Nismo Springs Review

[HapaZ]

I haven't seen too many people around here talking about upgrading the base/sport suspension with the Nismo springs so I thought I'd throw my two cents in about them. I have a '12 base model and I only swapped the springs (not the dampers) so I'm not reviewing the entire Nismo setup here...

First my reasons for choosing the Nismo springs
Minimal drop - I have a steep driveway at home and at work and after a long day, dealing with ramps was just not something I really wanted to do. After looking around at some of the threads the consensus was that the Nismo's will drop the car about 3 to 4/10th's which is right about where my car ended up. I saw one thread and some passing comments about how the Nismo springs will raise the front of the car, but I did not experience this. I bought the springs used with about 25k miles so it's possible that if you buy em new it'll take a few days for the ride height to settle out. I'm also an idiot and bought the wrong offset's on my front rims. Any lower of a drop and I think I'd have rubbing issues with my front tires. Side lesson: measure twice, purchase once!

Daily Driver - I don't track my car. If you are a track junkie I'm sure you're looking at some of the other products out there. My car is driven on the streets as a daily driver and I needed more road clearance than something like the Swift's provided.

Ok now the review....
I drove my car 30 miles to a DIY garage before installing the springs and then drove back the same route so I had a pretty good A/B comparison immediately after. Since installing I've put in about 2k miles.

Ride Quality: The first thing I noticed is that yes, they are firmer, and that I can now feel small road imperfections more. It's not a night and day difference, though, and the people who complain that the springs are too stiff for everyday driving have to be smoking crack or are coming from driving a Caddy. I suspect that the Nismo dampers will stiffen things up even more and that the complaints about the harsh ride come from the combo of the two. I DD my car and haven't had any issues, but I also wouldn't want things to be much firmer since this car is only driven on streets. Back in the day I drove a slammed '02 civic which was a terrible daily driver and I didn't want a repeat of that debauchery - amazing how age leads to wisdom!

Handling: This is where I noticed the most improvement! With the base/sport suspension on high speed sweeping corners the car would feel a little floaty with some squirm when I either changed/tightened my line or if I hit a bump mid-corner. With the Nismo's on that is mostly gone. A mid-corner bump will still catch my attention, but the car settles down almost immediately after I go over the bump. The steering response is also sharper... not that it was bad to begin with... but it is noticeable with turn-in being quicker and the car being more responsive to changes in direction. Body roll is marginally better, but I've been running Hotchkis sway bars front and rear which made a much larger impact on body roll than these springs.

Installation: Well, they're springs... kind of like any of the other springs on the market so I can't see these being harder or easier than any particular brand. Fronts took about 2 hours and the rears were done in about 30 mins.

Overall: I'm happy with the springs and that's pretty much all that matters for me. I'd throw the car on the lift to install these again in a heartbeat if I had to do it over! People looking for the hella flush look with a low drop probably won't be happy with these. Track folks might be happier with a different set-up too since there's no adjustability on these. I'm also guessing that the progressive rate springs out there like the Swifts will leave a better ride quality assuming that you have enough ground clearance for the driveways and roads you drive.

Hope this helps base/sport folks considering this mod!