Suspension Reviews:

carl hammond

Advanced Member
Messages
3,737
Nice thread, look forward to seeing some updates when we are allowed out again
thanks mate I had Hoped to get a trackday yesterday at goodwood but sold out, brands on Wednesday pm or Thursday All day (GP) and evening (Indi) but all sold out again :-(

moving house within the next 4-6 weeks more than likely so now it’ll have to be once I’ve moved
 

Yukio

New Member
Messages
3
To help other owners with certain goals I thought I‘d put together this detailed review of the suspension setups I‘ve personally used on my DC5.

My setups to date:
1st - OEM
2nd - Mugen Dampers & Spoon Springs
3rd - Bilsteins PSS9 B16 Coilovers
4th - Area Motorsport version (Track Focussed YellowSpeed Coilovers)


Whilst choosing my 4th setup cost was not a issue and I considered all sorts from Nitron, AST, YCW, Aragosta, Swiftsport and many more inc Ohlins (but they are no longer available new).

The setups considered were priced between £2.2k and £6k. However before making a final decision I put my sensible head on and spoke to nearly all of these companies, a number of fellow owners and also some race teams and decided to go against my own judgement and made my decision.

OEM Honda Dampers and Springs


Value For Money:

N/A


Build Quality:
‪N/A‬


Accompanying Parts:
None


Road Ride Comfort: ‪5/10‬
I didn‘t keep this setup on my car long, I found it very harsh and crash on the UK roads. I believe in Japan these are very compliant but I personally didn‘t like them here in the UK and the car sat very high.


Track Use: N/A
I didn‘t track my car in this setup


Overview:
As per the Road Ride Comfort review,


Why did I sell them?
I didn‘t, if I return the car to oem ever I will refit them, however I didn‘t really get much confidence in the car‘s capabilities with this setup.


Additional Parts required for fitting
N/A

Geo Settings - I believe these are the factory alignment settings (found on here)

Total Toe: +0.0mm +/-1.9mm
Half Toe : +0.0mm, +/-0.9mm
Camber : -.50deg , +/-1deg
caster :+1.17deg, +/- 1.0deg

Rear:
total toe : +1.9mm, -0.9mm,+1.9mm
half toe : +0.9mm, -.5mm, +09mm
camber : -.75deg, -1deg, +.75deg

Still on OEM Suspension


Still on OEM Suspension




Mugen Showa Dampers with Spoon Sport Springs

Value For Money: ‪8/10

A lot of people think this setup is expensive and pants VS coilovers.
Unless you‘re buying decent coilovers for a specific reason or a quality item by a reputable brand then these will be far superior as an allround setup.

I believe the dampers new were circa £1200 and as Showa‘s were the oem dampers fitted to the NSX-R its safe to say they are a quality item. Spoon (well known with any Honda enthusiast) means you‘ll know their quality and heritage, these are possibly the best springs available for a DC5. Second hand his setup can be bought (when found) for between £350 - £500 depending on age and condition, for a non track focussed car with occasional (say 3-5 trackdays a year) I would highly recommend it.


Build Quality: ‪9/10
As expected Mugen and Spoon do not disappoint with the build quality of these items and they really complement one another.


Accompanying Parts:
Superpro front Caster Bushes


Road Ride Comfort: ‪8/10
This setup removed all the crashyness and feel from the oem setup and made my car feel far more balanced, focused and stable. This setup was very capable whilst remaining perfectly compliant on the UK roads. The total drop is 40mm (15mm from the shortened damper and a further 25mm from the springs) and the stance is perfect. You can run 225wide tyres square with no issues or any need to roll the rear arches on oem rims.

Track Use: ‪6/10
If you aim to do the occasional trackday and are mainly using the car for daily or weekend blasts then this setup is ideal. The springs are progressive and the car is veryeasy to predict. The feedback you get can only be is explained by saying “it‘s like being back in my old DC2â€, any weight distribution and lift off oversteer can be felt and noticed and catered for easily and imo this setup should have been the oem setup for a DC5.
I completed a season on track using this setup (without front camber bolts or rear camber arms fitted and the car) and it was great. I believe with the addition of the camber bolts and arms and the right geo they would have got ‪7/10‬ as I did find myself pushing them to the limit so even an additional -1.5 front camber would have helped.

Overview:
If you are looking for a fast road (even occasional track setup that is plug and play) then this is ideal.

You get a great ride height, very compliant on the UK roads and the feedback you get from the car is perfect. My only regret with this setup was selling it on. If I ever return the car to oem this would be the only thing I‘d have wanted to keep.

Why did I sell them?
I sold this setup as originally the car was purchased as a restoration project but I then got the track bug again and felt that I maxed out on this setup leaving me no alternative but to move on in order to get what I wanted from the car.

Additional Parts required for fitting
N/A

Geo Settings

The Camber on this setup was roughly as below (camber gains only by the lowering springs and shorter dampers), total drop 40mm all-round

Front Camber: -1deg
Front Toe: 0

Rear Camber: -0.8deg
Rear Toe: 0

Sitting on Mugen/Spoon combo


Sitting on Mugen/Spoon combo




Bilstein B16 PSS9 Coilovers

Value For Money: ‪7/10

Although this is quite an expensive bit of kit the quality of these coilovers is as expected from Bilstein, flawless. The coilovers look amazing and the quality materials used to produce them is apparent from the start.

Build Quality: ‪9/10
As you‘d expect from a company like Bilstein there coilovers are built to the highest of standards, I don‘t really have much more to say about them aside from the fact that they really are one of the best setups out there in their price range and that I have used Bilsteins on a number of cars in the past.

Accompanying Parts:
Superpro front Caster Bushes
Hardrace rear camber arms
2 x sets of front camber bolts

Road Ride Comfort: ‪9/10‬
With the height set similar to my previous setup (circa 40mm lower than oem) and even when set to the stiffest setting I found these very good on the road. They can be a little skittish on uneven surfaces when on the stiffest setting but I like my cars like that, when I tweaked the stiffness down the car felt like it was back on the Mugen Spoon setup which was perfect.

For a fast road, regular/occasional trackcar these are superb and I think for the money you‘d be hard pressed to find anything better.

Track Use: ‪7/10‬
The coilovers themselves are amazing on track. The stiffness settings are spot on and the spring rates superb for this chassis. The Front spring rate is 10.70 and the rearis 12.75.

You can really throw the car around and get it to handle exactly as you want with as much or little lift off oversteer as you‘d like.
The weak link was the camber bolts, running two sets of these (as advised elsewhere on the forum as a good ideal to gain maximum camber) from my experience is not advised for track use.

On the road I had no issues at all but on track using the curbs hard at Brands the lower passenger bolt kept slipping throwing my geo off. I re-geo‘d it and this time overtorqued them with threadlock and after 77 laps it happened again.

Based on the above this setup‘s track score had to be dropped due to the lack of top mount adjustability. Honestly if they came with adjustable top mounts of if Bilstein top mounts were available separately I would have scored these a ‪10/10‬ as the feel and feedback I got from the car was unexplainably perfect bob on the track and road.

Overview
This setup is ideal for anyone using their car on the road or with regular/occasional track use where you don‘t want to run aggressive camber. If you are happy with -1 to -2 camber on the front these are ideal, anymore then you would need to consider looking at top mounts.

Grinspeed and Todd top mounts I have heard work on Bilsteins as do ones from Nitron, however to use the Nitron‘s the collars need some adjustments.

Why did I sell them?
I have moved on from this setup as I mainly use my car on track and I couldn‘t trust the camber bolts. If these came with or had optional adjustable top mounts available from Bilstein I would have never removed them from my car.

Additional Parts required for fitting
2 x Washers per side for the rear (not supplied with the suspension)
EP3 Track rod ends (not supplied with the suspension)

Geo Settings

Front Camber: -2.5deg
Front Toe: 1 degree out total

Rear Camber roughly: -2deg
Rear Toe: 1 degree in total

Sitting on Bilstein B16‘s


Sitting on Bilstein B16‘s


Sitting on Bilstein B16‘s


Sitting on Bilstein B16‘s


So finally I decided to try the Area Motorsport version (Track Focussed YellowSpeed Coilovers). The Area MS version use Eibach rear springs and the strut is adjusted to suit. Top mounts are also swapped over L to R to increase castor and the spring rates are Front 8 and Rear 16, I‘ll be interested to see how these feel versus the Bilstein spring rates.

As these get great reviews and feedback by others using their cars predominantly on track I decided I had nothing to lose by trying them.

Once they have been fitted I‘ll update this thread with my findings.

Area Motorsport version (Track Focussed YellowSpeed Coilovers)

Value For Money: 8/10
‪
I have always sworn against buying cheap alternative parts however I was left in an awkward position due to my car being more track focused and my camber bolts constantly slipping when hitting curbs hard on track throwing my geo off.

This setup was very cheap compared to what I was expecting to spend but after a number of conversations with people I know who race Integra‘s and also some race teams I had to take into account that fact that I generally do a max of circa 3K miles a year (mainly track miles) and the other setups I was considering were between 3-5K I decidedto consider cheaper alternatives.

My decision was made mainly around the fact that I wasn‘t losing much by trying these out and assisting others with true back to back reviews. I wasn‘t sure what to expectbut since fitting them I am quite impressed. The main things I like are that they come with an 18months guarantee, Area supply them with great supporting paperwork and I can now remove the camber bolts. The camber is gained by a slotted top strut hole and the caster by the topmounts.

These are the Area Motorsport Track Verison and not off the shelf YS‘s and these have the higher spring rates etc.

This setup looks good out the box but I will admit they didn‘t look as good as the Bilsteins‘s. I could tell straight away that the quality of the materials used to produce them wasn‘t on par with Bilstein but I was expecting them to be due to the much lower price. But for the money they look very good, my main and only concern is how long they will last, time will tell and I will keep updating this post as they get used more.

Build Quality: 7/10
The black powder coating protection layer is nice but not completed to the highest of standards imo. The rest of the setup looks nice and solid out the box. The topmounts were already fitted ready to go with only the caster needing to be set which is nice. The adjustment allen keys concerned me at first as they feel a little loose but fingers crossed they don‘t come out ever.

Accompanying Parts:
Superpro front Caster Bushes
Hardrace rear camber arms

Road Ride Comfort: 8/10
This part of the review is very basic as I have only covered around 70 miles with them fitted so far. One thing I can say is that I am using the recommended settings (which is aimed for track use) and they are not as compliant on the road as the Bilsteins. I was running the Bilsteins on full stiffness on road and track and they dealt with the roads better, these are nice, very nice on smooth roads but a lot more bouncy on the less smooth surfaces however the grip they offer is great and the car really does handle well on them (poss down to my geo).

The caster gain‘s noticeable and the camber is great. I believe the caster gain was 4 degrees and I am currently running -3.9 front camber and -2.7 rear. My first journey was in the dry and it drove really well, in the wet (my second journey) really surprised me, the car was great but it did have issues with aquaplaning a couple of times which I never experienced with the previous setups (but this could and is more than likely geo related) as my new geo is much more aggressive.

I must also add that the height is pre-set as recommended by Area which I feel also has impacted on the road ride comfort as the car sits a lot lower than I had it previously on the Bilsteins. I have left it as is as I want to experience how the car feels and what feedback I get from this setup exactly as Area recommend, from there I will update this post with any tweaks made.

Track Use: 9/10
Although I have not used these on track yet I will score them until next season. The reason for the high score is due to the amount of caster, camber and adjustability offered. These are not to be confused with the basic off the shelf YS setups. The spring rates are much better and these are Eibach springs, the topmounts are swapped and thestrut is slotted. I don‘t ever drive hard or fast on the road but the feedback I got from this setup was superb and I can only imagine how good they are on track. I will confirm this as soon as I get out there again.

Overview:
So far I am very impressed by these coilovers. The amount of adjustment seems good but I do wonder if there is much of a difference between all the clicks. All other brands I have owned throughout my life have had a lot less clicks but with each click it was very noticeable.

My main concern with setups like this is and always has been around the lifetime of the product, but with an 18 month guarantee I am comfortable knowing that they are covered and Area seem a great company (I wish they were more local too me to be honest as I‘d use them a lot more for parts and services). To help ease my concerns about the quality I have coated these and will continue to do so in order to keep them looking as new and shiny as I can.

I personally believe this setup will be very capable for anyone using their car predominantly on tracks over the road. If you only do a couple of trackdays a year and drive on the road 90% of the time I would look at Bilsteins if budget allowed but for a track car I am very impressed with these so far.

Additional Parts required for fitting
2 x Washers per side for the rear (supplied with the suspension if bought new)

Note
DC5 or EP3 Track rod ends can be used with this setup as these come with a metal sleeve that shrinks the strut fitment for use with EP3 track rod ends

Geo Settings
Front Drivers Camber: -3.6deg
Front Passenger Camber: -3.5deg
Front Toe: 2.5mm out (each side)

Rear Drivers Camber: -3.2deg
Rear Passenger Camber: -3.0deg
Rear Toe: 1mm in (each side)

Note: Rear Camber was with added fuel and the spare wheel, it will reduce to around -3.0deg and -2.8deg on trackdays


Sitting on the Area Motorsport version (Track Focussed YellowSpeed Coilovers)
This is the pre set recommended height.


Sitting on the Area Motorsport version (Track Focussed YellowSpeed Coilovers)
This is the pre set recommended height.


Sitting on the Area Motorsport version (Track Focussed YellowSpeed Coilovers)
This is the pre set recommended height.



Sitting on the Area Motorsport version (Track Focussed YellowSpeed Coilovers)
This is the pre set recommended height.


Basic Overview

Damper Spring Combo's

OEM Honda Dampers and Springs - Good, more than likely ok/good on track and even on our roads if refreshed but not the best on the UK roads, high ride height.
Mugen Dampers with Spoon Springs - Perfect stance, great feel and feedback and good quality parts. Good on both road and occasional track (would benefit from 1 x set of camber bolts and rear camber arms for a basic track geo).

Coilovers
Bilsteins PSS9 B16 Coilovers - Perfect for a road and occasional track car where you don't want an aggressive geo using one set of camber bolts and rear camber arms. The feedback was very good and the car very predictable and controllable. The quality of these is superb.
Area Motorsport version (Track Focussed YellowSpeed Coilovers) - Perfect for track and anyone wanting an aggressive geo with occasional road use. Great feedback and adjustability. The geo used will really impact on ones feel and experience with these.
Excellent review!
Thanks for sharing was very informative, I’m in the process of deciding a new suspension set up and wheels, was considering Area as I’d got parts of them in the past. Any advice on wheels....? Was hoping to run 8” or 9” all round or a combination with the new suspension, any thoughts...?
 

carl hammond

Advanced Member
Messages
3,737
Excellent review!
Thanks for sharing was very informative, I’m in the process of deciding a new suspension set up and wheels, was considering Area as I’d got parts of them in the past. Any advice on wheels....? Was hoping to run 8” or 9” all round or a combination with the new suspension, any thoughts...?
Thanks for the comment mate and wheel wise I am still using OEM's (two sets) one for road and one for track at present and I run 225/45/17 on a 7j rim (oem et60) . I am also considering a third set of wheels (non oem) and I will be looking at 7.5/8j with an ex around the mid 4's which I believe will fit. I will then run a 235 or if possible a 245 front tyre and a 225 rear, but at present I really like the 225 square setup so I am not in a rush to do this unless some wheels catch my eye etc.
 

Yukio

New Member
Messages
3
Thanks for the comment mate and wheel wise I am still using OEM's (two sets) one for road and one for track at present and I run 225/45/17 on a 7j rim (oem et60) . I am also considering a third set of wheels (non oem) and I will be looking at 7.5/8j with an ex around the mid 4's which I believe will fit. I will then run a 235 or if possible a 245 front tyre and a 225 rear, but at present I really like the 225 square setup so I am not in a rush to do this unless some wheels catch my eye etc.
Cheers Carl, appreciate the reply anf info provided!!!
 

stewR

Member
Messages
25
Thought I'd chime in with my own experience of DC5 suspension in the 6 weeks I've had the car...

1st - Bought the car with Tein Street basic coilovers. Good items but I felt they were underdamper/over spring.

2nd - Replaced with a set of Japanese spec Bilsteins. Bloody good things. Just, too much for my tastes on all but the best roads. I imagine they'd rock on track though.

3rd- Now on the 3rd set of suspension in 6 weeks, OE dampers with Eibach springs. Perfect for my tastes. I won't be using the car on track, but they offer good ride and handling, and chassis control on the roads I like to play on.

A gripe I have with the car though is that I don't actually think it's that fast or good on UK roads. I've just come from 4 years in a 2ZZ'd MR2 roadster with sorted chassis and that thing could do silly stuff that only a well driven Impreza STI could match...lol.

Suspension tuning can take time though, and I can see the potential with the DC5 for sure.
 

VtecPaul

Advanced Member
Messages
332
Thought I'd chime in with my own experience of DC5 suspension in the 6 weeks I've had the car...

1st - Bought the car with Tein Street basic coilovers. Good items but I felt they were underdamper/over spring.

2nd - Replaced with a set of Japanese spec Bilsteins. Bloody good things. Just, too much for my tastes on all but the best roads. I imagine they'd rock on track though.

3rd- Now on the 3rd set of suspension in 6 weeks, OE dampers with Eibach springs. Perfect for my tastes. I won't be using the car on track, but they offer good ride and handling, and chassis control on the roads I like to play on.

A gripe I have with the car though is that I don't actually think it's that fast or good on UK roads. I've just come from 4 years in a 2ZZ'd MR2 roadster with sorted chassis and that thing could do silly stuff that only a well driven Impreza STI could match...lol.

Suspension tuning can take time though, and I can see the potential with the DC5 for sure.
Hey bud, did you get new OEM dampers? If so, where from and what sort of price?
I’d love the Mugen Showa and Spoon shock combo but think they’re like rocking horse poo secondhand and hard to get new! I think the next suitable alternative is OEM shocks and lowering springs as my car is only used on the road.
 

carl hammond

Advanced Member
Messages
3,737
Hey bud, did you get new OEM dampers? If so, where from and what sort of price?
I’d love the Mugen Showa and Spoon shock combo but think they’re like rocking horse poo secondhand and hard to get new! I think the next suitable alternative is OEM shocks and lowering springs as my car is only used on the road.
If you have oem dampers you can get the spoon springs on them or the eibach ones (a combo of two eibach setups removes the reverse rake) some have mentioned on here in the past where the rear sits slightly lower than the front.

Spoon won’t give you that at all and are avail new from torque gt
 
Last edited:

VtecPaul

Advanced Member
Messages
332
Yeah had seen the Spoon springs @ Torque GT. but don’t want to combine them with second hand 80k+ mileage OEM dampers. I’ve currently got MeisterR coilovers that Id look to sell on and replace. I’d like a similar drop, sensible camber and perhaps some slightly wider wheels (rota slips/ Desmond regamaster perhaps)
 

carl hammond

Advanced Member
Messages
3,737
Yeah had seen the Spoon springs @ Torque GT. but don’t want to combine them with second hand 80k+ mileage OEM dampers. I’ve currently got MeisterR coilovers that Id look to sell on and replace. I’d like a similar drop, sensible camber and perhaps some slightly wider wheels (rota slips/ Desmond regamaster perhaps)
Another great alternative would be Bilstein B14 or B16’s - great suspension. Superb quality and with camber bolts can get sensible Camber with camber bolts (so very good for road use) and occasional track if ever needed and wanted
 

carl hammond

Advanced Member
Messages
3,737
Hey bud, did you get new OEM dampers? If so, where from and what sort of price?
I’d love the Mugen Showa and Spoon shock combo but think they’re like rocking horse poo secondhand and hard to get new! I think the next suitable alternative is OEM shocks and lowering springs as my car is only used on the road.
Hi Paul there is a set of Mugen dampers on ebay at present (from memory it's the complete Mugen setup with the Mugen springs still), wasn't sure if you were still looking for any

Carl

 
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