TLDR: Improved body control, sharper handling, and smoother ride. Spring/Shock combo ~$750 shipped to my door from Japan.
I purchased my 24' CX-5 this past April and have loved the look and performance of the vehicle except for one thing. The rear right height has always irked me. I mean you can fit a soda can in that wheel gap. I decided to bite the bullet and lower the vehicle a modest amount as I wasn't too interested in lower the rear subframe to install the RCA even though I have done this in the past. So...the search was on for subtle lowering springs.
After scouring the net for a longer than I'd like to admit, I settled AutoExe 30mm lowering springs.
Aaaannnnnd proceeded to no even use them. lol They are for sale btw.
After searching a bit more, and finding systems from Blitz and Tein (I'm an import tuner guy) I stumbled on a suspension system from KYB Japan. There weren't any English reviews to pull from as the systems isn't offered or distributed in the US at least. But that doesn't mean you can get your hands on it. So I sourced them from RhdJapan.com whom I've used in the past.
Enough back story on to the setup.
KYB advertises a Front 29mm drop with a 3kg/mm spring and 27mm drop 4.3kg/mm rear spring setup. Barley higher rates than stock. Good so far. The dampers are OEM style with the rears being adjustable.
Like the rear Bilsteins offered, they are longer than stock but only by ~5mm. The damper adjustability from 1-14 more than makes up for the tiny loss in bump travel.
Fronts..
Shock dyno, digressive in nature. I currently have them set to 6. Setting 4 is easily smoother than OEM.
The install was straight forward.
The finished product.
Not pictured are the 20mm front strut spacers to level the chassis. The rear is higher by 1/4" measured at the pinch welds. For what I wanted this is much better over the OEM 1" rake. Additionally I am running camber bolts on the upper knuckle mount to add camber and equal the rear camber gain. It looks to be around 1-1.5 degrees total. The springs should be settle now as it has been over a week and I can now take it in for an alignment.
Cheers!
I purchased my 24' CX-5 this past April and have loved the look and performance of the vehicle except for one thing. The rear right height has always irked me. I mean you can fit a soda can in that wheel gap. I decided to bite the bullet and lower the vehicle a modest amount as I wasn't too interested in lower the rear subframe to install the RCA even though I have done this in the past. So...the search was on for subtle lowering springs.
After scouring the net for a longer than I'd like to admit, I settled AutoExe 30mm lowering springs.
Aaaannnnnd proceeded to no even use them. lol They are for sale btw.
After searching a bit more, and finding systems from Blitz and Tein (I'm an import tuner guy) I stumbled on a suspension system from KYB Japan. There weren't any English reviews to pull from as the systems isn't offered or distributed in the US at least. But that doesn't mean you can get your hands on it. So I sourced them from RhdJapan.com whom I've used in the past.
Enough back story on to the setup.
KYB advertises a Front 29mm drop with a 3kg/mm spring and 27mm drop 4.3kg/mm rear spring setup. Barley higher rates than stock. Good so far. The dampers are OEM style with the rears being adjustable.
Like the rear Bilsteins offered, they are longer than stock but only by ~5mm. The damper adjustability from 1-14 more than makes up for the tiny loss in bump travel.
Fronts..
Shock dyno, digressive in nature. I currently have them set to 6. Setting 4 is easily smoother than OEM.
The install was straight forward.
The finished product.
Not pictured are the 20mm front strut spacers to level the chassis. The rear is higher by 1/4" measured at the pinch welds. For what I wanted this is much better over the OEM 1" rake. Additionally I am running camber bolts on the upper knuckle mount to add camber and equal the rear camber gain. It looks to be around 1-1.5 degrees total. The springs should be settle now as it has been over a week and I can now take it in for an alignment.
Cheers!
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