Was trying to organize my thoughts on dampers and springs as my OE Honda Sachs suspension starts to feel old, and I thought I’d do so publicly. I only scrolled the sub-forum for a bit, so if this thread already exists let me know.

I’m going to be focusing on dampers and springs instead of coil-over options (do coil-overs even go into the rear of our cars?)

So the stock suspension is Sachs, and I’d post a picture of that if someone was like “post a picture.” It wasn’t really a google-able question so I thought I’d mention it. They make suspension for BMW and stuff, but not sure how great they feel out of the box as my car was used. Sure they’re lovely. Monroe and KYB make both fronts and rears, and I’m sure people argue about them because they’re parts store specials. They likely acceptable.

I’m mostly interested in the Bilstein B4 and Tein EnduraPro dampers. Bilstein like Sachs is an OE for BMW and they do the suspension for lots of nice vehicles that I could nerd out about. Their dampers are generally cited to be very smooth, but the B4 is the bottom shelf model and the only other option is the B14 $$$. I know some GD/GE guys have used these B4s with lowering springs and say the dampers are superior to stock, wouldn’t be surprised. The EnduraPro by Tein are interesting because you can spend a certain % percent more and get adjustable dampers. Another interesting component is that they are stated by Tein to be suitable for lowering springs. Their lowering springs usually drop the car an inch to two inches so it’s my assumption that that’s the range that they are suited for.

The reason I bring this up is that it’s somewhat common knowledge that lowering springs will blow dampers, like stock ones, that are not meant to be lowered. Feel free to elaborate on this point. The most popular lowering spring for our vehicle is the Swift spring which claims to have properties that make it suitable for normal non-lowering dampers. This makes sense as it is merely an inch drop, so I am not surprised that they say this on their website and I am inclined to believe it.

I would love to hear more conjecture or even more hear from some GKs running non-stock suspensions. It was my hope to just compile some information that I’ve dug up that others may find useful.

 

It’s pretty frustrating that the answer for GK in the rear is GE and pray. You can get the OE Sachs from Honda or parts stores at least. So is Showa the answer for rear dampers? The HFP and Spoon kits are the only rear lowering dampers. I wonder if B14 is using the dampers from the GE kit?

 

On the GE rear strut bit, the GK strut seems to be longer. So, that is the compromise according to a post talking about the Koni 8050 3011.

 

If using lowering springs, then it's a good idea to pair them with performance shocks so there's less of a chance for them to blow.

You'll feel immediate results in the rear sway bar add on. I had a Tanabe front strut bar and Progress rear sway bar. Both can install in a short amount of time.

 

I use foreign google for my studies sometimes, shoutouts to modern websites being translatable, and even on JDM models which are different suspension the only front and rear damper sets meant for performance seem to be Showa (Spoon/HFP). In Japan they have upper level KYB dampers called lowfer available, but to reiterate they will not fit our car. I'm going to be reaching out to Tein USA which will likely turn up nothing, but maybe there is a rear damper coming. Then I am going to explore GE rear dampers more. How much shorter are they on account of the lower strut towers?

 

Got in touch with Tein and the EnduraPro Plus kit apparently includes rear dampers, and it is real. If you look up the part number nothing comes up, but apparently some of their distributors stock it. Guy on the phone said Options Auto Salon stocks most of their stuff, so I'll try that later. Is there actually interest in OE shape damper for GK, because as I've observed most people are just using rear dampers for the GE.