dont be paraniod dude...go balls out and buy the Koni Yellows that I showed ya on eBay...they're cheaper than Ive ever seen.
With GC coilovers youre adjusting the ride height and the shock adjusts the softness of your ride (bound and rebound of the shock). GC are like the best coilover to get if youre goin with a combo shock+coilover, they ride the best and make the least amount of noise when you drive. The combo gives you height (from the coilovers) and damper (shocks) adjustability.
If you were to just get springs you cant adjust how high youre riding...so when it snows you cant go up and youre gonna be a plow. Coilovers: in that case you could ride higher (not stock but higher nonetheless) and I would want that when snow comes (that is if you drive the civic in the winter)
Heres that ebay link again for the Civic Koni Yellows:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=1872213207