OH...MY...GOD.

Every once in a while you get just what you wanted--and then some. Such is the case with my new Skunk2 Pro-Cs, installed on Thursday.

I hardly know where to begin. Let me just say that the ride is unbelievable. 1000% improvement over stock (I am lacking the vocabulary to adequately express my satisfaction here). I had the joy of getting to drive home 2 hours from Austin back to Houston, and was able to really get a feel for the new set-up. We set them to 6 (out of 12 total adjustment levels/clicks), which has proven to be nothing short of PERFECT! This is an EXTREMELY daily driver friendly setting that is still nice and stiff/providing eceptional performance--but not in ANY way harsh.

One of my biggest fears was losing DD-ability-- especially since my wife and 2 small kids ride in this car every day. I told my wife if she had any issues, we had not only multiple levels of softening still available (again, we were at 6--right smack-dab in the middle), but also the amazing offer from Skunk2 to return them if we were not 100% happy.
My wife calling me (elated) after getting to work Friday morning, and I quote:
"IT FEELS LIKE YOU'RE JUST RIPPNG UP THE ROAD!! I CAN"T BELIEVE THE GRIP!"
Ok, that was cool. I knew then I had married the right woman.

ZERO harshness issues on level 6. Anyone worried about harsh ride/coilovers being too harsh for DD-- FORGET ABOUT IT with the Pro-C!!

We installed a Progress rear sway as well, as should be noted, and the combination has proven MOST enjoyable. Cornering: literally like being on rails. WAY too much fun. It's a whole new car.

So over the weekend I will play around with the valve adjustments settings-(I am anxious to feel 10-12/uber-firm now that I getting used to driving a stiffer car). I will of course provide a full report.

Oh and regarding drop, I kept pretty minimal-- about 1" in the front and just a tad less in the rear (not quite an inch). After a little settling (should that occur) I think it will be perfect. I have 205/45/16 w/ HFP wheels and of course no rubbing and am yet to scrape a driveway or anything.

Honestly--mt expectations were exceeded and all fears eliminated. And I 100% promise -- I am not trying to justify a large purchase an "convince" myself-- I am super extra stoked on the ride and daily driveability is absolutely spot-on and a total non-issue.


Thanks so muck Skunk2 for providing an awesome product and an amazing deal to convince me to take the plunge and get the Pro-Cs when I otherwise would have likely hedged and wavered back and forth for the next six months wondering if I should or shouldn't. That try before you buy gig is really an outstanding offer.

And thanks much to Soul Speed (suspension specialists-- Colin and Jasper, absolutely the coolest guys who really know their s**t) in Austin for being so great, allowing me to hang out all day and get great pics of the whole process.

A few pics (we installed T1R VIP exhaust --lovin' it-- and a T1R Carbon intake while we were at it. talk about goin' home stoked!!!)

STOCK suspension:


Ready for surgery:


The goods:


Front installed:


Rear installed, with T1R VIP exhaust too:


Rear with Progress sway bar :


Done.

 

Congats my man, you've officially made me jealous
Wow, it looks so nice, and the stance is beautiful! I wasn't suprised by your reaction at all, i was looking forward to hearing such good reviews about the pro-c's! Best of luck, and keep up the EXCELLENT WORK!

 

There's a button that says "Insert Image". A popup will um, pop up... and you enter the url and blam theres your pic.

 

Thanks VERY much! Again, can't say enough about the overall superb ride on these babies.

 

Jeff,
Very nice review! You may have sold me. After watching the pros do your installation, do you still think that you would have gotten yourself into trouble if you had done the job yourself? Do you think that you could not have done the job yourself?

I ask the questions for the benefit of other untrained Fit owners.

 

congrats on the new suspension!

 

Thank you guys!

Manxman-- I can not express to you how much I am glad I had these guys do the install. I would not have felt the same way taking it just some "suspension and alignmnet" shop, or some auto repair dude. These guys at Soul Speed were like peers-- on a personal level we had a lot in common (music, life experience, etc.), and they were real specialists. While I was there I saw nothing but track cars and highly tuned rides. Right when I walked in I knew I was in the right place.

I would not have attempted this myself after all (unless I had the tools and some prior experience). With the saving on the coilovers ($1050 promotional price for what is every bit worth the retail of $1300-$1500), I justified the additional spending on the pro-install. These guys installed the coilovers, my sway bar, T1R exhaust and intake and did the alignment for $500. I paid them with pleasure and left the shop completely done and ready to rock-- knowing it was done 100% right, which it was. I have not had single noise, rattle, or any funny business at all. Not to mention no axles popping out or any of that nonsense. Just pure stoke so far.

My wife and kids ride in this car every day-- I didn't want to fool around with "learning something about my car" and compromise safety or anything even close to that. These guys had the tools, the know-how, and were able to tighten everything correctly to appropriate torques-- all that. If it were just my car or I was single guy still, I would probably give it a go with my mechanic buddy, but not with where I am at now.

You should be sold. I will stop just short of guaranteeing you will not be disappointed in these. And with the "send it back if you don't like it" offer, my gosh, what more can you ask for.

Skunk2 Tony-- please go head and run my card for the charges-- you will NOT be getting these back!!

 

you got a nice setup. I got tanabe gf210 on my fit and i was looking at that t1r vip muffler too. how is the sound on it doesnt seem like a loud muffler and it looks nice too. maybe you can get a sound clip that would be awsome

 

I just put a little thread up in the exhaust forum on this. There's an additional pic too. The sound to me is very "high quality", more like a V-6 sound maybe? I need to get a clip. I am very impressed and happy with it though.

 

Congrats on the set up! Ummm...it sounds like you dig it

Do please keep us posted with your thoughts and experiences after
changing the settings around a bit. I am sure we would all be interested to hear your findings.

Good to know the drivability (daily) didnt go out the window!

I am not always a huge fan of a big drop, especially on a DD so that 1" drop looks really good. Those HFP's dont hurt either which look really,really good with a little drop.

 

Congrats. You got a sweet set-up. Maybe thinking of changing mine. You gotta let me ride with you next meet. Great exhaust look too. I like it

 

nice! so what spring rates are those?

 

Thanks guys!
Blue Cell-- for sure. You'll love the ride because there's nothing to not love about it! Let's get that meet going asap! Where the hell is Mugen Mojo??

kenchan- the spring rates are 8k and 6k.

UPDATE: I just took the whole dang family to the store (about 10 miles over varying road conditions). Flawless! No one even "noticed" any difference. Sure, I feel some extra bounce over some of the bigger bumps-- you know that quick rebound feeling from tighter suspension-- but it was in no way an issue for anyone. I am 100X more sensitive because I am "looking" for it and gauging their reactions (or lack thereof in this case!) Good to go!

After dinner I am taking a spirited drive by myself with the valving cranked up to 9 or 10; will report back!

 

Well ok then! Took a long drive with the valve adjustment setting up just 2 clicks (at 8 of 12, up from 6), and it was VERY noticible. Tony at Skunk2 told me repeatedly that I'd notice a clear difference between the clicks, and he was right. "8" is a good deal stiffer-- and I think I like it. The car was flat as a board in the corners, and felt just rock solid on the straights. But hit any kind of bump like on an average suburban street and it's pretty jarring! I mean, nothing intolerable, and with just me in the car, it didn't "bother" me, but I wouldn't want to drive around like that all the time, and it would be too much with the family in the car.

So it seems that 1-6 is DD/street range and 7-12 is going to be serious performance, spirit driving (I know... duh). I set it back at 6 with about 5 miles to home and sure enough-- the ride was noticibly softer and much more street appropriate. It took a minute to get used to it again though, and I was kind of wanting that solid, stiffer feel back. It's really just the crappy-road factor that makes the stiffer setting less desirable.

It was QUITE fun jamming around on the stiffer setting, and it's cool to know it's there. I am guessing that above 8 will be the more track specific settings or at least you will want to be on a pretty smooth stretch of road. I can't imagine the stiffest setting on anything less. Guess I should try it out for fun anyway.

I'm less curious about setting below 6 as it seems really perfect form my area/primary road conditions, but I will check them out of course anyway.

Sorry for the ramble.

 

thanks for the info!

 

F.Y.I. : Just took the whole family to the grocery store and bought our usual weeks worth of groceries (basically whole cart full = pretty heavy), drove home with no sag, smooth ride and everybody happy. That was on setting "6" of 12. Loving the DD factor fully.

Also no bumps, thumps, clanking, janking, or feeling like the suspension needs to "settle in" whatsoever. No rubbing or bottoming out-- nada.

 

im trying to get a set of these

 

Nice reporting! You and I seem to have almost the same car, SSM, T1R intake, Progress swaybar, HFPs etc.
I received my skunk2s on Friday and want to wait until the salt on the road disappears here in late March.
I had talked to Tony as well about the settings and I am glad to know that the DD usage is good. Made my day.

 

thanks for the update

 

FitSport075spd: DD usage is indeed good! Get yours on asap-- you'll be so loving them!

I sure hope I am not being a kook or acting like an excited litlle school-girl about this suspension-- but I am just having so much fun in the car now with these, I cannot contain myself. The only downside to installing them has been my increased fuel cost because I want to (and do!) sneak out and just drive all the time!