H&R springs or Eibach springs?

[K-Dawg]

OP states his problem with his current set up is that it's too stiff and bouncy. This problem will remain with basically all of the lowering springs. I've only personally used Eibach, but a spring is a spring. They're all basically the same rate, so the amount of lowering is the major difference.

If you must lower, I'd say Dinan is the only way to go. The less lowering the better. But you will have best ride and handling with the stock springs short of quality coilovers.The car was engineered brilliantly for road use from the factory.

I think OP is experiencing pitch, which makes the car feel stiff and bouncy.

OP, you could also try front springs of 300lb/in or less in the front and 600lb/in in the rear which would likely improve your comfort and performance significantly.

The stock springs, Eibach Pro-Kit springs and Dinan springs all give you flat ride as long as you aren't on the bumpstops.

FWIW, my Bilstein B6/Eibach (B12) setup is closer to the pre-Eibach height of the car in that video.

[Maxima SE]

I think OP is experiencing pitch, which makes the car feel stiff and bouncy.

I think thats exactly what im experiencing. The weight transfer from front the rear is just not there. The whole car as a whole is a bouncy brick. I am not sure how much of it is the spring rates and how much it is the welded on mason x brace.

And yeah the Bilsteins sit a little higher with eibach than konis do. There is another thread with comparison pictures of these two setups.

[9kracing]

Of all the springs mentioned ITT, only Eibach, Swift, and H&R make springs in house, everyone else outsources.

You can't go wrong with any of those 3 manufacturers.

I am selling my old Dinan setup if you're interested, Dinan springs with Koni yellows. I moved to Ohlins.

[Leafsrule531]

Do your eibach coilovers have linear or progressive springs ? Progressives will give you slightly better ride but will compromise on handling.

I can’t speak for other springs but I recently put on swift linear springs on my KW coilovers and I love how they feel. Firm yet smooth. That being said if you hit a pothole or really bad road you will definitely feel it. They are linear springs.

[Ragincajun5220]

Of all the springs mentioned ITT, only Eibach, Swift, and H&R make springs in house, everyone else outsources.

You can't go wrong with any of those 3 manufacturers.

I am selling my old Dinan setup if you're interested, Dinan springs with Koni yellows. I moved to Ohlins.

How did you like your dinan setup, and how did it compare to stock and then to your current ohlins setup?

I’ve experienced ohlins on this platform, fantastic suspension with great ride comfort

[9kracing]

It was on the car when I bought it, so I can't really compare to stock, although I have driven stock E46s. It feels pretty stock-like in my opinion.

I wasn't a huge fan, but our Bay Area roads are crap. I also never pushed it on the backroads or anything.

The Ohlins is definitely a step up, but I also did topside reinforcement, camber plates, swaybars, etc at the same time... so my whole suspension setup changed, it's much stiffer.

The Dinan setup is known to be a good step-up from stock, with stockish characteristics. But ultimately, you get what you pay for. Ohlins is definitely better.

[Maxima SE]

Of all the springs mentioned ITT, only Eibach, Swift, and H&R make springs in house, everyone else outsources.

You can't go wrong with any of those 3 manufacturers.

I am selling my old Dinan setup if you're interested, Dinan springs with Koni yellows. I moved to Ohlins.

I’ve decided I like eibach better. Thanks

[Maxima SE]

Do your eibach coilovers have linear or progressive springs ? Progressives will give you slightly better ride but will compromise on handling.

I can’t speak for other springs but I recently put on swift linear springs on my KW coilovers and I love how they feel. Firm yet smooth. That being said if you hit a pothole or really bad road you will definitely feel it. They are linear springs.

I am not sure. The springs are the originals shipped with the kit.


Did you guys use oem lemforder endlinks with the konis? or Do they require adjustable endlinks?

[maupineda]

One thing you must remember is that if gas pressure is too high, you won’t be able to remove the jittery ride. My HR setup improved a lot with new springs, but the car still reads any imperfection, even painting signals in the road can be felt. And no spring rate will fix that. You need to revalve the shocks.

any Bilstein shock will suffer from this. That is why Konis are perceived as more compliant as they are twin tube and will have less gas pressure and the gas chamber is not in series with the damper.

[cobra]

One thing you must remember is that if gas pressure is too high, you won’t be able to remove the jittery ride. My HR setup improved a lot with new springs, but the car still reads any imperfection, even painting signals in the road can be felt. And no spring rate will fix that. You need to revalve the shocks.

any Bilstein shock will suffer from this. That is why Konis are perceived as more compliant as they are twin tube and will have less gas pressure and the gas chamber is not in series with the damper.

Gas pressure itself doesn't inherently mean a bad ride quality - it can be the effects of the gas pressure, such as increased seal friction.

[maupineda]

Gas pressure itself doesn't inherently mean a bad ride quality - it can be the effects of the gas pressure, such as increased seal friction.

It does, as it will resist the initiation of bump travel. This is also why monotubes tend to raise the car a bit compare to twin tube shocks

[kostnice]

I think OP is experiencing pitch, which makes the car feel stiff and bouncy.

OP, you could also try front springs of 300lb/in or less in the front and 600lb/in in the rear which would likely improve your comfort and performance significantly.

The stock springs, Eibach Pro-Kit springs and Dinan springs all give you flat ride as long as you aren't on the bumpstops.

FWIW, my Bilstein B6/Eibach (B12) setup is closer to the pre-Eibach height of the car in that video.

please PM me k-dawg, im a new member and it wont let me pm you.. i have a question for you.

[01SG]

Notwithstanding the notion that Bilstein's are more harsh, Koni on Eibach is not very comfortable. Still losing an inch of travel.

[cobra]

It does, as it will resist the initiation of bump travel. This is also why monotubes tend to raise the car a bit compare to twin tube shocks

The gas spring does apply some "preload" to your system and can raise the car depending on pressure and rod size, but does not directly affect ride quality as long as its properly designed. A monotube with gas pressure can ride just as good (and much better) than a twin-tube. It just so happens that most monotubes are tuned for a "sporty" and "performance" ride which means stiff to many people.

Notwithstanding the notion that Bilstein's are more harsh, Koni on Eibach is not very comfortable. Still losing an inch of travel.

Agreed, the lack of travel is a real killer. My Dinan/Koni setup was not comfortable either because it was constantly hitting the bump stops on anything but a perfect road. After getting my car properly set up with a shortened shock and (sadly) raising it up a bit, it is not even comparable. Roads and bumps that were harsh and caused the chassis to buck the car now floats over with zero drama.

[maupineda]

in your case the harsh ride then did not come from the shock, but the lack of travel and riding on the stops, that is different than why monotubes are harsher, which is directly linked to their architecture and construction. but the point here is not to deviate the topic, just to create awareness that changing springs will not fix a harsh ride if that relates to secondary ride qualities based on shock design and tuning.

changing springs and making sure there is enough bump travel will make a significant improvement, but a plush ride will require shock tuning and that will be $$$$$$. None of the commercial monotube options will offer this. Bilstein are far from refined.