Please help. I hava a dilemma. Stock or Raceland.

[larryo108]

Hey all. I have a dilemma. I have a 2003 EP3 that I daily drive to and from work. I am currently riding on D-Specs/Skunk2 springs and 15" GSR Fat 5 wheels. I traded for the wheels some time ago and the ride got infinitely better. However, the ride still sucks. I can not take it anymore. I was planning to just go back to stock. But I can't deny how good the car looks lowered.

I have said, I would love to go coilover, if I could afford it. Then I found the raceland coilovers and the threads about them. I understand that most are happy with them. That they are "softer" coilovers with spring rates not much more than stock. But I am not racing the car. I am just driving from home and back.

Here are my thoughts, and I would like to get some input from those smarter than me. I am kind of leaning towards stock because I can slap them in, get a stock alignment, get a better ride and then not have to worry about it ever. My only concern is that I have to buy used because the cost of a new stock suspension is not much less than a good set of coilovers.

My other thought is to go raceland. The coilovers are inexpensive and have a soft ride. They seem to have a good reputation on here and on Honda-Tech.My fear is that I install them and then I have to redo them because they blow or whatever. I also fear that even with a new suspension and all the alignment goodies, that I will still bottom out. I do not want that anymore.

Any ideas? They would be much appreciated. I would really like to stay lowered, but don't want to keep bottoming out and don't want to have to deal with this anymore. Thanks in advance.

[ep3jd]

Hfp, mugen, or rsx a spec would probably wet your pants for you.

[RHCP0801]

raceland and soft ride should never be in the same sentence, dont get raceland if you think the ride now is rough

[Andrew]

Hfp, mugen, or rsx a spec would probably wet your pants for you.

I would go this route or possibly either BC racing coilovers or Megan racing coilovers for a softer ride, but still lowered. my car is lowered on megans. it's a bit sitffer on bumps and pot holes but still smooth. it's not wavey like my old springs/stock set up

[larryo108]

Thanks all. I would love to do Mugen or HFP, but they are either unavailable or twice the cost for used. I am a married man with two kids. Spending money on my car is not my first priority.

Soft was maybe the wrong description. I am looking for something that will not be as harsh as my current ride, will not bottom out, but will provide a lowered look. Thanks for the input thus far. I look forward to more. Thanks.

[NickL]

raceland and soft ride should never be in the same sentence, dont get raceland if you think the ride now is rough

Racelands dont ride rough IMO. Compared to my friends cars with PIC's, K-Sport and Tein setups, my car rides like a dream. You can really only feel them over harsh bumps/roads. I love my racelands. No complaints at all. Been on them for 7k and they still ride good.

[27rocks]

Racelands dont ride rough IMO. Compared to my friends cars with PIC's, K-Sport and Tein setups, my car rides like a dream. You can really only feel them over harsh bumps/roads. I love my racelands. No complaints at all. Been on them for 7k and they still ride good.

That is because they are actually softer then stock. IMO that is bad. The car was designed with a certain spring rate for the weight of the car. Once you go below the spring rate you are actually decreasing the cars perfomance and suspension reliability.

I would buy the OEM suspension if you are simply just DD'ing the car. If you decide to go that route at least get a 04-05 set up since they come slightly lower then the 02-03 suspensions.

[Paul_Wall]

Try to find an HFP (Honda Factory Performance) suspension if you can. I think they are pretty hard to come by now a days though. They lower the car roughly an inch and ride to factory spring spec.

I have racelands and they are absolute shit. I would not recommend them, they have been a giant headache. I am waiting for a set of Buddy Clubs N+ Spec with Uppermounts to come in this week.

My .02

[gamma6]

my racelands have yet to bottom out for the two months i've had them... not even when i was hella low

[introvert]

Have you tried adjusting your d-specs yet?

[civictype_r04]

Just go back to stock dude! Then save till you can get better coilovers!!!!

[ep3jd]

used rsx a spec is easy to come by

[ep3jd]

my racelands have yet to bottom out for the two months i've had them... not even when i was hella low

They don't bottom out because its like driving a go cart with no shocks whatsoever. They suck. I have them.

[larryo108]

Okay. Dumb question. What the hell is RSX A-Spec. I mean I can figure it is some sort of RSX suspension. Is A-Spec better that Type S or what? Also, are there any other things that would need to change for this to work. Aren't the tie-rod ends different? Anything else. I am really leaning towards just going stock. Or just selling the damn car. Thanks for all of the help.

[EPSU3]

A-Spec is the HFP kit for the RSX. They swap in with a few mods including RSX tie rod ends. The HFP kit is great. I've had mine for 2 years now and I'm glad I didn't dump the car like I initially wanted to. There were kits floating around on ebay for ridiculous prices a while back.