I have a 89 crx si should I get koni's or tokico's? The car is used to autocross, and may go up to CSP in a year. Running stock this coming year.

Thanks

 

Koni gets my vote.

 

Hi Glenn, Chris P. here... I would go with the Koni, but I would stick to stock suspension until you've learned to drive that to its full potential. Once you have mastered that, you'll be better-equipped to take advantage of the higher-performance yielded by the Konis and their adjustability.

 

Chris that's interesting. Would the konis not help my driving, by making the car better? Please explain your anwser in my detail.

Thanks

 

my vote also goes to the Konis. I, too, am puzzled by this advice. A more prevailing sentiment among experienced autocrossers is to stay on street tires for a couple of years before swithing over to R-compounds, but I've not heard this one before. Sure, there's great value in learning to drive any car in its stock configuration, but there's also great value in learning to drive a car that has some adjustability to it, be it shocks or swaybars. Heck, adjusting tire pressures can change the handling characteristics. This was my first year back to autocrossing after a long hiatus and I don't think my driving performances were hampered at all by having lowering springs, konis, and an ITR rear sway bar put on my car before driving it stock for a while. In fact, I'd say I learned and enjoyed my first season much more than I would have had the car been stock because its handling was so much more refined. I don't agree that I would have learned any more than I did this year by driving my car stock. So, what's your rationale for saying this, if you don't mind my asking?

 

The rationale is that when you begin to modify the car the enhancements make the car easier to drive in some respects. By leaving it stock you are learning how to make it go fast when it is probably the slowest and least receptive to inputs. If you can make it go fast stock then you will be infinately faster when it is modded. Also - don't underestimate the potential of a stock car. They hold a lot more performance than you might think. Until you have gotten everything out of it that you can can you honestly say you are ready for the next step?

In terms of the tires - same basic principal. R's cover up mistakes. They grip when you should probably have spun. You actually learn how to drive the car on street tires.

 

Well said, Cobra. Input appreciated. Looks like I possibly missed some good lessons learning to how to drive a stock car well, but I ain't turning back now!

 

I am a recent convert to this school of thought so I know where you are coming from. I spent 10 years autocorssing a modded car on R compounds but with my recent dive into track events I have found that my completely stock car with street tires is providing me a very good challenge. I do plan on doing the suspension before the spring but only because I am on a somewhat accelerated "getting ready for the Honda-Challenge" schedule.

 

Exactly... if you can make something fly around a course that isn't exactly a rocket, think how fast you can be when you've got something that's actually fast. By keeping the changes minimal now, you can work on the driver until he/she is no longer a variable. Once that is out of the way, you can work on the car knowing that you will be able to gauge changes in the car more accurately because the driver isn't part of the equation. It will be a little irritating at first because you MIGHT get beaten by some faster cars and not necessarily faster drivers. But YOU will become better in the process of learning how to extract 100% of the car's potential while trying to chase them.

 

very helpful perspectives, gentlemen. your rationale makes good sense to me. I guess I was not up to the challenges and lessons of learning to drive stock because, as was pointed out, a modded car can be "easier" to drive, and I took the easy route My car in its stock form just felt like such a pig compared to now...

 

I pretty much fell into the same route with my Integra. I started tinkering with things right after I got it that hampered my learning a bit and pushed me into STS. I got my new car in August and have autoxed it 4 times. I've put probably 50-60 runs on the car and really haven't touched tire pressures since the first day of setting the tire pressures in order to make the car handle the way I want it to. I've been learning how to drive the car ever since and have had a fun time trying to chase cars on good tires.

 

Good advice....Thanks.
Should I not use my new kumho's and just get a set of goood street tires to learn on?