The Maniac

I have a 1996 Honda Civic EX 2 Dr 5 Spd. It's my daily driver and I'm interested in getting into auto-crossing. I race my Firehawk on the weekends and it takes priority over my Civic as far as my mod budget goes, so anything I do to the Civic has to be economical.

My question is, what is the most cost effective way to make my civic perform well in auto-crossing? What are the biggest bang for the buck handling mods? Where is the best place to find these for the best prices? Are used parts ok? Etc

Thanks in advance!

rmcdaniels

Try posting this in the autox/road course forum, and be prepared for a lot of people to tell you to leave the suspension alone and learn to drive. The thing that helped me the most was putting a big-*** sway bar on the back of my Civic to cut down on the understeer. I got a Mugen 24mm bar and a Beaks subframe reinforcement kit so it wouldn't rip the bolts out of the car. Polyurethane suspension bushings also tightened it up a lot.

GetawayInMoscow

TIRES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Internet Tough Guy

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by The Maniac &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have a 1996 Honda Civic EX 2 Dr 5 Spd. It's my daily driver and I'm interested in getting into auto-crossing. I race my Firehawk on the weekends and it takes priority over my Civic as far as my mod budget goes, so anything I do to the Civic has to be economical.

My question is, what is the most cost effective way to make my civic perform well in auto-crossing? What are the biggest bang for the buck handling mods? Where is the best place to find these for the best prices? Are used parts ok? Etc

Thanks in advance!</TD></TR></TABLE>

best bang for the buck handling mods:

koni yellow shocks
ground control coilovers with eibach springs, 400 F, 500 R is great, but a little stiff on the street
a nice rear sway bar like comptech or suspension techniques
and some sticky tires, falken azenis are great street tires, but if you're more serious look into some R compounds.

i have that setup on my 96 ex and it handles great. with a good driver, my car is right up there with FTD at autocross, even with the stock motor. i'm 100% satisfied with the car and i would never change it, except getting the shocks revalved for really stiff springs when i get the money to seriously pursue road racing. but for auto cross, some track days, and around town i love it the way it is.

also any weight you can get out of that pig will help (power steering, air conditioning, sun roof, sound deadening tar etc etc etc). all that stuff adds up and a car that is 200 lbs lighter will definately handle better, but if it's your daily driver you'll probably want to hold off on most of that.

Bigmojoj27

A good rear sway bar

kaiba

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GetawayInMoscow &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">TIRES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</TD></TR></TABLE>
What class are you planning to run?

The Maniac

I'm not sure yet, I'm just getting into it. They have events at the local Applebee's Park several times a year and I want to start out there.

I ordered a set of coilovers and struts from Dropzone today, I'm gonna try them out and see how they do. They fit in my budget and I've heard nothing but good things about them from my friends who have them.

I'm not out to take home trophies or anything like that. I just want to enjoy my car in a safe environment

kaiba

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by The Maniac &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> just want to enjoy my car in a safe environment</TD></TR></TABLE>


Well since you are going to lower it that would move you out of the stock class and put you in the street modifield i think.

Have fun.

EK k kay

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by The Maniac &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm not sure yet, I'm just getting into it. They have events at the local Applebee's Park several times a year and I want to start out there.

I ordered a set of coilovers and struts from Dropzone today, I'm gonna try them out and see how they do. They fit in my budget and I've heard nothing but good things about them from my friends who have them.

I'm not out to take home trophies or anything like that. I just want to enjoy my car in a safe environment </TD></TR></TABLE>

I don't think dropzone made their stuff for performance, but rather looks.

rmcdaniels

I'd hold off on further mods until you run an autocross, then you will be able to better figure out what you want your car to do differently.

The Maniac

Gotta be better than my stock 136k mile springs and shocks right?

FalkenSiR

For right now just do basic stuff. Like mentioned above, springs/co with a good shock combo should help you some. Then look into some thick sway bars and strut bars ( I know ) and of course good tires. That should give you a nice foundation to start learning from. I had coilovers, a strut bar and falkens in my EF and that thing freakin moved through the turns.

kkim

I think you are going about this backwards. Instead of asking what you need to do to make your car competitive, why not just go out and drive the autocross first, then start thinking about mods. To mod w/o a purpose is useless. You'll find out fast if your car needs work and you'll be able to pinpoint the weaknesses from experience. Personally, I'd return the dropzone coilovers. Suspension is one place you don't want second best.

good luck and have fun.

B--RYAN

good tires is number 1

Setsuna F Seiei

korbach frame locks

GetawayInMoscow

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BrokeAssPinoy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">korbach frame locks </TD></TR></TABLE>

lmao

jolt-tsp

Race it before you mod anything. You'll notice certain things you hate about the current setup (probably understeer and body roll/flex). Since you're on a tighter budget, find out what annoys you the most and fix that.

For tires, probably you'd wants Falken Azenis RT-215 or Hankook Ventus R-S2 Z212's. They're reasonable street tires, and great autocross tires (so you won't need new wheels for Hoosier's, and they last long enough to be streetable). This is probably a good starting point. Get some tires and see what you want to change from there.

You'll probably want a ITR swaybar or something similar too. I used a GSR swaybar on my HX, but it's gutted and quite a bit lighter than the EX to start with. After that, you'll probably be good, unless you want a tighter set of springs and lower CoG. Really though, I suggest driving the car first, seeing how it feels, and determine what you hate about it.

Knightmare69

Friend's 98 Ex auto drove stock for over a year to get a feel for the handling. then we started with the suspension mods one by one to see what differences it would make and to adjust driving style to suit.

Right now, the Ex's got a H&R Sport Springs and KYB's with fresh Falken Ziex's (185/60/14) on aftermarket 14in Rims. Next is the ST rear Sway with Beaks Kit and Si Front sway.

Setsuna F Seiei

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GetawayInMoscow &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

lmao</TD></TR></TABLE>
what's so funny?

kaiba

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BrokeAssPinoy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">korbach frame locks </TD></TR></TABLE>
Yes,

I'm running the korbach frame lock for autoX plus daily drive. Great product but still a pricey.
And there is nothing funny about the Korbach frame lock.

Crazydave

JUst get out there and drive it.

The most important thing in auto-x is the driver.

the more you do it, they better you will get. I have seen plently of slow drivers in fast cars getting beat by fast drivers in slow cars...

I've been faster than Vettes, mustangs, camaros, miatas, type R's, hybris hondas. and even an lamborghini in my 97 Civic Ex,

I've also had my *** whooped by other civics, Ford Escort GT, and other would be "slow" cars

Daniel-sanB1

Energy suspension bushings

made a world of a difference on my ride

JimmyAtlantis

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kaiba &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Well since you are going to lower it that would move you out of the stock class and put you in the street modifield i think.

Have fun. </TD></TR></TABLE>

It would only put him in STS. Tires are the best place to start. If you want to run in STS your tires can't have any lower than a 200 treadwear rating. This should be moved to the RR/AutoX forum.

drkarrow

If you posted this in the autocross form you would only get one answer repeated over and over. "Leave your car stock"

For your first 2 years autocrossing, it doesn't matter what you show up in. And you are guarenteed that anything you do to your car in the first 2 years, you will regret later when you know more and know what you should have done.

And also know the rules. The class you decide to run in is very improtant to what mods you will want to do.

EG6Honda

Personally I'd go with sway bars, front and rear first. Then depending on $$$ you want to spend and whether or not it's a daily driver, I'd make my spring/shock combo purchase next. You could get stiff *** springs, but then you'd sacrifice your nice ride, for a rattling/bumpy, uncomfortable ride on any street outside of the track. Sure, stiff springs are "hard core" for racing purists, but they are uncomfortable and drive you insane going over crap roads.