Don't Knock It Until You Try It...

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MaaseyRacer

Senior Member
My lord...I just drove my co-workers 93 hatch with an H22 motor in it....That thing hauls soooo much ass....
Here is my point to make though, granted i did not have a chance to push the car hard around a turn or anything (damn wet San Francisco Street and pedestrians), but it did not feel like it had that much under-steer. I thought i was going to steer like shit from all the folks here and on other forums saying that you should not do this swap because of the under-steer issue. Sure it had less turning capibilities than my stock '89 civic hatch, but for my co-workers daily driver it was not bad at all. He does not do any Auto-X, and he has yet to take it to the track.
 
i can't wait to do my h22 swap in one of my cars.
 
the amount of understeer in an H22'd civic is ok for normal driving you wont really notice understeer in anything under normal driving ... its only under hard cornering that you notice it... (for instance BMW M3's have a heavy tendancy for oversteer... does the ass end kick out around every turn?? no... but if you push it hard through a corner will the back slide out some?? most likely yes) oversteer and understeer are only issues when you are driving a car at or near its handling limits... so for normal around town driving it will not be an issue at all, under hard driving around town it may become an issue, under autoX / road course conditions it WILL be a major issue
 
Originally posted by MaaseyRacer@Jan 10 2003, 03:11 PM
Here is my point to make though, granted i did not have a chance to push the car hard around a turn or anything (damn wet San Francisco Street and pedestrians), but it did not feel like it had that much under-steer.
...
Sure it had less turning capibilities than my stock '89 civic hatch

THATS the point E and I are getting at.

it was wet- he didn't push it.

you will NOT notice any effects of under or over steer until a car is AT or NEAR it's breaking point. since he never came close to this, and he STILL says it turned less well than his 89 hatch- he is only giving more strength to the side of the h22 being an understeering bitch.

thank you, drive through
 
wouldnt that be fixable with stiffer springs up front? when u think about it there are other small cars with heavy engines like corvettes, 2-seater jags, shelby cobras, etc.
 
Originally posted by pissedoffsol@Jan 13 2003, 08:07 AM
THATS the point E and I are getting at.

it was wet- he didn't push it.

you will NOT notice any effects of under or over steer until a car is AT or NEAR it's breaking point. since he never came close to this, and he STILL says it turned less well than his 89 hatch- he is only giving more strength to the side of the h22 being an understeering bitch.

thank you, drive through

The point i was try to make and maybe I did not make this clear enough, is that everyone always says that this is a bad swap to do, but if you want this car as a daily driver, then it is a good daily driver. I personally am not into racing that much, but i always read people saying the understeer is horrible. It may not be the best swap you can do, but it is not a bad swap or dangerous swap to do by any means.
 
thansk for the thought i think i have finally now after reading thread to h22 my civic. i was a little worried about understeer but now im not.
 
the H22 in a civic is fine for normal around town driving.... you will have no problems under normal driving conditions.... but your civic is going to have the handling of a mid 90's Ford Taurus....
it doesnt matter what you do with the suspension it will still suck ass under hard cornering....
the H22 sits too far forward in the engine bay and puts too much weight in front of the axles and throws the weigh distibution to shit... that is why it handles like ass, not becaust its ##lbs heavier... it doesnt matter if it was the same weight or lighter than the D or B series engines the fact that it puts more weight ahead of the axles is what fucks up the handling....
now for people whos main concern is straight line acceleration (drag racing) the added understeer means nothing

but for those of us who dont live our lives a 1/4 mile at a time, and actually want a car that can go through turns with some decent speed, and be competitive on an autocross track, road course, twisty back road, etc... the H22 is probably the worst choice for an engine swap...
a stock CX with its whopping 70Hp and 80Tq would kick the shit out of an H22'd civic in autocross....

so this (just like everything else) compleatly depends on what you want to do with the car.... if you want to drag race it or have a daily driver that will kill just about anything on the highway... then the H22 is perfect for you.... if you want to race with corners involved you should really look elsewhere
 
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