Greetings fellow modifiers,

I have a stock as a rock '02 GD [AusDM] Jazz with 277K+ on the suspension. It is tired, worn and weary after years of abuse and so I've delved into a bit of light research on the forums for some ideas on replacing the suspension. Having trawled through the suspension thread I have heard mention of coilovers and swift lowering springs, king springs and tein dampers.

It seems like a never ending list of options however I have decided that Eibach springs will be my flavour as coilovers to drop the kids to and from school daily is a bit of overkill and it doesn't really fit into the budget as the car would now retail for less than the coilovers cost here in Oz. There are many threads on springs and coilovers but not so much information as to what type of struts/shocks would be suitable for changing the springs to Eibach.

I saw mention of a "bounce" issue when coupling the Eibach sport springs with KYB shocks and wanting to know as much as possible about whether this setup would be the most ideal for daily driving. My route is plagued with corners for the first 15 kilometers and then 90 km/h straights for the second half- all the roads are in some state of disarray or under construction and so loose gravel, potholes, hairpin turns and downhill runs are commonplace for the mighty GD.

Can anyone recommend sensible replacement shock absorber to couple with the Eibach springs that won't break the bank? Or am I stuck gambling with the KYB shocks?
At the moment the Jazz leans more than a beatnik at 4:20 pm whilst going around corners, I'd just like it to stay flat and not break backs while doing it. As much as I'd love coilovers, here in Queensland they just invite the law to your door.

Is there someone who sports Eibach springs with KYB or other OEM replacement shocks? If you have the Eibachs, could you post some feedback on them? I know they lower the car however I am looking for some info on the handling characteristics and how it changed from OE/stock suspension. Thanks for reading

 

Hi there!

From what I've seen in the past, its a little bit of a crap shoot when it comes to suspension on the GD in the last few years. Typically you're limited to lowering springs/shocks (be they stock, aftermarket-stock equivalent, or adjustable dampening) or flat out getting coilovers. In addition to that, I'm not 100% sure if some of the springs and shocks mentioned are fully compatible with your spec GD so be sure to try to confirm this as well.

In addition to KYB, Tokico made dampers for the 1st gen Fit (HTS/Reds, I currently have them... feature adjustable dampening... not cheap >.>) and their Blue shock (fixed dampen rate, advertised as a near-stock/performance shock) along with Monroe I believe making at least rear shocks that are compatible. Some people on the forum are also running Koni shocks as well! Though i believe they are NOT a direct plug and play and may need some modification to run them.

Also... somewhere on the forum here is a chart listing various springs that were commonly used on the GD3 with OEM struts/shocks. This chat listed drop and spring rates... Also hinted that one H & R kit was VERY similar to a certain Eibach kit.

I have no first hand experience with Eibach springs on a GD at all... Only Progress springs and those were WAY too soft in my honest opinion. Effectively softer than stock.

One alternative you may have is getting a coilover sleeve conversion like Ground Control sells. Simply the adjustment sleeves onto your front struts and bolt down the rear sleeve in the spring perch, add your rear spring (a 2.5 inch Eibach spring is provided, 65mm Swift springs are compatible), reassemble and adjust height to your liking. The best thing with this option is that you can better tailor your spring rate to your liking by simply swapping springs.

Though I couldn't directly answer your question about Eibach springs and KYB shocks, I do at least hope that some of this information helps!

 

Spoon and Mugen make fixed height damper & spring setups. I'd look to source one of those.

 

H&R was formed by renegade engineers from Eibach.. They get their springs wound in the same factory....

I've had good luck with KYB aftermarket shocks on several cars, not the fit so far..
I even ran them on a 911.. Its what happens when you buy a 911 thats OLD had to have something while I waited 6 months to get correct Koni's..

H&R can supply springs to your height and force spec.. They sell set diameters..

 

I've put 150,000km on my KYBs and Eibach Sportlines with no issues on my Civic

 

My '07 Sport is due for shocks and I saw Ksport CHD160-KP Kontrol Damper System on Amazon for around the same price or cheaper than Tokico's. Does anyone have thoughts or experience on these?