OEM shocks

[PKim]

How long does the oem shocks last. I have a '91 and I think it is the original shocks. They still feel pretty good, but I'm planning to lower the car with eibach springs soon and since I was going to pay to have them installed, I thought maybe I should buy some bilsteins or Koni while I'm at it. What do you guys think?

Paul

 

[MrBrian]

if moneys not a problem, then by all means get some konis. the ride will be stiffer of course, but the turns will be that much more fun

i think tein sells their low end coilovers for 1100 which is another option

 

[Litespeeds]

I would highly recommend my setup which is keeping the stock springs and buying some Bilstein shocks with an adjustable spring perch and set it at the lower perch setting so that your car will be about 1" lower. I also recommend buying some street/track sway bars. The ride is GREAT! It feels the same or a little better than stock but the handling is awesome. I ran my car at Thunderhill and had a great time. The car is very neutral handling and forgiving. I wouldn't suggest going with Koni's as I have heard they are very stiff for everyday driving. Read the articles on this link: http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/Performance/suspension.htm

 

[andreas]

my stock dampers wore out within a few thousand miles of installing the eibachs. i attributed it to them working in a narrower range, but in talking to mark basch, he suggested that the shorter springs pushed them into a range that they weren't designed to work in. that makes sense, considering that my rubber bump stops were shortened with the eibach install. so doing the dampers at the same time will save you on labor cost, but you won't get the benefit of experiencing the mods in isolation. if you want to start with just one, i agree with the previous poster of trying the bilsteins first. set on the lower perch, they will give you i believe a 2 cm drop, slightly less than the 1" with the eibachs, but enough for my taste.

i would stay away from the konis unless you need the adjustability for track driving or autocross. i've heard that the konis even on the softest setting are uncomfortable. both the eibachs and bilsteins are progressive, meaning that they start soft and become firmer with suspension travel. that's great for street driving and i didn't notice any ride deterioration compared to stock. everytime i'm tempted by the lightweight tein setup i remind myself of that.

 

[nsxtasy]

It's very difficult to tell when the stock struts are worn out. This is because they degrade very gradually, so you stay accustomed to their performance as they degrade. Plus, even when they're no longer responding as crisply as they did when new, they aren't an obvious problem. When they fail the old-fashioned "bump test" (push down on a fender and see if it rebounds more than once), they are long, long overdue for replacement.

In my own case, I never thought to myself, "Gee, the struts aren't responding very well". What I felt (on my '91 with 51K miles including ~60 track events and over 8K actual track miles) was that the car just didn't feel like it was handling as crisply and precisely as it did when it was new. There was no one thing I could put my finger on, but it didn't feel like it was on rails the way it did when it was new.

I bought Bilsteins. The Bilsteins have a very nice range of action, in which they are very responsive on the track, but manage to soften up on the street so they don't compromise ride quality. The OEM struts are actually pretty good for the exact same reason. I decided on the Bilsteins because I expect them to last longer than OEM. They also offer the lower perch to those who wish to take advantage of this feature; I left mine at the stock ride height.

 

[sjs]

I tried Bilsteins first. As expected, very nice product. However, they are an OEM replacement and decidedly under damped for stiff linear rate springs like the H&R. They are perfect for OEM springs and popular with Eibach progressive rate springs.

I have the Konis now. Despite common claims, they are not horribly stiff. On the softest setting they are not much different than stock, but at least you have the option to adjust them for track or for aging.

If you can pop the $, go for the Tiens. I've been driving on a set the past few days and they are great.