I just bought and installed a set of Apex'i EXv coilovers on my 98 Civic and have a couple of questions someone might be able to answer.

First question concerns the dampening settings. The coilovers have 32 differnet settings and I am wondering what the best set up is for the front and back if I am just a regular street driver.

The second question I have concerns the sring preload. If I am just driving on the street, what should I have the preload set at? There are no markings on the coilovers themselves to determine what they are set at, so shoudl the spring be tight on the purch or snug so I can move it with my hand?

Thank you, any information helps

 

I highly doubt those coilovers really have 32 settings, that's just a selling gimmick. After some dyno testing, there are probably only a dozen settings on them...Just play around with the settings and drive around until you find the setting that feels the most comfortable.

The springs can sit loose on the perch, once the weight of the car sits on the springs they wont be going anywhere. Just adjust the perches to the height you want.

 

They actually do have 32 settings, i have counted them myself. As far as the spring preload, there is a seperate adjustment for the height and then a seperate adjustment for the spring preload, i have the height where I want it, but as far a the spring load, i'm just wondering for a regular street car should the spring be loose on the purch or tight before i put the weight of the car on it?

 

yeah there may be 32 adjustments, but there are far less REAL settings you would find if you did a shock dyno test on them...example: 5 twists of a **** would essentially change the setting once...

I'm guessing you mean these coilovers have a helper spring. If that's what your talking about, just make sure it's snug enough that the spring doesn't move around very easily at full decompression.

 

OK thanks for helping me understand. As for setting the dampening, do you think they should be set softer in the front for a regular everyday driver? As for the spring, they are set really tight right now when there is not weight on them, do you think that would be why the car is very stiff and bouncy?

 

The helper springs don't do anything for the ride, they are there to prevent the spring from lifting off of the perches under hard cornering.

The reason why the car feels stiff is probably because the spring rates are probably high. You put on an aftermarket suspension, it just won't ride like stock... You can help the ride quality by adjusting the shocks. Like I said, just play with the adjustments until the car rides like u want it. Best bet would be to start from the highest(stiffest) setting and dial it down untill it rides fairly smooth.