i was planning on selling my hhr but decided to keep it for awhile longer. mines is the fe1 and the ride is stupid soft so im wanting to bulk it up a bit. i have the eibach lowering kit and i love hitting corners but of course i want more. what are the best gas shock/strut setup for handling i can put on here. i dont really care too much about the ride. i've heard good things of kyb and always liked them on other rides. thanks in advance

 

I did the Eibach Pro lowering springs, front and rear sways and kyb struts and shocks. Even though I haven't done my performance mods yet I have tested the suspension out as hard as I could and it's a night and day difference from stock. Say goodbye to soft and loose ride.
Some here will tell you to grab Koni's for 3-4x more the $. Only real advantage is they are somewhat adjustable(rebound), as for performance advantage over kyb's, none. I drove a local hhr with fresh konis before I made my choice and I was not impressed.

If you choose the sportline Eibach springs be aware there can be bottoming out issues and performance loss, stick with pro's.

 

i have the sportlines on already. they offered the most drop that i could find. i havnt had any bottoming out issues yet. but sounds like ill be going with the kyb's. thanks

 

Ya they actually quit marketing the sportline for the hhr for ??? safety ??? reasons. They do provide a bit more drop then the pros(my hhr dropped almost 2" front and rear with pros) more than enough with oversized tires and wheels going on in a week or two or whenever the snow melts here.
There is also the coil over struts/shocks option is you have a lot of cash.

Good luck.

 

KYB we carry are nice, the Excels.

 

If your running sportlines..go with the FE5's..the KYBs are at the limits with these springs...they arn't set up for a short throws (travel) and tend to be jittery after they get broken in and loosened up. For normal full range springs they would be fine...though..with GoldLines they seem to be fine...springs rates apply..

 

are you meaning go with oem fe5 or does kyb make struts that are shorter for the fe5 setup? if i go oem i get cost at a local dealership.


and if anyone is in the la/ventura county area and need gm parts i can get you the same discount as what i get just let me know

 

The KYBs are Fe3 plus a little extra,,they are ok but not great. With shorter stiffer springs you do not get the same amount of shock travel,so you need a bit stiffer shock to make up for the shorter throws otherwise by the time the shock "catches" up with the movement the spring is already on the reverse path so the shock is never in sync with the spring occillations..on smooth flat road you'll never notice, but once you get into uneven stuff you feel it. It seems like its bouncing on the tires ( like a tall sidewall with lower pressures ) instead of the suspension. Little things like RR tracks will really be felt.
"Shorter" shocks only come into play when there is a bottoming out condition or if you are overly particular about springs being unseated while on jacks. If you trim your rubber bumpers wisely, you'll be hard pressed to bottom a shock on these cars. Though, slamming a pothole at speed isnt recommended for any car setup...and will most likely cause a bottoming out (amoungst other things).

 

that makes sense. so i should do oem fe5. sounds like my best bet. i dont mind a non cadillac ride. my first truck was a silverado that was 3/4 off the ground. wasnt terribly bumpy like most would think but just was a nice "firm" ride

 

My 89 S'Rado was dropped too..nice and firm...flat cornered..forgot it was a truck half the time