so i have been reading a lot of threads on many different kinds of suspension upgrades. and i have come to the conclusion that i should look into a lot of these before i boost. the car is rather sloppy as of right now. ive got a 95 LS with 116,xxx on the clock. the only thing i have upgraded since i have purchased the car is my exhaust.
so the real question here is ..... what works? what doesnt? should i replace stuff before i upgrade parts? i just want the firmest, best handling car before i boost. or at least make it tighter than it is right now.
i just want to know what is worth the money and what can wait . . . .

 

well first of all you gotta decide what the goals for your car are, drag or autocross or daily driver. If you are going to daily drive you should go with a upgraded shock and spring suspension. If you are going track go with a full coilover something like Tein flex or SS. Another good upgrade is the ITR sway bar with the BSQ kit. But its basically all up to your goals and what the use of the car is going to be like. I advice you to search more.

 

Lets talk. . . suspension forum!

 

I agree, you might want to look around in the suspension forum and learn more about bushings, shocks, springs, adjustable springs, threaded body shocks, etc.

If your car has that many miles and is feeling sloppy, I would suggest bushings would be the first thing in need of attention. If you look under your car, you should see some pretty worn rubber at every point in your steering and suspension system. I would suggest replacing them all with OEM Honda stuff. Some of the other companies who make urethane bushings, like Prothane, ES, etc may be a little hard for a daily driver, but it's up to you depending on your goals.

As Integra714 said, your decision should be based on your goals - drag, autocross, road race, occasional track day daily driver, or just daily driver. If you are serious about road racing for example, you would want to pick suspension components that follow the rules in the class you are interested in competing in.

The general rule of thumb is that Koni is probably considered the best shock out there in terms of customizability, warranty, flexibility - could use springs or coilover sleeves, and customer service. CRX Lee, who works for Koni-NA, has been a great help to many people in choosing, installing, revalving, and maintaining their Konis.
Most people will tell you to go with a GC and Koni Yellow setup because of it's reasonable cost, reliability, and flexibility.

Tein and Progress, as well as a variety of other companies also make great full threaded shock body adjustable coilovers as well, so if you are interested in that approach, you should research those as well. If you don't care about adjustability of height, and only worry about being able to adjust for damping/rebound, I would definitely go with a set of Koni Yellows and some Eibach, Progress, Neuspeed, Vogtland, or H&R springs, upgrade your bushings, and go from there.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by integra714 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well first of all you gotta decide what the goals for your car are, drag or autocross or daily driver. If you are going to daily drive you should go with a upgraded shock and spring suspension. If you are going track go with a full coilover something like Tein flex or SS. Another good upgrade is the ITR sway bar with the BSQ kit. But its basically all up to your goals and what the use of the car is going to be like. I advice you to search more.</TD></TR></TABLE>

daily driver. i will be running 8psi when all said and done.

and what is a BSQ kit?

 

BSQ or Beaks kit is used with a sway bar as a subframe reinforcement. Search.. there are tons of posts about them.

 

One of the best handling upgrades you can do (along with the above) is a new set of good performance tires. If you can't grip the pavement all the power in the world and suspension upgrades are rendered useless.

Another good upgrade is your own skills. Join the SCCA and learn to autox or join NASA and learn to road race. Driving skills are invaluable.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Gee3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">One of the best handling upgrades you can do (along with the above) is a new set of good performance tires. If you can't grip the pavement all the power in the world and suspension upgrades are rendered useless.

Another good upgrade is your own skills. Join the SCCA and learn to autox or join NASA and learn to road race. Driving skills are invaluable. </TD></TR></TABLE>

this aint no lie! i just traded my fat fives with half *** tires cause i was broke at the time and had bald tires for some buddy club p-1 15x6.5 with very good sumitomo (spelling?) tires. i can feel the weight difference and the handling difference. now i feel more confident about future upgrades.

on good wheel and tire combos

 

I think the omnipower setup is fairly good for the price. They are alot cheaper than tein and do a good job for scca and drag...

 

just opinions here .. should i drop the car or install an ITR rear sway bar first? i only have the money for one, but what would i feel a benefit from? or in this case is it my choice?

to be honest ... the buddy clubs dont look that hot with stock ride height. i didnt mind with my fat fives, but now that i am getting more mods done, it looks silly. but i am function over form, so if ya'll say ITR bar before springs, thats what i will do.

 

id say get shocks/springs first..thats what i did, then i got a 19mm rear sway..

works great for autox w/ the exception of the tein ss..

 

Like it has been said so many times... it all depends on what you want to do with your car. But I will also add, dont get something you are going to be dissapointed in later. Think of your long term goals for your project. Like me for instance, I went with an Apex'i WS setup for daily driving. But now I want to do a little road racing and autocross. Now I am looking at upgrading my coilovers becuase mine are too soft. So take it from me... dont look at the quick fix, think about the the long haul.

Now I am going to shop for Cusco coilovers on EBAY