For the price, it's difficult to beat the A-Spec suspension: I paid $600 (+ shipping) for a brand-new set of pre-assembled shocks and springs that have already been tuned and sorted on Honda's test tracks by some amazing suspension engineers. No, there's no adjustability. They aren't a pretty shade of anodized aluminum. They don't even come with stickers for your windows (gasp!). In my opinion, to get anything comparable to the A-Spec setup, you'd have to spend at least a few hundred dollars more and have the patience to sort the setup out in order to get it just right. As with anything Honda produces (or in this case, outsources, since they're produced for Honda by Showa), you're guaranteed to be getting a quality plug-n-play product that should provide years of grins without worry. And if you don't like it, there's probably someone on eBay willing to take it off your hands.

Try as I might, this is as much as I could
lift the rear wheel with the A-Spec

Is the A-Spec setup what the Type-S should have had from the factory? I've thought quite a lot about this and some will disagree, but I hesitate to say yes. From an enthusiast standpoint, who is the only type of customer who should purchase the Type-S, then probably so. Though if you don't like a firm riding coupe, I think you'll quickly tire of the A-Spec firmness. This suspension makes the RSX much more fun to drive, but ideally, I think something in between the pre-'05 and A-Spec setup would be a better stock configuration. Then, offer the A-Spec setup to be slightly stiffer than it currently comes. The retuned 2005 RSX Type-S (which is softer than this A-Spec) should be just about right since it falls between the A-Spec and pre-'05 versions, though I have yet to sample one.

Action photo credits:

• Erik Anderson Designs
  http://www.erikandersondesigns.com