Eibach Sportlines + Progress rear sway bar = OMFG brand new car
 

So I spent this past weekend installing my new Eibach Sportlines and Progress rear sway bar. I had just about every issue during installation that you could imagine: both axles popped out, i dropped and lost the nut to the top of the front shock deep down in a body crevice from hell, i broke and lost the telescoping magnet that was supposed to help find the nut, and I managed to break a few clips. But, all is well now and after my first test drive I can say it was all completely worth it.

The ride is truly amazing. It's stiffer, but not harsh. It corners on rails. I can accellerate more smoothly with less jerkiness. I can stop shorter without bucking and diving to a stop. Basically these two mods completely transformed my little base fit on steelies into something that is 10 times more fun to drive than it was before. (and even then, it was 10 times more fun to drive than anything else i've driven in a while). About the only downside is that the stock skinny tires are now the weakest link. Let the mods continue...

awesome i felt the same way when i installed my sportlines
now time for some wheels then post some pics

I have the exact same setup, Sportlines with Progress RSB. Great improvement but I think my struts are going now with about 10k on this setup. I wish someone would make a decent aftermarket strut upgrade that won't break the bank.

How do you know your struts are going? I have about 10k on mine and my struts feel fine.
I really don't see how a ~15% stiffer spring would wear out a strut so quickly?

Short travel stiff springs wear out dampers that are made for long travel springs. That is just the way it is..... Swift Mach springs are the only springs that have enough travel and spring rate to not trash stock type dampers..... I busted the strut towers on a VW Rabbit using Eibachs 25 years ago after replacing the strut cartridges numerous times.... Find a good shop to do alignment work because you will be needing to have the front end aligned every time you replace the struts and you will.

Yeah my Swift's feel great--but if Tokico or Koni come out with something aftermarket oriented and GE specific, I'll be picking up some of those eventually. I think they'd ride great.

Well currently it's nothing more than a hunch, have not bothered tearing it down. The ride has gotten a lot harsher, seems to bottom out and bounce quite a bit more than when they first went on.

yeah i had experiance with 4 different pairs of eibachs on all different cars.. and i never had any strut/shock that would last with them..even if you buy EIBACH struts and shocks. they ride so freaken hard it feels like you might as well have stock struts and shocks in.... i am never trusting eibach's again.

So save my money for coilovers, right?

Coil overs that have height and spring tension adjustment will have problems too if you over adjust the tension so tight that the springs coils bind and restrict compression travel.... You will be better off if the springs are of super hardened steel with a minimum amount of coil windings and even then not overly tightened to where you are restricting the travel and increasing the tension to the point that the dampeners are overly stressed and cannot control the rebound if aren't so tight that they cannot compress in the first place.....In a lot of situations where the use of coil overs is to attain a slammed appearance and the tension is increased to extremes to lower the car in addition to using up the ride height adjustment.... Spring tension adjustment is meant to be used as a means to pre load the shock which in some racing circles is referred to as weighting or adding weight and the ride height adjustment is used to compensate for the adding of weight by not raising the car at the axle that the weight is added to. Misusing them to just lower the car for cosmetic purposes is not the intended purpose for which they are made but unless you have a way to raise the upper mounts and or the lower mounts coil overs are the best you can do.

my last set of Eibach's was actually Coilovers and not springs,on my latest car i sold... so.. i would have to say ALL my eibach products have been disappointing.

and i think this is why i had such a bad eibach experiance.. i wish i couldfind a set of springs or coilovers that was designed for smoothness. I hate being on high alert when driving on the highway because of how the car reacts on bad roads.

Thanks for all this info. I'll stick with stock and save myself the headache, not to mention money.

blaaa. i'm sticking to my sportlines and lovin' them.

Running eibach sports last year - Great Ride! But stock shocks/struts have 75K on them will replace soon . Any suggestions?

+1 same setup and i love it! Ditch the back seats for more gains ;) Adding front and rear camber this weekend!

Go with the less aggressive Eibach Pro-Kit springs and you will not have a problem. The ride is much more performance oriented but without the harshness you mention.


Flea

Coilovers are the best option for GE's for matched ride and longevity of use. Save for coilovers and adjust them correctly.

you guys have too much money,
I bought my fit sport to save money and I love the ride as is, don't want my car to become a money pit.
It's not a sports car, but it looks cool and handles great.
I've had 0 problems and the acceleration isn't outstanding, but once it gets going, you have no problems with the paddle shifters and passing on the highway.
Definitely a great car with a lot of zip and agility

:popc:

^^^Canuck901...you sir, are lucky enough to not be infected with the "modifying bug." Consider yourself blessed not to have the nagging, obsessive urge to make your car (any car for that matter) lower, faster, more agile, cooler, stiffer, wider, sound better, etc. Unfortunately for those infected, the amount of money one has, often has little to with the need to modify.:D

I am a recovering "mod-aholic", but I do have my relapses. :rolleyes:

drumsauce, yeah, i've seen people go crazy and make all these claims on performance gains about changing plugs for 3 hp and then wonder why their vehicle doesn't run good ;)
BS like that. I did that stuff when i was a kid. i guess we all go through a phase ;)
People need to understand, once you start modding, the rest of car isn't built to handle the mods. hence you wearout other parts sooner.
Look at it this way, you have a $17000 fit, you spend $3000-5000 on mods, that you will never get back.
You may as well just save that original $5000 towards a newer model in a few yrs.
Thats my personal opinion, I'm thrifty though ;)