Theres a autox every sunday near me and I would like to start doing it, but my car definatly is not ready for it because it handles very bad. If I try to take turns sharp while accelerating slightly the wheels just loose grip and want to slide into the curb. Is this because I have open differential? But the main thing is whenever im in a turn, the back end starts to feel like jello and wants to slide out.

93 hatch cx
strut bar up front
(i think blown) koni struts with eibach coilovers, front lowered about 1.5 and the back the coilovers are raised all the way up...

Now I would really like to get some new struts and springs,but theres so many out there I dont even know where to start, im somewhat on a budget to. Please give me some recomendations of what to get..


-------------------------------

UPDATE

Ok the shocks are definately orange and not yellow. I took my tire off and tried to find the part number as best as I could. This is what I could see...

From top to bottom :

ADJUSTABLE
Made By KONI HOLLAND

8040 1146

5101 ....then it says ''DO NOT....'' and I cant make out the rest.

The front konis have yellow ractive springs/coilovers and the rear have red eibach spings/coilovers....


Modified by LShatchie at 7:54 PM 9/6/2005

 

Get your Konis rebuilt and get some decent tires.

 

The konis seem kinda old, they say koni on them and they look orange... My tires are falken ze 512's 195/50/15...

any one else??

 

If they're Koni yellows, they can be rebuilt, and that'd be your best option. It's also what 98% of the people on this forum will suggest you do. Rebuilding is relatively cheap, gives you one of the best shocks available, and can be built to your specification. Honestly, it doesn't get a lot better than that, at least for any reasonable price range. And those are all-season tires.

Beyond that, work on the nut behind the wheel (you). There are lots of people who've used crappy setups for a long time and are still fast. It's all about track time.

 

Ok im definatly going to get some pictures because I honestly cannot figure out what they are besides they are some sort of konis and are orange. And ur saying that many people have done autox with shitty suspension setups and have had good times??

Here my problem, my car is bouncy as hell... and handles terribly. Let my put it like this, I drove a rental car which was a 2005 grand am and it handles 2x better than my car... Oh and another thing, I dont really want coilovers I would rather have a strut/shock and spring combo...

 

I'm saying autoxing, and most other competitive driving, is 90% driver. Of course it's not ideal. Pictures would definitely help. Why would you prefer a spring/shock combo over coilovers, just out of curiousity?

 

I just like springs better... dont like the idea of having coilovers where they can be wrongly adjusted ect..

I really like how my friends 90 hatch handles.... he has stock suspension with 13" steelies and that thing handles sooo good, grips the road like no other

 

Kinda funny.. there was a thread like this a few months ago and I posted how well I thought my car handled... dont mean to offend anyone either, I love my honda its just I would like it to handle better. I think I coulda picked a different title tho

 

Stock suspension is worthless. Seriously. I think you need to go for a ride with someone who has something decent. Go to the next autox, ask around the Honda guys who's willing to give a noob a ride, most people are nice and willing to do so (though the guys who are more serious about competition won't due to the additional weight factor; don't be pissed, it's nothing personal).

 

you can tell the manufacturng date by the numbers printed on the shock. tell me what the numbers are and ill tell you how old they are.


and turning while accelerating is naturally going to cause you to understeer, which is what you described. thats just what happens, its not an indication the car is not handling well, its an indication the driver is not driving well.

 

I was simply stating that my friends stock suspension handles better than mine, I am pretty sure my shocks are blown so I am riding on the bump stops or whatever...

Ill find out what the numbers are tonight and ill post em up

 

Ah, I misunderstood you then. Yes, get numbers/pics up.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LShatchie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
(i think blown) koni struts with eibach coilovers, front lowered about 1.5 and the back the coilovers are raised all the way up...
</TD></TR></TABLE>
Whats up with the back being raised way up? Might wanna get tophats so you dont blow the koni's again.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ohjolt2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Whats up with the back being raised way up? </TD></TR></TABLE>

thats what i was thinking.

set your ride height to something even all around,
and lower than stock,
you don't need to dump your car, it'll actually handle better with a medium drop,
but stock height is no good as well.

just leave some gap between the fender and tire and u'll be fine.

also if you have koni yellows, then they are adjustable.
if they ARE blown, then yeah, ur car will handle like ****.
if they work, then turn the damping up(stiffer). not too stiff up front however.

also wut kinda wheels/tires do you have?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LShatchie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I just like springs better... dont like the idea of having coilovers where they can be wrongly adjusted ect.. </TD></TR></TABLE>

well thats good,
alot of people just buy products cuz they think the crazy insane ammount of
control means it automatically works better. then they give it crap settings and it runs like ****.

get ur shocks fixed.
and get a nice spring. neuspeed race springs are a good buy.

 

The back coilover is all the way raised up because I had to go through inspection and ive never lowered it since, mainly because it looks fine, only has like a 1 inch gap between tire and fender. Also the shocks have a allen wrench fitting on the top where the main bolt is so I geuss they are adjustable...

When I had the konis off of the rear, I was able to push down on the main rod part and it would not spring back this definatly means they are blown right??

Also where would I take them to get them rebuilt?

 

UPDATE

Ok the shocks are definately orange and not yellow. I took my tire off and tried to find the part number as best as I could. This is what I could see...

From top to bottom :

ADJUSTABLE
Made By KONI HOLLAND

8040 1146

5101 ....then it says ''DO NOT....'' and I cant make out the rest.

The front konis have yellow ractive springs/coilovers and the rear have red eibach spings/coilovers....

 

yeah if the piston wont come back out the shock is dead.

call up koni,
http://www.koni.com

 

So that means all 4 of my shocks are blown, they are all like this... is that why it rides and handles so bad???

And do you know which konis I have? Are they some old school koni from like 5 years ago?

 

bump

 

Yeah, that means they're all bad, and yeah, that'd be at least partly why your car handles so bad. Given that they SOUND old, you'd have to call up Koni to figure out which model you have.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LShatchie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
When I had the konis off of the rear, I was able to push down on the main rod part and it would not spring back this definatly means they are blown right??
</TD></TR></TABLE>

wait a sec, konis are notoriously known for their huge amount of rebound damping. they take forever to "spring back" on their own. i would NOT consider this an immediate sign that they are blown.

a inconsistent feel while pushing down is what i believe a good indicator of a blown shock.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">wait a sec, konis are notoriously known for their huge amount of rebound damping. they take forever to "spring back" on their own. i would NOT consider this an immediate sign that they are blown.

a inconsistent feel while pushing down is what i believe a good indicator of a blown shock.</TD></TR></TABLE>

he said they would not spring back out on their own,

so I guess he can clarify,
but it sounded to me like he meant they didnt come back out at all.

even on full stiff they'll stil come back out immediately,
even if they move at a slow pace

 

Oh well you can push down on them, they are a little stiff and you have to pull it back out.

 

I mean has anyone ever heard of orange konis?