bowneracing99

So i have been out of the game for 5 years, living in Guam, But i just bought an 08 si in norfolk that i will be picking up in 3 months. I'll have about 4-4.2k to spend on the car when i get back, suggestions? Springs are the only suspension oriented item i'm worried about right now, I threw a set of eibachs on an ST last weekend and they have held up pretty well, anyone use these? They offer a 1'' drop and thats all i'm interested in. the rest of the money i'll spend on parts, i'll do the labor myself. So my question mainly is comptech supercharger? or build the engine? cams, valves, maybe high comp. pistons? I personally don't like how the turbo sits in the fg2, but if i can be convinced otherwise like someone with a ton of miles on a kit or something i'd be willing to maybe buy one...

bowneracing99

I found tein springs that are really similar (High techs i believe), are they maybe a better choice?

vladd

You're better off with the stock suspension than Tein springs. If you want a good suspension, get Koni yellow struts, Neuspeed sport springs, Progress 22mm rear sway bar, and front and rear camber kits. Then, get a Flashpro. From there, you won't have the money for a supercharger, but you can get a nice intake/header/exhaust setup. You'll still have ~$1k left, maybe get some engine mounts or lightweight wheels.

bowneracing99

Are the camber kits pretty rough on the tires, i cambered a 240, and that thing killed mid-priced tires quick... And thanks for the advice... so you think don't jump straight to the blower, maybe i was jumping the gun ahaha.

bowneracing99

and for the intake, should i shoot for one that requires a battery relocation? It seems if i dont the filter will almost rest on the header?

DaveSi677

The camber kit wasn't what was causing your tires to get "killed" it was lack of a proper alignment! A camber kit will help wearing out tires and make the car handle better.

If you want to make power get the Skunk2 CAI. It requires to relocate the battery but it's not very difficult to install.

vladd

The Injen CAI works with the battery in the stock location. Short ram intakes have the filter near the header, cold air intakes have it in the front left wheel well (inside the fender liner).

If you don't go crazy with the camber, you won't notice that big of a difference in tire wear. For a daily driver, I'd recommend 1-1.5 degrees of negative camber, front and back. More camber will make the handling better at the expense of tire life. If it's a weekend/track car, it'd be nice to have 2-3 degrees of negative camber in the front.

The reason I didn't recommend a supercharger is because a good setup will take up your entire budget and more, not leaving anything for suspension. If you want a nice suspension, you can do everything but the supercharger for now and then not need anything extra when you do get around to putting a supercharger in.

If you will be getting a supercharger in the future for sure, you could get an Exedy stage 1 clutch installed now. Installing a header requires removing the subframe, you could install the clutch at the same time.

vladd

The more negative camber, the faster tires will wear. Yeah, a proper alignment (get rid of toe) will help with that.

http://www.redshiftmotorsports.com/R...20Packages.htm has good info on suspension setup near the bottom of the page. This is the place I ordered my suspension setup from (Koni yellows, Neuspeed Sport springs, Progress 22mm RSB, front camber bolts, Ingalls slider rear camber kit).

bowneracing99

Thanks A LOT for the assistance guys, i'm pretty sold on the skunk 2, i've heard some issues with injen, and aem. If you think a degree of camber for a DD is solid ill throw that on as well. For exhaust, i like the quietness of the flowmaster and i think it runs like 5-600 for a cat back, anybody made decent power with these? As for header do you think vibrant or Password jdm?

accident prone

Everyones take on suspension parts will be different, but like everyone has stated the camber kit is to prevent you from wearing tires out when you lower the vehicle. First thing I do anytime I buy a vehicle is have th ealignment check. I have made tires that should have lasted 45K make it to 60+k. I personally enjoy the Tein setups but always buy the whole kit, the the super streets or advance flex. You can adjust how low or high and your stiffness/rebound on the struts and shocks. As stated before though each person will be different.
Determine what you care more about with the car and focus on that. DO you want it to look good, get a nice set of wheels and suspension, maybe shave the back end symbols etc. etc. You want power focus on intake, exhaust, header, flash set ups. I personally am hoping to save for the Kraftwerks supercharger kit myself. As for exhaust if you are looking for quiet there are a lot of options out there. I am interested in K-Tuned exhaust systems as well as Toda.
I have always made a list of things I would like too accomplish or add t my car. From there I decide what I care more about and start working down the list. It may not work for you but its a start.

DaveSi677

Exactly my point to set the right amount of camber for proper handling without over wearing your tires if you dd it. Yes too much camber does ruin tires but I'm more worried about an incorrect toe ruining them quicker then camber.

bowneracing99

Ya toe will increase wear quite a bit, and ya i got a list going now, its getting too big haha...

accident prone

Just google car alignment, tons of information on why to get an alignment, different measurements (toe, total toe, camber, total camber, caster, and some invisible lines mainly for frame straighting and older vehicles). Having worked in the automotive service industry I can stress enough how important it is. With our lowered cars you have to be careful what shops you bring it to though, look for a shop with a in the floor alignment machine. If you have more questions check out Hunter's web page, they have links to explaining every aspect of an alignment.

On a second note.....you would not beleive the amount of cars today that come with negative camber as factory. Anything with sport attached to it is likely to have some negative front camber, little to no rear camber, and FWD and RWD need to be set up differently. Its amazing that an alignment can mean winning a race, or having to put too many tires on a car in a year. rotations are key too, except for the few with offset wheels and directional tires, sorry for you guys

bowneracing99

Ya i noticed the stock camber on a few vehicles, the focus st, mazdas, i was somewhat impressed. I'll be honest my brothers the only one that has driven my Si, i havent even seen it yet, just bought it, so idk if they are set up that way.
And as for the floor alignment, is that the laser/computer combo?

bowneracing99

The only fg2 i drove was a mugen edition and i really enjoyed the way it felt.

vladd

What issues have you heard of with the Injen CAI?

vladd

The Si has negative camber in the back (-1 degree on the C rear arms, -1.5 degrees on the original version) and zero in the front. Adding more front camber does help with turn-in but is supposed to make the car less stable at higher speeds.

bowneracing99

It was a bogging issue i read on here and 8th, Could it of been a short ram? Due to the heat build up from the placement of them?

accident prone

Yeah I have slight negative up front thanks to some extra bolts my current job had lying around. I believe my negative front is aoun -.8 aprox. It has probably moven since I had it done and its about time to get it checked again. Most of us dont take our cars past 100, hope (legally atleast). Even racing at tracks like LimeRock Park in CT i did not get my car to high enough speeds to worry about the little bit of negative camber I have in the front. Unless it becomes so fast i do not worry.

vladd

Yeah, I had -1.5 degrees of negative camber on my '08 Si and had zero issues driving on the freeway. When I had my alignment done, the shop thought I wrote the numbers backwards (I asked for -1.5 in the front, -1.0 in the back) and they set it up for -1.0 in the front and -1.5 in the back. I had them redo it after telling them it was intentional. They mentioned the high speed instability thing, I told them I was looking for sharper turn-in and wasn't bothered by the stability issue.

Do you have any links? I haven't heard of this before. I've seen plenty of people saying they like their Injen intakes. I have an Injen myself, just haven't driven the car with it yet.

bowneracing99

Looking, sorry for late reply, in guam...

bowneracing99

http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/mecha...e-bogging.html this is the one i initially found...

bowneracing99

so i'm for sure putting the ct s/c on hold for a bit, looks like people are having bearing issues around 5k miles, and a couple snapped tensioners... I work on f/i engines all day, it really bugs me products get pushed at consumer level with these issues, we have a turbo the size of a large washing machine with 12k hours run-time at 2800hp no issues :/

bowneracing99

**** the little generator i maintain has had the same garret turbo for 5 years at least, no rebuild, and runs 1800rpms for up to 21 days w/o stopping....

DaveSi677

if you are wanting to go s/c honestly Kraftwerks is the way to go my friend!

I will be doing it this winter