What options are out there for our GE8 Fits? I searched but can't seem to find anything. Any help is appreciated

 

there isn't a full set available for our GE's yet. only yellows for rear (at least the adjustables).

you can check tirerack to see wat's available as oem replacements, i suppose.

i too am looking for an adjustable set to work with my swifts...

 

yeah, I have the Swift springs as well too, and honestly I do not have any issues at all, but I was looking to go lower with some Tanabe df210 spring instead and figured those would wear out the stock shocks a lot quicker than the Swift springs. I thought it would be a great opportunity to just swap everything out at once. Well, if all else fails, I will probably go with the Form and Function 2 coilovers, they are on sale for $850.

by the way, which adjustables are available for the rear? Koni?

 

Yes Koni Yellow available for the rear. There's some threads on here with more info if you do a search.

Stock shocks hold up OK less than 2" drop, those Tanabes are designed with stock shocks in mind and the spring rate is low. I'm dropped (Tein) on stocks and at 70k miles they're not blown. They're getting worn for sure but they still function.

Koni just finished some test fitting of prototypes for the STR.T and they are supposedly going to be released some time in the near future for the front and back. I heard mumblings about them making yellows for the front as well soon.

Your other option is KYB Excel G, which are OEM replacements. I think they'd work fine with a little bit of a drop as long as you don't ask too much of them (daily driving would be ok). I've had the KYB GR-2 (same as Excel G) on a two inch drop in the past on another car and they held up ok, or at least they didn't blow, even after track time. Some people hate them, maybe I was just lucky.

 

why has it taken so long for the aftermarket to come up with these parts for our cars, was demand really that low?

I want to go with the Tanabe DF210 springs, but I do not want to have to change my shocks/struts 1 year later. I would prefer to do everything all at once now. I saw the KYB's, but since they are OEM replacement, would that really even benefit me any? The drop on DF210's is 1.3 front and 1.8 rear I believe. Do you think I would be alright with just swapping out the rears for the Koni's and leaving the front stock since the drop up front is not that extreme? I have Swifts right now, and that drop was 1.2 front 1.0 rear I believe, and I have had no problem with shocks/struts so far, but this is a conservative drop.

Also, where can I find the Koni's?

Thank you in advance

 

Get in contact with these guys:

Struts/Shocks

They are AKA RedShiftMotorsports on here, it's their new website.

It actually shows Koni Sport and Koni Race as available I don't know the whole story on that. They are costly though. I'm sure they can source just the Koni Sports for your rear, though i'm not sure how well it would balance with stock struts up front... may be fine.

I am slightly confused on availability after reading through that, they are on these forums so if they see this maybe they can comment. I see some of the front shocks are only available as coilovers but then it says otherwise, maybe i'm reading it wrong or they can make the fronts as non-coilovers but it's a custom job, therefore the high price...

 

thanks for the link. Yeah, those prices are pretty nuts, for that amount, I honestly would just go with the Ksport coilovers that are on sale right now. I was hoping just doing springs and shocks/struts would be cheaper, but really I think coilovers might just be the way to go.

 

The only time i'd use KSports would be if there was no better option for my platform. I've yet to ride in a car on KSports that didn't feel like the suspension was removed completely From what i've seen the standard spring rates they ship the coilovers with is pretty high, like 7kF 5kR, which isn't all that "high" at all, but may not be too comfy if your roads aren't very good, i'm not sure if their dampers are actually up to the task of doing their job properly. If you do decide to go with the KSports I believe they offer lower spring rates but you have to request it. Besides that, they advertise "36-way damping adjustment" but by all accounts i've seen or read about it's basically two-way: hard or soft.

If you are just looking to lower the car more than it is currently but don't want to slam it and want a fairly streetable and comfortable setup you can go with:

1. Bilstein PSS
2. Tein Basic
3. T1R Basic

All are ride height adjustable but don't have damping adjustment. As long as you don't try to slam it on the ground you'll be good.

 

Thats exactly what I want, a moderate to extreme drop(for me extreme is 2"), but I want it to be somewhat comfortable. I know you always sacrifice comfort with ride height, but since this is my daily driver, I need it to be reasonably comfortable.

I will definitely look into the Teins or T1R. I like Bilstein, but its a little more than I want to spend. I was going in between Ksport or Function/Form, but I heard the latter is even more harsh of a ride than Ksport is.

I am still really tempted to just get the DF210 springs and run them until my shocks are shot, and hopefully by then someone will have a full setup of shock/struts for our cars.

 

This is what i'm doing right now with Tein STechs. I'm just waiting for the Koni STR.T. I don't need adjustable shocks at this point and I think they'd be perfect for me. I wouldn't worry too much about blowing the stock shocks super fast, they are actually pretty tough. I've been offroad with them + lowered a few times as well as daily driving on them for 70k miles and they haven't blown completely yet Not cutting your bumpstops helps, I think a lot of people that blow stock shocks fast cut them and end up bottoming the piston rod.

 

A few final questions and I will leave you alone

What size wheels/tires are you running with your Teins?I ask because I am torn between the Teins or the DF210's. I like the DF's cause the front drop is not extreme(1.3") and the rear is a little lower at 1.8". I like the drop in the rear of the Teins(1.6), but the 1.6 drop in the front of the Teins kind of scares me. I am running 205/40/17's with a 17x7 +45 in the front, do you think that will cause rubbing with a 1.6" drop on the Teins? I like my front drop right now with Swift which is 1.2 I believe, but I need to drop it more in the rear. That is where I like the DF's with a 1.8" drop. Totally torn right now with which springs I should go with.

How do you like your Teins?

I'll shut the hell up now

 

Rubbing will depend more on offset as long as your wheel + tire O.D is the same or close to the same as stock.

I like the STechs, the stock shocks don't have enough rebound damping for them though so there's some situations where they can be annoying, like multiple bumps. I would say it's because my shocks are worn but it was always like that, so... In most situations they're comfortable enough. If my wife and two kids can fall asleep for hours on end on roadtrips I suppose they're comfortable enough

I don't talk about performance here because progressive lowering springs of any kind are just for looks IMO. If you want performance stay with your Swifts. I got my STechs as a gift and put them on because I thought the base looked ridiculously goofy at stock height.

 

Well, I actually ended up going with Eibach pro kit. Offers the same drop that I have with Swift up front(1.2) so i know I won't rub and a 1.4 rear which is about .5 lower than my setup now. I pretty much just wanted to lower my rear more, so now hopefully I will get look that I want

 

for future reference to readers of this thread, 07-08 Fit suspension matches up 99%

that 1% is the bracket for the brake line. Easy fix anyways

search for mugen gd3 suspension on ge8. Results show fitment

EDIT also, since the GD3 chassis was so much softer then GE8, EVERYTHING for GD3 is stiffer then their variants for GE8.

Aftermarket springs, you want 180lbs/in as a minimum for spring rate if you want better handling. I believe stock is barely above 100 for front on GE8 and just under 100 for rear GE8 (again, GUESSING, by way it drives)

 

Yes you can put GD3 suspension on a GE8 but you need both shocks and springs, which is why the Mugen suspension works, because it's the whole package. Don't go trying to buy GD3 springs and put them on GE8 OEM struts because it won't work. In addition, if the springs and shocks are not height adjustable, GD3 suspension might sit a little funny. Coilovers are fine. Just to clarify.

Stock GD suspension on GE


Mugen GD suspension on GE

 

I have aftermarket gd3 springs on my car. Stock gd3 also looks just fine on ge8s.

Dunno where you get your info.

I searched gd3 springs on eBay when I was looking for them. gd3 chassis is softer and all gd3 offerings are noticeably dtiffer

 

Are the springs captive? By all accounts i've read the GD springs are shorter.

Are you running them with stock GE8 shocks?

 

Yes?? Good question! Are Stock shocks with gd springs being used? More info please. And that white ge8 pictured, is that really on stock gd suspension? Any more pics? Who owns it? Link to thread or more info??

 

From this thread:

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/1st-...-thread-7.html

What i've seen is that: yes you can put GD springs on the GE perches, but it's definitely a less than optimal setup between the spring length and rate. I haven't found many pictures or threads detailing this so I am curious.

I wouldn't mind GD Tokico HTS on my GE with some harder GD springs

 

FYI anything is doable... I've had people contact me for race setups and so I know how to do it all. It would involved a Koni coilover front strut with a stock perch located on the housing by welding it to the coilover perch. It's doable... but obviously not easily. And race versions of the front and rear shocks are doable as well. You could have something really insane.

K-Sport isn't in the same league as Koni btw.... yes they have coilovers and they look nice, but the most important part (damping) is not good. They are generic and just ok.

Chris