Well I got these installed and decided to do a quick writeup.
First impressions were quility of the actual units. Very nicely machined and everything fit together really well. Install was cake, mostly cause Ive had so much practice removing and replacing my struts. Dont care much for the color of the Progress stuff (like a baby blue) but color shouldnt affect performance right?
Driving impressions. Heres the goods. I noticed a softer ride immediatly. Holes in the road and divits that I cant avoid on a daily have almost disappeared. I only feel the ones where my upper a-arm bottoms out on shock tower. I thought the ride was good, which it was with the first gen Weapon R coilovers on Tokico Illuminas, especially being lowered just over 4", but the ride in my car now is much better. After I messed around town for a while, I decided to rip up to our local ski resort. this is where I was throughly impressed. My car has never been more neutral. I got no push, AND no oversteer. I would be in the middle of a 20mph corner at 40 and try to jerk the steeringwheel back and forth (slightly) to see if I could iniciate some oversteer, but I could get nothing. I also installed the Progress rear swaybar too, so that could have something to do with the overall performance, but reguardless, Im very happy with the new dampners.
As soon as we have another autox where I can really push the limits of the car a little more safely (without the worry like on public roads), Ill give an update on wether or not I could get the car to oversteer. Im hoping that when we get to race that Ill have the car cornerweighted better than it currently is. Im about a 59/41 front to back as it sits.
Nice. I’ve been waiting for a review on the progress coilovers. I’ve been wanting to get them but i heard a lot of “they’re too soft”… “they’re not adjustable (the shocks that is)”. But if it works, it works. I especially want to hear it from you shenrie since you race your car a lot. How much were they btw? Can’t wait for a review after the autox.
Thanks for the review Shenrie. I was just curious, what is included with the Progress setup? They always show the upper mounts with yellow polyurethane bushings in the ads. Are these included?
Originally posted by agent87 I was just curious, what is included with the Progress setup? They always show the upper mounts with yellow polyurethane bushings in the ads. Are these included?
I’d like to know as well. Also, what kind of price range are we looking at and who is a reputable Progress dealer? This might be something for me to consider, the Koni/GC setup still doesn’t have much travel for my liking and of course the baby seat in the back is a factor.
Well, i know what’s not included from this testimonial…
Hey guys, I just finished installing two of your products on my 91 Acura Integra. I know its a popular model anymore, but I’ve always liked the car, and bought it because it allowed me to start with a clean slate, without feeling guilty about ripping out new components. Anyway, I purchased a camber correction kit and your new coilover shock kit…
With the coilovers, I decided to undrtake a job without knowing exactly how involved it would be. Let me jump to the end quickly to say that I am VERY impressed with the performance. They work GREAT. Just as a test, I put my stock wheels on and lowered it to the point where I could barely get a jack under it. I expected the typical lowrider bounce, but the car still drove great. I then put my 18’s back on and it was even better!
All your pictures of this product show a complete shock ready to be bolted in. I found that these are not simple bolt-in parts, and was surprised that I needed to locate a spring compressor. I would like to see you picture this product minus the spring hat, so it is clear that it is not a bolt in solution. Regardless, I congratulate you on a quality product.
jonsteR, I had never heard they were too soft before, but now that I get them I can see where that would come from. In fact I thought the same thing when I wasnt feeling bumps in the road that usually had me grimicing about the sound my suspension was gonna make. So I called them up seeing as how the springrates for some reason are not printed on the springs like my Weapon R’s were. I was told that I have 350F/250R. This suprised me seeing as how I just ripped up a very windy road and it was the best trip up it I had ever had. I guess Ill just have to see how it performs when I autox. Im skeptic about it now that I know the springrates, but none the less, I cant see it being worse than the previous setup.
I was also kinda worried about not being able to set the dampining. But if the car handles as good slow as it does fast, Ill be plenty satisified. HAhahaha, that testimonial could totally be me, cept I havent had the 18’s on yet. I was thinking the same thing when they setup didnt come assembled too, but I hardly needed spring compressors. Hehehe, mine fell out.
Armaan, Ill try to get some pix up asap. We took a couple of the setups out the car, but I dont have any on the car yet. Soon grashoppa, soon;)
agent87/Jason, they do come with everything you see in the pix but w/o the hat like stated in the testimonial. Had the yellow poly bushing, has a seat for inside the hat. They dont have adjustment screws of any kind, but they have a little spring/ball setup and a rodge cut down each side of the strut. When you tighten up or down the little ball clicks so you know how many turns youve gone. Also comes with a facy tool to tighten/loosen with. Of couse they come with a sticker too. that makes them worth every cent. Speaking of cents, how much were they? I paid 1300 for the coilovers and the rear sway. Now the deal on that was not a lot cheaper than anyone else can get them for, but then guy I bought them from is a good friend who owns a shop. Me buying them from him gave him enough cash to order enough stuff from them to become a dealer. So I kinda scored there. However, Leo (93B18) on the boards had the best deal I found on them anywhere. You can also order direct from them. Ive called them numorous times and always got a person that actually drove on thier products and answered all my questions no problemo. Pretty cool folks.
Another thing I noticed was the position of the perches after the car was at the height I wanted. They were in the same place on the threads in the front AND the back. Very unlike my previous setup having the rear maxed out at the top and the front being right in the middle. Ive heard most sleeve coilovers are like that though. Thats why I would have like to tried the Konis seeing as how they had an adjustable spring cup. Also, when I removed them from the box, I noticed that they wernt automaticaly rebounding. The piston stayed wherever you put it. The thing that I think I liked the most though was the fact that the entire strut was 30mm shorter than the other struts available. I really did want back a nice riding car.
How they perform at an autox will hafta wait till the 14th of April. I sure as hell dont wanna wait, but I has ta.
Hey Shea if your at the shop tomarrow ill have the dig. cam. with me. But if your not, ill bring it Sat. if we work on Bill Eh! LOL
I love that name… TEAM BILL EH! Every 1 @ the AutoX would think were crazy… O wait a min they alrdy think your crazy! And those Toyos are ouchie expensive $128 are the cheepest i have seen on the net…
hey shenrie, i was always interested in buying those coilovers. Some pictures i saw in a progress catalog had dual spring coilovers. It was those tiny helper springs i think? Are those optional? if u seen them.
Donald, dunno if Ill have the car at the shop. Gotta haul some crap down there with the truck. Well see on Sat.
DP, those ones are actually the drag applications. Mine didnt come with the helper springs and I believe they are only available in the drag application. I hear they are a bit unbearable for regular street driving too.
Well race day has come and gone. The morning runs were a tad saturated, but I got 3 funruns in the afternoon. I was told I had the forth fastest time of the day behind a shftercart (33 sec), a 86 Vette (35 sec), a turbo MR2 (37.5 sec), and me getting a 37.6 second run. The car felt great. I think I need to learn my car a bit better. I was trying to hard after the first funrun and my times were getting slower. Overall Im very impressed with the setup, street and autox. Ill post the one pic I have.
