Some suspension questions...

[87DXHatch]

I am planning on getting lowering springs and struts and rims in the next year sometime and I had a few questions:

I live in Minnesota so the winters can be and usually are pretty brutal. Should I replace my rims with the stock wheels for winter driving or can I use the larger sized rims?

For my lowering springs, I'm thinking about possibly getting ground controls to raise my car in the winter and lower it in the summer. Do ground controls handle as well as a good set of lowering springs? Do ground controls handle better than stock springs?

Jim, in a previous post you wrote that people were unhappy running ground controls and Tokicos. Does that mean that you should get Koni's in the front AND the back instead of tokicos in the back if you're running Ground controls?

As for the adjustability of the coil-overs... you do need to get a realignment every time you adjust them right? What tools are needed and how difficult is it to adjust them? Would it be wise to get a camber kit for the front if I got them (I would usually be running about a 2.25 inch drop) and can camber kits be easily adjusted when I adjust the height of the springs?

Jim, you said earlier that Ground controls were progressive and normal springs are linear (or vice versa)? I didn't really understand what the difference was and what effect it has on the vehicle.

Are there any brands of Rims/Wheels to stay away from? Are chrome wheels going to be heavier by nature thus adversely affecting performance?

What is the weight of a stock 13 inch rim? Can anyone give me ballpark numbers on how badly my HP would be hit for every 5 pounds or whatever I go over the stock weight?

Can anyone give me some free Koni Special's, a camber kit, and some nice lowering springs...

Thanks in advance Jim and anyone else...

[CASH24]

I lowered my car last weekend with Ground Controls and i love them. But whatever you do, if your planning on lowering it more then 1 1/2" don't use tokico's. I have Koni's in the front and tokico's in the back and i love the way it rides. The GC's are very easy to adjust and you only need a allen wrench that they provide. I've been dicking with my ride slamming and raising it back up and it only takes me like 10 minutes to adjust. It actually takes me longer to pull the damn jack out then it does to adjust the height. I havn't really gone to get an alignment yet and my car still handles great. i probably will soon though because I have 17's. well i hope this helps. there's other's that can give you good advice too.

[Jims 86LXI HB]

Do ground controls handle as well as a good set of lowering springs? Do ground controls handle better than stock springs?

Yes to both questions. Providing they are teamed with struts that can deal with their stiffness.

Jim, in a previous post you wrote that people were unhappy running ground controls and Tokicos. Does that mean that you should get Koni's in the front AND the back instead of tokicos in the back if you're running Ground controls?

Well I've run different struts in the rear in the past. More specifically, one's that were not as firm as what I was running in the front. Which is what you'd have if you ran tokico's in the rear.Whoever I'd worry about getting away with it on the ground-controls, because of their being linear springs. But I will say that if I had to really watch what I spent I'd likely take the risk. After all it it does work, you could allway pull them next year and install koni's then.

Jim, you said earlier that Ground controls were progressive and normal springs are linear (or vice versa)? I didn't really understand what the difference was and what effect it has on the vehicle.

Ok I'll try it again. The ground-controls have linear springs front and the rear. Most of the other springs are progressive springs. Progressive springs have a portion of the spring that is softer than the rest. The do that to try and soften the ride to be closer to stock over little to small bumps. The catch is when you want the performance of the firmer spring you won't get it right away. The suspension has to compress the softer part to get to the firmer part. With a linear spring it's firm the entire length of the spring. So when say you flick the steering wheel 1/3 of a turn real fast, the linear spring will feel quicker and more decisive because it did not have to transition between soft to firm like the progressive spring has to.

Here's a link on progressive vs linear springs
www.drgas.com/promotor/art-springs.html

Are there any brands of Rims/Wheels to stay away from? Are chrome wheels going to be heavier by nature thus adversely affecting performance?

Just make sure that you stay between 40mm and 42mm offset. Weather you dealing with someone locally, on the net, or on the phone, do not make a purchase unless you know for a fact what the offset of that rim is, walk away and buy somewhere else if they won't tell you. I can't prove it, but every forum I visit, and I visit allot of them, chrome wheels are always viewed as heavy. Somewhere I have a bookmark on my computer that has a master list for stock alloy wheel weights and aftermarket wheel weights. I'll try and find it tommarrow and post it.

What is the weight of a stock 13 inch rim? Can anyone give me ballpark numbers on how badly my HP would be hit for every 5 pounds or whatever I go over the stock weight?

I can go out to my garage tommarrow and grab one of my stock 13" wheels and weigh it. Problem is it still has a tire mounted to it. I don't know if I can find out how much that tire weighs. Now on you other question. I've seen that type of question answered in all kinds of color full ways when talking about lighter or heavier wheels. "It's like the difference between spinning a paper plate and spinning a merry-go-round". "It's like the difference between jumping on a 21-speed bike that's in 1st then jumping on it when it when it's in the 21st gear". A little much if ya ask me. Lighter is better, but don't let someone throw numbers at you and let that rule your wallet. I'd buy as lite a wheel as you feel comfortable doing. I bought my wheels on price and looks, they are heavier than stock. I can feel that very, very, slightly in performance, more in handling. I do wish I would have waited and got rims that were much lighter.

And no you can't get anything free, to many dang questions

If you have anymore quetions go ahead and ask, its really not a problem

[87DXHatch]

How badly would 17's affect the handling of the car? Would there be any problems with 17's on a stock suspension?

Would I have to go to a suspension shop to get my camber adjusted if I got a camber kit/prelude arms?

Are Prelude arms difficult to install?

Jim, thanks for all the great info. In my mind, at least, you are one of this site's greatest moderators.

I am definitely planning on saving all this once I am satisfied.

[Jims 86LXI HB]

How badly would 17's affect the handling of the car? Would there be any problems with 17's on a stock suspension?

I would think that you'd get all the benefits of plus sizing. Improved feel of the road, much improved responce time. But I would worry that with a little more than of a inch of side wall that small bumps in a series would overwhelm(ms) the stock struts. But that is honestly just MY personel theory. But it is based on personel experinence on my wifes former car when I put real low profile tires on the stock suspension. Yes it handled real good, but some road surfaces really made the stock struts dance all over the place and it then felt like crap. Who knows, accords may be different. I'd ask myself "how are the roads that I drive on?"
Plus I'd think it would be kind of expensive to stay close to the stock wheel weights. I guess the problem is, IMO 17's sure to look nice don't they, I feel 16's are a good compromise, just my 2 cents.

Would I have to go to a suspension shop to get my camber adjusted if I got a camber kit/prelude arms?

I think I've seen some members argue that they got them dialed in real close, while others said you really do have to have the specs fine tuned by a shop. As far as how difficult are they to install? I've never installed them, you'll want to search back and find where they are talked about and maybe pm a couple of members that did the install themselves.

Jim, thanks for all the great info. In my mind, at least, you are one of this site's greatest moderators

Well thanks, I try and give out the advice that a person needs to hear not just what they want to hear. We are very lucky to have the moderators that we do. I'm not that greatest, outside of this section, their are others that are much smarter than me and I for one greatly appreciate that.