Hypercoil springs and AGX's installed

William Conner Billc@fred.net
Sun, 20 Oct 2002 08:54:06 -0500


Jack Ray wrote:

> Got my new 300/200 pound springs from Hypercoil,and new KYB AGX's installed on
> my 94 SE-R.  Ride is definitely stiffer, but I like it.  Flatter cornering,
> etc., etc....

> The car is riding about 3/4 inch higher in front than in the rear.  The
> "ground to fender lip" distance is roughly 21 and 5/8 inches in front, and
> 20and7/8 inches in back.  Stock bumpstops, not cut.  I thought maybe GC
> coilovers, just for the front, to bring it down some.

Your ground to fender lip measurements sound awfully low.  I have noted
the following measurements in inches from various sources:

                                       Front                      Rear

FSM w/ 185/60x14s         25.47                     24.92

Chriscar's install with
Gen 2 Hypercoils and
AGX (from forum)            23.25 - 24              23.25

My 1993 Classic w/
AGX, stock Springs
and 195/55x14 RE71s
with no tread                  24.5                        24.25

Your car                         21.63                      20.88

In general, it appears that the front is expected to ride little higher
than the rear, but I don't see any ground to arch measurements that
approach yours.  Maybe we are just measuring different things.
Tire diameter affects ride height -- but this effect is small.
My 194/55x14s should be 0.15 inches smaller in radius than the stock 185/60x14s
and therefor the wheel arch measurement should be
0.15 inches smaller, other things being equal.

When I installed KYB AGX with stock springs, I found the ride pretty
rough initially, especially over small road imperfections like tar strips,
But the shocks seemed to become more compliant after a few hundred
miles.  Also, the settings of the struts have a huge effect on ride quality
and handling balance -- I found that the midrange settings actually rode
better with the stock springs than the lowest settings.  At least that was
my impression.

Can you provide some more impressions on the springs WRT ride,
bottoming out, and cornering balance?  My springs are on the way, and
this information would be very interesting to me.

Thanks,

Bill Conner
1993 Classic with bolt ons