I would have given a 4.5/5 if the option existed. My ONLY complaint for this price-point is the front upper mounts should be camber-adjustable. Nothing a set of Whiteline lower ball-joints can't remedy but for >$2k it feels like HKS skimped a little there and the lower balljoints affect caster and steering angle so that's nice if you want to adjust that but more work for an alignment that wouldn't otherwise need to be managed.
I tend to avoid coil-overs for a commuter because they're overkill and add a lot of potential complexity to what should be simple and effective. The rear struts went out on my FC3 at around 80k miles and caused feathering/cupping on my rear tires. When pricing the OEM strut replacements, my only options were the Honda units at approx $740 MSRP (I found a few around $550/ea on discount) or to purchase an override module for the active suspension control and struts on top of that. I decided if I was going to be spending that kind of money on just struts, I could expand my search a bit to see what else was out there.
I have HKS Hipermax SP IVs on my S14 240sx (that do have adjustable front upper mounts) and love them. I'm a big fan of HKS build quality so I bit the bullet and ordered these coil overs. It's nice this set also includes the ASC bypass module.
The pre-set ride height is perfect. I previously installed Eibach Pro springs. pre-set ride height is very similar to the Eibachs, just a touch higher. If you don't already have rear adjustable upper mounts you'll need them with either lowering springs or these coil-overs or the rear wheels are going to have a fair amount of negative camber you won't be able to adjust out.
I played around a bit with the damping settings a bit on the struts and settled on 16/17 front/rear. There's a lot of adjustability there and they come pre-set at 15 I believe. On the highway and some un-even and poorly finished back roads it doesn't beat me to death but still keeps the car very flat when cornering.
With the SPL rear upper control arms, the alignment was able to be adjusted to within factory spec and it drives and handles like a dream now. That isn't surprising as I replaced the RSB with a Whiteline unit and Accord endlinks at the same time.
The spring rates are perfect for a daily/commuter. I've done some HPDE events in my 5th gen 1LE Camaro and wouldn't hesitate to take my Civic in its place now. If I were leaning more heavily on track duty I'd probably look more toward KW Variant 3s and live with the ASC warning or spend the extra $450 to get one of the bypass kits.
