Eibach Prokit Springs on an FD2

I've always wondered what swapping my stock springs for Eibach Pro-kits would do to my ride in terms of handling and comfort.

In spite of reviews and numerous discussions both in online forums and with friends, there was no substitute for the real deal. So, when I chanced upon a former FD2 owner who was willing to part with his springs for a bargain, I snapped up the offer without hesitation.

Now, the first thing I noticed was that my car was now much lower than before. Previously, it seemed as though the rear was actually lower than the front. Now, with the Eibachs taking the place of the stock springs, I found that my car was leaning slightly forward, as the front was now just a little lower than the rear. Due to a minor mis-communication with the installer, my silicone cushion buffers were removed from my stock springs and installed onto the Eibachs.

So, my car now looks more aggressive than stock, how about the other aspects?

HANDLING (CORNERS): As tested out at Ulu Yam recently, compared to my earlier run on stock springs, body roll was significantly reduced, which was no surprise as the Eibachs were firmer than stock. I found that I did not "drift" as much as the first time, unless I took the corner at a much higher speed than before. This was with my existing 205/55/16 Yokohama DB501's which were fairly worn out by now. The silicone cushion buffers did induce a little over-steer during hard cornering, but nothing that would cause an out-of-control spin. I actually prefer over-steer to under-steer for going around corners faster!

HANDLING (BRAKING AND ACCELERATING): With firmer springs, there was reduced nosediving during braking and squatting at the rear during full throttle acceleration. So, braking was more stable, as before, the weight of the car was thrown forward during hard braking.

COMFORT: Surprisingly, Eibachs were not significantly less comfortable than my stock springs, even on typical Malaysian roads. Going over the yellow speed breakers was the same. As the Eibach springs were progressive, they were able to retain much of the comfort of a stock spring, yet firm up during aggressive driving.

Unfortunately, the Eibachs were low - too low to clear poorly designed speed bumps and ramps to underground carparks. I found that I had to slowdown to less than 20kph to negotiate normal speedbumps, and less than 10kph for certain bumps and totally avoid some of the ones that were too high (no matter how slow, will scrape the bottom). On normal roads, the reduced travel of the springs meant hitting the bump stops quite frequently if travelling too fast (due to a sunken or raised part of the road). Thus, I find myself actually driving slower than before most of the time.

FUEL ECONOMY: Now, the theory is that being lower to the ground presents a smaller frontal cross section with decreased airflow under the car. This is supposed to improve fuel consumption. As this is quite dependant on many other factors, I don't have anything to say yet, until I can collect more data.

Now, I have removed the silicone cushion buffers and found that handling degraded slightly (more understeer). Plan to put them back again, since there was no improvement to comfort without them.

So, after using the Eibach Prokit Springs for some time, what's my opinion? Well, I feel that they definitely improve the handling of my car, without significantly sacrificing comfort. Those who like the lowered look will find that the Eibach Prokit Springs will not disappoint.

There's no doubt that the improvements in performance would make a difference on track, say, during the HPC at the Sepang F1 Circuit. However, in terms of practicality, sad to say that I am living in a country where the roads demand extra ground clearance. If this were my only car, I would say, "forget about it". However, with careful planning and use of alternative vehicles when necessary, one should be able to live with this or any other set of lowered springs.

I think I may revert back to my stock springs after the next HPC event, though only time will tell....