pic apex

[madmanshima]

whats up,im looking to get a new suspension on my 99 civic si,i been hearing good things about the pic perfomance apex coilovers.i want a setup for the street for daily driving and some weekend track racing,something thats gonna give me a good ride mostly,and also i wanna be able to drop it with no wheel gap.i like riding pretty low,if anyone has experience with this coilovers lmk how you like them and what spring rate is best, they have 3 diffrent setups on their site,if anyone can help lmk.thanks.or if anyone has experience with another setup lmk.

[treekiller]

Looks like nice stuff, Monotube High pressure gas. seems very similar in specifications to my standard go to's D2, Apexi, Megan and K-sport which all share the same 46mm Monotube design and are all built with the seperate lower mount which is paramount to retaining suspension travel even drasticly lowered. the only thing I see that might concern me. is No damping adjustment on their "apex" model.. your gonna want some damping adjustment to make quick adjustments to the car. (over and above tire pressure, and be able to tone it down for date night) to add damping it costs you an additional $300 for the kit. where the others come standard with that adjustment.

I always recommend the K-sport for no other reason but K-sport USA has a "no questions asked" warranty for 12 months, and 16 months (and 15000 competition miles) into my kit it started to make some pillowball noise (very typical for coilovers on strut cars) they just had me send in the part and 2 weeks later I had it back, no charge. the PIC looks to have the proper bones. and since there is only a few factories that build these budget coil over dampers I bet they might even be the same. so I would spend the same money and get the adjustable damping and warranty. I sell K-sport so I'm used to dealing with their USA distributor and they are top notch guys... (but any of them come recommended)

Now for fear of sounding like a broken record. (or worse an advertisement) I am not saying anything WRONG with PIC I just don't have the first hand experience with them. what I can say if it was MY money and I HAD to get PIC I would upgrade to their "Select" series since I know I HATE driving my car with the damping set hard... and on the track it's awful when set soft. and I assume the non adjustable is a compromise between these two. I do like the fact they supposedly match the damping to the spring rate that costs extra with the others. but I was very satisfied with their reccomended rates. for Racing I'd go higher but for everyday K-sport reccomends 10kg and 6kg pretty agressive rates.

you could even go "down" to a 8kg front pair I think it costs $46 extra from K-sport but I'd need to know what other parts you have on your car to give you a recommendation. swaybars, tires, how does it currently behave?

[madmanshima]

well right now i got some tien lowering springs on stock struts,i dont have any suspension mods and the wheels and tires are stock,i wanna start with the suspension,lmk what you think.the car is gonna be daily driven like 80-90% of the time,so what kind of spring rate is best,and what kind of drop does most of these coilovers give after settling.

[madmanshima]

what are your thoughts on the megan street setup coilovers?

[treekiller]

Originally Posted by madmanshima

well right now i got some tien lowering springs on stock struts,i dont have any suspension mods and the wheels and tires are stock,i wanna start with the suspension,lmk what you think.the car is gonna be daily driven like 80-90% of the time,so what kind of spring rate is best,and what kind of drop does most of these coilovers give after settling.

well that is the beauty of a true coil over you can make it as long or short as you want. while there are guidelines, as with all cars going too low will throw off the alignment but 2+ inches is more then typical. and your taking the length out of the total not out of the stroke.

first off you have 9 year old factory shocks, they most likley have been worn out for a while. shocks really should be replaced every 3-5 years. so your going to see a HUGE improvement in handling even if you leave the heigth at stock.

I would order a stock set of K-sports with the 10/6 springs and see if you like them, if the front is too bouncy for your taste then order a pair of 9kg or 8kg springs for $49 but they do a decent job of setting the car up, and with a 10/6 spring setup you can add an adjustable rear sway bar if you wanted some additional tuning. it's a matter of taste, a anti sway bar can act like stiffer rear springs without hurting the drivability.

Originally Posted by madmanshima

what are your thoughts on the megan street setup coilovers?

I have looked at Megan, D2 and K-sport all side by side and I'll be damned if I can tell the difference. I used to Sell exclusively Tein. but to be honest I like the K-sport more, for the same dollar you get a more tunable product. teins lower end stuff does not have adjustable body length. (their higher end stuff however is hard to beat) The only Reason I decided to sell K-sport over the others is the warranty and customer service is better. but apples to apples it's the same stuff. and chances are you'll be happy with any of it.

The way I look at it is it's not which brand (since they are all basically the same) but where you buy it from that makes the difference. do you know and trust the person your buying from to handle your warranty claim? if you have a shop you usually deal with get their "house" brand since they will have a good relationship with the distributor... I'll spend an extra $100 on a part to get it from someone local then buying online. so you know there is a shop and hence a reputation at stake.

[Outkasted24]

I have the PIC Select P2 (10k/8k) kit on my DA and absolutely love them!!!

Just the construction, weight, and solid feel of the PICs vs. the K-Sports and Megan kits are second to none.
So-Far I've put about 7k miles on mine and I have no complaints whats so ever.
The ride is so smooth (even on hard doing 80 on I-275), No extra noises coming from the setup, and all of the coatings still look as clean as they did the day of installation.
I have yet to get the car on the track, But the kit performs very well at 60mph 90 degree tight turns ..... on some back roads in Pasco Co. on my way to work every morning
I'm so glad I went with the PICs

Here's some more info for you to read up on.
Honda-Tech.com: Suspension: Full Review: PIC Performance Select Coilovers *Pics inside*

[madmanshima]

thanks everybody, i decided and ended up ordering the tein super street setup,i'll keep everyone posted on how the are.thanks again.

[treekiller]

Super street is a good value for the money, but don't go too low as every inch of drop over their recommended comes right out of the suspension travel. but should be fine and a worlds better then a cobbled together setup.