Looking to lower. This is my commuter so I'm going for looks and comfort..that's it. The stock ride is already slightly harsh so I don't want to make it worse than it is. I see complete coilover kits on Amazon for $250; they can't be good ...right? Any recommendations on achieving a lower stance without making it harsher? Thx.

 

Lower and comfort don't go together.

If you lower, it'll be harsher.

 

this.

My car on Swift springs and Koni stock replacement dampers rode badly.

My car on HKS Hipermax S-Style X coilovers rides badly.

My friend’s car on Megan Racing coilovers rode badly.

Lowered Honda Fit is not going to ride as well as a stock Honda Fit. $250 coilovers will likely be pretty bouncy and not last you very long.

 

I’ve lowered Miata’s and Scions with pretty good results. I guess the Fit is a bit more sensitive to being lowered. I’ll keep it the suspension stock and put my upgrades elsewhere. Thanks!

 

I heard Fortune Auto coilovers ride pretty good! But you are looking at $2,500+ on those. I too want to lower my car but scared due to the ride quality

 

It honestly comes down to budget. Yea you can have a nice and mostly comfortable ride with coilovers, but you'll be spending $$$$$ as @cbuck77 mentioned. If you want to compare to Miatas, that's a much smaller car requiring smaller/lighter components overall. And it has a huge aftermarket base, so good parts aren't insanely expensive. Like the SuperMiata Tecnas for example. With touring springs, I hear those ride VERY comfortably while getting you lower than factory, and only costing around $1000.

Fits have significantly less aftermarket support so anything "nice" is going to cost more.

 

Miatas and other stuff also have truly independent suspension.

HKS Hipermax aren’t cheap junk, they ride extremely well on my S2000 and quite differently on my Fit.

There is also just that everyone else has different roads and expectations. I live in the rust belt, with incredibly beat up roads, so a lowered Fit here doesn’t always feel like a great fit. Even my wife’s stock, extremely bland car, beats me up on bad roads here from time to time.

 

Oh my, different roads is an absolute fact. Even in my lifted Xterra on big squishy comfy tires the roads in Denver just beat you up. It's so bad. I think I get more comfort when I'm off road :P

 

And be aware that I had bad experience with KONI sport shocks and Eibach springs on two lowered cars (Civic, Accord): with the winter salt on roads, the aftermarket parts did not last very long and rotted through.

Yes, they have a lifetime warranty, but you need to get the part off your car, send them the parts (you pay for shipping), then have to wait for replacement before being able to reinstall them and drive your car. Very crappy.

I will never replace OE suspension again on any car, unless car is not driven in winter, or if I know I will get rid of it in the next few years.

 

It IS possible to lower a car and it not ride worse. HOWEVER, it requires the right parts exist or a very knowledgeable person with suspension and a lot of custom fabrication work. The way it's typically done, you lose suspension travel, so to keep things from bottoming out, you must go up in spring rates, and to control those springs you must also change compression and rebound, on top of that, it's rare that people correct the suspension geometry when lowered, making things like bump steer worse. All the above added together makes it a multifaceted problem.

However,it can be done. Not likely to be done on a Honda Fit though unless you just have gobs of money to throw at a suspension shop. Most people compromise and accept the lower ride quality for the look, or if at least decent coil overs are used and several other things changed, the cons are outweighed by the benefits for a performance application, even to those that never actually race their car on a track. There's a right and expensive way to do it, and lots of wrong ways with varying degree's of cost and pro/con.

But, yeah, you're not going to keep the ride quality of the OEM suspension and lower the car in our case, unless you're Mr. Deep Pockets. Are you Mr. Deep Pockets?

If you are, you can lower your car and keep the factory suspension travel length, keep the correct suspension geometry and ride comfort. If you’re not, better become Mr. Deep Pockets or look for a car with much more aftermarket suspension support.

 

RS-R down springs on factory struts rides really good.
Just don’t get the super downs.

 

Yeah that looks like how it shoulda come from the factory, honestly. Are those springs designed for the factory struts?

 

I believe so it’s a good combination