Hsd coilovers comfy enough for daily driver?

[Sibbers]

To go from 7/5 to 5/4 must have affected the static sag quite considerably. How were you able to adjust the ride height back up to compensate ? ....or did you just leave it on the floor ?

The ride height and travel are separate. Surprisingly, with no preload and the same height settings the car didn't need raising either - it may have sagged a few mm, but if it did then it worked out to sit where I like it. It does use a bit more travel than it did before, but I have some way to go before it bottoms out and I feel better knowing its doing what its meant too rather than just being really hard.

These are totally different shocks, but it shows how adjusting the travel and spring compression are independent from each other.

[Jonny Wilkinson]

Sorry but you are wrong on this. You can adjust the ride height independently but the height it sits at WILL depend on the static sag which is determined by the spring WEIGHT. I'm not talking about preload.

[Sibbers]

I think you must be more advanced on this subject than I am. The car didn't lose any height, and if it did I could raise it without having to touch the collars that affect the spring itself, I would just (effectively) rotate the part that meets the wheel hub to get back any height I lost.

Or are you saying that I will have lost some travel? I can see how that would be a thing. In reality, it's super minimal if that is what you are going after and definitely not significant.

EDIT - yeah you're way out ahead of me Jonny - just searched this little beauty out to get a fast track on this. Yeah I imagine there is an effect, but imagine its super minor. I leave it to sag and do nothing clever to fix it. I'm still not 100% I've answered your question, or the implication of what your suggesting tbh.

EDIT 2 - adding preload for me didn't result in a ride I preferred (felt like the car wanted to spring over bumps). I ended up with just enough to grip the springs but that was it. 1mm I'll say. Not very scientific, just tightened then until the spring didn't want to rotate in my hand (unless I tried really hard) and happy with the results.

[Jonny Wilkinson]

I think you get it now mate. My experience was that moving from 5/4 to 4/3 increased static sag by around 35mm and spinning the lower assembly down the threads resulted in me running out of adjustment before recovering the 35mm of ride height. The solution was longer lower assemblies provided by apex. We found this during testing of the prototype apex limo coilovers.

[Sibbers]

Wow that seems like loads, but I suppose as you go softer the fraction increases so much more with every kilo you remove from the spring. I read somewhere that Nismo spec is something like 5.5kg at the front and 4.5kg at the rear which gives me confidence it's a good compromise for handling and comfort. These springs and a heavy bias towards firm damping appear to be the combination I enjoy the most of those I've tried. I imagine I'd probably be a fan of the limo spec too although the sag is a surprise. 35mm. Dang. Seems like a lot of travel to lose.

[Jonny Wilkinson]

... Seems like a lot of travel to lose.

Its about an inch at the shock (which is inboard of the wheel remember) and its at the top of the shock. The softer spring actually allows a longer range of travel during normal operation and it still seems to become springbound before hitting the lower bumpstops.

If you mean loss of travel available in the wheel arch, most people lower their S13s more than 35mm.

[Sibbers]

No I meant potential travel, but your right. The spring probably just moves more, plus there is probably way more than there is room for the wheel to actually move into anyway. And yeah, standard height s13s look like hovercrafts - 35mm drop is perfect (for me, who doesn't like his cars on the floor)

[zeppelin101]

The softer spring actually allows a longer range of travel during normal operation and it still seems to become springbound before hitting the lower bumpstops.

Really? It is always preferable to use the bump stop over being coil bound.

Presumably you've seen witness marks on the springs then to back that up?

[auz200sx]

To answer the OP question I have HSD monopros on a bit of a drop and probably five clicks from all the way up, all round. Its fine for me.