Let's talk about suspension...

[MaaseyRacer]

More specifically my suspension. I have an 89 civic DX about to be sitting on 15x7 slipstreams (my tires are still not here yet though they are Yokohama AVS ES 100s), I have tein basic dampers on the car, and other than that I have no other suspension mods. I auto-x and I am starting to do more of them, and I am getting pretty good, also I have little to no interest in drag racing, so this is a daily driver/auto-x set up.
I want to look into roll bars, sway bars, strut bars, and all that stuff, but I am still rather unsure about it all and what all works on an EF. I bought the Tein basics as they were a screaming deal and they have the same spring rates as the Super Streets, just with out the adjustiblitly which I really do not want to concern my self with at this point in time, later on down the road yes I do. Tell me your set ups, sway bar thicknesses, differences in set ups you have had, and other suspension info you think might be useful to me.

 

[asmallsol]

I will just copy and paste this from an arctile on Team-integra...

Originally posted by SuferX@Ti.net article

Sway bar sizing

The diameter of a sway bar determines it's stiffness. You can compare the stiffness of your stock sway bar to a bar you are thinking of purchasing by using a simple formula.

% stiffness compared to stock = (new diameter/stock diameter)^4

For example, if you have a GS-R with a 14mm rear sway bar and upgraded to a 22mm Type R rear sway bar you would calculate

(22/14)^4 = 6.10

This means a 22mm sway bar is roughly six times as stiff as the stock sway bar. Big difference don't you think? Subtract 1 at the end of that equation and you'll get a figure telling actually how much stiffer the bar is. So in that equation you'd come out with 5.10 or 510% stiffer than stock.

It's important to make sure the company you are buying your sway bar from includes proper mounting hardware. Stiff sway bars can easily tear out of the chassis during a hard corner if not mounted properly and your spring rates are too low to assist the bar in minimizing suspension travel. From what I know off hand, Comptech's sway bar is very good and comes with proper mounting hardware and will not tear out of the chassis. Comptech even guarantees it. Also BSQ makes a kit to allow a Type R rear sway bar to mount onto a non-Type R chassis so it will not tear out. Check out BSQ's kit and install instructions at http://geocities.com/bretq/swaybar_install.html

I am not sure what bars fit on the EF's, but the same rules still stand still. If you do not have a rear sway bar right now, your either going to have to install new LCA's, or go with a bar that does not use the stock mounting points (Progress mounts at the end of the LCA's and not the middle like OEM, so for those that don't have rear holes for swaybars, these work well.


A good rear swaybar will help you the most. Since you have basics which come with pretty stiff springs (at least the tegs do, not sure of the EF spring rates) the chance of Subframe tear out is reduced (but a reinforcment kit is a must for bigger bars)

Do you know if your front has a sway? If not, consider the suspension techniques (do not need holes for the swaybar because it mounts somewhere else, like the progress) If you run without a front but with a rear, your going to get alot of oversteer. Some people like that, I did not. I had the sol Si front sway with my ITR rear, and in autocross, I would sometimes rotate too much. I had a GSR front laying around, so I put that on and like it alot more. Much more nuetreal.

 

[MaaseyRacer]

I know progress makes a kit for my car, but I need to see what the EF has. I also need to see what is going to happen if I put 90 integra rear brakes on my car as that might phuck up the swap bars if I have to swap out LCAs.
Oh and that write up was really good and easy to understand, thanks asmallsol.

 

[phunky.buddha]

You don't have to touch the LCAs for a rear disc swap. You just change out the trailing arm and you're good to go, or you can open it all up and change just the spindle/hub assembly.

 

[MaaseyRacer]

Originally posted by Calesta@Apr 26 2004, 09:16 PM
You don't have to touch the LCAs for a rear disc swap. You just change out the trailing arm and you're good to go, or you can open it all up and change just the spindle/hub assembly.

Glad we cleared up that misconseption before I bought shit I did not need.

 

[xj0hnx]

Originally posted by MaaseyRacer+Apr 27 2004, 08:03 AM-->

Calesta

@Apr 26 2004, 09:16 PM
You don't have to touch the LCAs for a rear disc swap. You just change out the trailing arm and you're good to go, or you can open it all up and change just the spindle/hub assembly.

Glad we cleared up that misconseption before I bought shit I did not need.

And if you are ordering it on line, more importantly paid shipping for parts you didn't need.

I don't know about the states side model, but here the DOHC EF/ED's have front and rear sways, radius arms stock. And when I had my ED9 it handled better than most suspension moded cars, I had or have driven since. 230km/h was smooth, and corners nice and tight. Point is, you should be able to incorporate some of these parts into your car, and get similar response for less than most aftermarket parts.

 

[98integrals]

if you are serious about autoxing i would pick up a rulebook for what organization you will be running with most often.

a rear disk conversion could throw you into a class like SM where you have 0 chance of being competitive.

if you are going to autox a lot you might want to try a few with the front swaybar disconnected. I would only suggest doing this if you do get a rear swaybar tho.

 

[phunky.buddha]

Originally posted by 92b16vx+Apr 27 2004, 04:56 AM-->

Originally posted by MaaseyRacer@Apr 27 2004, 08:03 AM
Calesta

@Apr 26 2004, 09:16 PM
You don't have to touch the LCAs for a rear disc swap.  You just change out the trailing arm and you're good to go, or you can open it all up and change just the spindle/hub assembly.

Glad we cleared up that misconseption before I bought shit I did not need.

And if you are ordering it on line, more importantly paid shipping for parts you didn't need.

I don't know about the states side model, but here the DOHC EF/ED's have front and rear sways, radius arms stock. And when I had my ED9 it handled better than most suspension moded cars, I had or have driven since. 230km/h was smooth, and corners nice and tight. Point is, you should be able to incorporate some of these parts into your car, and get similar response for less than most aftermarket parts.

I think that all the ED/EF chassis cars had radius arms up front. My CRX and Katie's 88 LX sedan definitely do. The Si model CRXs had the sway bars front and rear also.

 

[posol]

listen to Jack. get a rule book, or at least view them online. you gotta build your car to a class, or you're going to be racing 911 TT's and legend's cars like me

 

[asmallsol]

yep, with my car, I am in SM2, I race FI porsches, Miatas, RX7's, a 4.6liter V8 supercharge RWD focus, ect. I defently have NO chance what so ever. I am there now just for fun. I am more into HPDE's now.


Anyways, with your car, you will be in STS when modded, and if you get more into it, I belive the EF's go into CSP (pretty hard class). Finally when swaped or anything done to the engine other then bolt ons, your in Street Mod.

 

[MaaseyRacer]

Yeah i am really there just for fun I do realize that I am going to be in Street Modified, but I am just competing with my buddies and some other cars. I just ordered my NASA rule book so I should have it by next week, thanks for the advice on that.

 

[asmallsol]

NASA is mainly roadracing I believe (at least it is on the midwest)


Here is the online rulebook for SCCA solo2...

Right Here Click me

 

[MaaseyRacer]

We have SCCA auto-xs, however they have like 250 cars per event latly. It is stupid we get like 3 to 4 runs tops. So there is a small group of people around here that are sick of it and have a loose NASA offiliation, and are hosting auto-x's that have like 50 people tops, I got 12 runs in last week. The NASA rules follow the same rules basicly as the SCCA rules. Thanks for the link though, I bought the actual book as I felt I should be supporting NASA

 

[asmallsol]

thats cool. Yea, its the same way here. I hate them. It takes up an entire day, and sometimes I would pay 40 for 3 runs. There is a few small orginazations that have some autocrosses, and those are the best for sure. This one that I went to, they had 4 timed/compeditive runs, then once everyone was done, for $1 or 2, they had fun runs. Easy way to get a little seat time. Ended up getting 10 or 15 runs in. That day I killed my tires, and cracked a weld on my exhaust.

 

[MaaseyRacer]

There are car clubs around here that host Auto-x's about 1.5 miles from us on Sunday's and if we show up and pay their membership dues and the race fee we can usually race, The PCA (Porsche Owners Club of America), and the BMW groups are normally cool about it. When they come to town we get like 12-15 runs in plus free fun runs so far we have yet to pay for fun runs. See if the PCA or BMW clubs have auto-x's in your area, those clubs ask for a vin, and my dad happens to be a former Porshce owner so I used the VIN from our old '63 356SC, and I used my Aunts BMW 325 station wagon VIN to play with the BMW people. However my roommate sweet talked both clubs into letting him race, with out VINs.