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DropZone
Coilovers
I'm not going to do an entire write-up on
the coilovers I installed on my car this last weekend because
there is already tons of other useful information out there on the
subject. But I will tell you a little something about how my
experience went...
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The first question you're asking is why
buy no-name coilovers? Has anyone even heard of
DropZone? Didn't think so. Neither had I until I found
these. So why would I bypass purchasing a more popular set
of coilovers made by reparatory brands like Eibach, |
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H&R,
Skunk, Ground Control, Neuspeed, and well the list goes of of very
high quality, and more expensive coilovers. I came inches
away from purchasing at one time or another a set of coilovers
from each brand mentioned above. First it was H&R
Sports, then it was Eibach's
Sportlines, then it was just a good ole
set of Ground Controls that I could get for cheap on GBC.
But in the end it all came down to I needed a drop, and I
needed it cheap. |
Let me just point out a few good features
of these coilovers. I bought them off Group Buy Center
(which if you haven't caught wind of yet, I suggest you go
register for it right now) for an amazing deal so low I really
can't even say what it cost me. Once I received them I
noticed many great things about them. Lightweight aluminum collars,
heavy duty springs with glossy painted finish and spring rate
stamped on each. 450FR/350RR. Since they didn't
mention what the spring rates were before I bought them, I really
didn't know what to expect when they came. I thought at
first that 450/350 would be a little stiff for me, but it turns
out that they are just perfect. Stock springs on 96-00 non-Si
are about 165FR/75RR so if you do a little bit of math, you can
see that these coilovers are 172% stiffer in front and 366%
stiffer in the rear. A very considerable amount over stock
and very noticeable in the drive, handling and performance.
So they came with all the other hardware, rubber rings for center
positioning over strut, rubber top hat, and the tightener
things. Everything you need.
I am using stock struts for now which I
expect to last until I decide to purchase a new set. I only
dropped the car about 2" all the way around. It doesn't
look "slammed", however it does look much lower and a
zillion times better than it did. Total height from ground
to each fender is 23.2" It used to be around
25.0" but each side was a little different, and yes the
driver's side was lower than the passenger and the front left side
was by far the lowest corner on the car. Which was one the
main reasons for not getting springs. I wanted to be able to
adjust the ride height, and I wanted the improved performance of a
much stiffer spring.
Here's just a quick blurb on the tiny
nightmare it was installing these puppies on my car. First
off a 1997 Civic is considerably old and 5 years of wear and rust
was obvious on every bolt I had to pry loose. I
started at about 6:00 P.M. Friday night and finished the front end
by 11:00 P.M. The front of the car went smoothly, no
hick-ups along the way. Oh yeah, I was doing this by myself
and in the dark. Not recommended if you can avoid it.
And this was my first time doing any suspension work at
all. I was quite pleased with my work by nightfall and
well exhausted but excited to wake up early the next morning and
finish the back end. Which honestly I thought I'd have done
by noon. LOL. Nope, not this time.
Continue
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