Help deciding between springs or coil overs?

[TypeSFever]

What’s going on everyone, new ITS owner here and I’m starting to mod the baby but I’m unsure about what to do regarding the suspension set-up, I’ve seen a few of you that have done some very nice set ups and I’m just wondering what’s best for our car? I’m looking for an inch drop and a nice flushed look. I’m looking to spend around 2k more or less. Any help would be greatly appreciated

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[Tw1stedlog1k]

Springs and a good wheel & tire combo will get you where you need to be. No need to go coilovers, that would defeat the purpose of the adaptive suspension, unless you're willing to spend more on adaptive coilovers.

 

[optronix]

$2k won't get you a set of decent coilovers anyway. Unless you have real track aspirations, springs will be adequate.

But there is a rabbit hole you can go down. Let me take you part way because no one really mentioned this to me when I was in the same position you were about a year ago.

Consider the camber; it changes when you drop the car. A basic explanation of this is the geometry of the rear affects camber more than it does in the front when the car is lowered. You can actually visually notice the difference, more so in person than in pictures.

Taking the appropriate steps to correct it is well within your budget. I say "correct" because I didn't like the understeer introduced after the drop, but I'm admittedly sensitive to these sorts of things because I autocross frequently and hop on a race track occasionally. Many people claim to not notice a difference, and that's believable if they never take the car near its limits.

There is no factory adjustment for camber, but you have two options; one of which is a "hack" and doesn't require buying any parts but I'll get more into that later-

- correct the rear to bring your post-drop alignment closer to factory spec. This requires a "camber kit", which are adjustable rear control arms.
- lean in with the front camber to add more in the front. You can do this to some degree by pulling the alignment pins at the top of the strut tower and moving the top of the strut further inward. Personally I decided to buy adjustable lower ball joints. I would recommend going that route if you wanted to improve the overall turn-in and grip of the car.

That's all I'll mention on this topic now but I've been on a crusade ever since lowering my car because I felt like I needed the aesthetics of a lowered car but did not like what it did to the near-perfect driving dynamics. Since having the ball joints installed the car feels "right" again. But honestly... I've also not heard too many other people complaining after installing their springs so ultimately up to you if you want to head down this path...

And I haven't even gotten into roll center adjustment. If you like cogitating over shit like this, here's some more about that.

 

[StingertimeNC]

I'm happy with Eibach pro kit and wheels with +45 offset. Even with tracking the car a few times a year I'm fine.

 

[TampaDE5]

Couple points to consider:

- don't go more than +45 offset on wheels as TQ steer gets intrusive
- if you want the car low, don't go halfway, you will always want it lower
- if you want a mild drop, eibach pro or H&R, don't over think it.
- if you want the car low with a good ride quality and more optimal suspension set up, get the coilovers (RSRi active coils keep different ride modes)

Everything is a trade off. Eib pro / H&RS with a +45 wheel would be a great daily.

 

[egxflash]

I'm happy with Eibach pro kit and wheels with +45 offset. Even with tracking the car a few times a year I'm fine.

Which wheels are you rocking? I'm debating going with spacers in the meantime because I can't commit to new wheels..

 

[TypeSFever]

Awesome, thank you for the detailed explanation and I am with you on the I want my car to drive as close to factory or better but not worse just based on looks. I will save up a bit more and do it correctly then to not mess up the ride of the car. Appreciate the help! Thank you.

Couple points to consider:

- don't go more than +45 offset on wheels as TQ steer gets intrusive
- if you want the car low, don't go halfway, you will always want it lower
- if you want a mild drop, eibach pro or H&R, don't over think it.
- if you want the car low with a good ride quality and more optimal suspension set up, get the coilovers (RSRi active coils keep different ride modes)

Everything is a trade off. Eib pro / H&RS with a +45 wheel would be a great daily.

Cool, I will start with that and go from there, appreciated it!

 

[optronix]

Which wheels are you rocking? I'm debating going with spacers in the meantime because I can't commit to new wheels..

He was my inspiration for the Apex VS-5RS I have now. His are anthracite, mine are bronze:

Similar angles, OEM vs wheels/springs/camber adjustment

 

[TypeSFever]

He was my inspiration for the Apex VS-5RS I have now. His are anthracite, mine are bronze:

Similar angles, OEM vs wheels/springs/camber adjustment

Those are very nice on our car! I was thinking HF5s but these are now on the list too!

 

[egxflash]

He was my inspiration for the Apex VS-5RS I have now. His are anthracite, mine are bronze:

Similar angles, OEM vs wheels/springs/camber adjustment

Ah thanks! I love the bronze and I love the 19s but I wanted something a little bit more...different...than the stocks and the VS' look OEM adjacent to me (which I recall was a plus for you).

It's hard seeing all these 18s and some of them do look deceptively good in some pics. But in some they look too small on the DE5, especially.

 

[StingertimeNC]

Which wheels are you rocking? I'm debating going with spacers in the meantime because I can't commit to new wheels..

Optronix answered it! I would trade cars with him too. Love the red and bronze look he has going. I kind of think split spoke wheels just look right on this car. Same exact setup.

 

[optronix]

Ah thanks! I love the bronze and I love the 19s but I wanted something a little bit more...different...than the stocks and the VS' look OEM adjacent to me (which I recall was a plus for you).

It's hard seeing all these 18s and some of them do look deceptively good in some pics. But in some they look too small on the DE5, especially.

Exactly! Right on both points. I was actually looking for Volk G025, but the Apex's are quite similar and far more available, and less expensive. I don't get too caught up in weight differences forged vs forged but I think they're about the same there too. But you're right, I agree with @StingertimeNC that the OEM split-spoke look is great for our cars and the VS-5RS and G025 are both great options to enhance that look. "OEM-adjacent" is a great way to articulate it.

I was also skeptical of 18s at first. But the good news, is now that the ITS has been available for a couple years, there are plenty of folks out there who have thrown a variety of different wheels on them. When I was looking a year ago that wasn't really the case...

I was also strongly considering the Advan GT. They're 5 spoke so quite different from OEM. Pretty expensive along with most other forged Japanese wheels but dear god are they gorgeous. @notorious9i6 has them on his car and that's def another car I'd trade with lol. I'm pretty sure they make them in 18s and that design maybe wouldn't look too different from 19s on this car.

https://www.integraforums.com/forum/threads/yokohama-advan-gt-beyond-275-35-19.52413/

I also love the CE28. I've seen them on a few cars and they look fantastic as well, even in 18s.

https://www.instagram.com/dreamworksperformance/p/Cybw0IbPNVD/?img_index=5

 

[StingertimeNC]

Agree on the CE28. They also look good in 18's on the FL5. @pointbypatrol has them on his FL5 with 275/35 tires. Nice and meaty and they don't look too small.

 

[MERAKIAUTOWORKS]

The springs for this car are pretty good. Swift, Eibach, H&R.
However I would say coilovers are better like RSR.

I'm runnning RSR besti on mine and I do like them better than springs.

We have them all in stock!

-Josh

 

[J0bando]

Couple points to consider:

- don't go more than +45 offset on wheels as TQ steer gets intrusive
- if you want the car low, don't go halfway, you will always want it lower
- if you want a mild drop, eibach pro or H&R, don't over think it.
- if you want the car low with a good ride quality and more optimal suspension set up, get the coilovers (RSRi active coils keep different ride modes)

Everything is a trade off. Eib pro / H&RS with a +45 wheel would be a great daily.

Can you link me to the coilvers? the RS-R website says theres no coils for our car

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