers i met over there were so happy about the install. One of them was a driver for a rich doc and he said his boss cancelled a pete's order for some expensive imported shocks and went ahead with this thing after he was satisfied with it's results on another of his car.

I'm not gonna get it though - your comments have made me think twice.