Buying the car in a near-stock condition was a good deal but I knew that some parts replacement will be necessary. Replacing the 190 000 kms old dampers is now a quick necessity !
After my 15 000kms on the road and a more accurate feeling on track, it’s clear that the suspension setup is not in good condition and I must say sometime dangerous. The budget is now more confortable and I start looking for a brand new setup.
Let’s directly forget cheap setups, or lowered coilovers springs added on a ‘stock type’ damper.
I was interested in a set of KW full coilovers setup, with adjustable height and hardness. But I really understood that this kind of adjustments was not what I was looking for. KW really sells quality parts but I decided to lowered the budget a little bit and stay focused on the main goal : lower the original car height of around 30mm with an adapted damper and install a product that prooved it’s durability.
Bilstein quality
Different setups were on the short-list and my choice went on a set of Bilstein B8 dampers combined with -35mm H&R springs. And no, I didn’t made my decision because of the ‘Nürburgring sticker’ on the damper body … ^^
Shiny brand new parts. Hard to think that they will be dirty in 20 kms !
Before surgery …
Front done !
Be carefull : You’ll need a spring compressor to dismantle the OEM dampers and reuse some parts on it.
Rear done.
And the finished result on the CRX before the first drive :
Even with the lowered setup (-35mm), rear side of the car remains a little bit high. This will be better after a hundred of kilometers.
Suspension road test
Before installing dampers, I decided to find a small route in the area to ‘test’ old parts in different conditions. Uphill, downhill, bumps, corners … everything mixed to build a kind of reference.
After installing it, let’s do the same route again. And the comparison is worth the time and price spent on the setup !! Holly sh** I now own a supercar ^^. No more pumping and the feeling of driving the car like on a railway comes first. I can also notice more stability between front and rear under big brakings.
Definitely a good decision to move on new quality dampers !
