So about 2 months ago, i bought my first car, a 1995 Honda Civic DX Hatch, and i love it. Bad thing is i expected too much out of the handling, and its not so great. I recently put on neuspeed sport springs, and just ordered a tanabe rear sway bar. I was just wondering from you guys out there, what would be the best bang for my buck handling upgrade.

Also, i mean budget stuff, i work a minimum wage dishwashing gig to pay for the car, lower price is always welcome.


Modified by EGBuddy at 12:09 AM 11/11/2005

 

You could also freshen up the bushigns by replacing them with OEM rubber ones. The poly are nice but they have their shortcomings. About the only thing better than than poly for certain susp bushings is a spherical or delrin. Not all bushings can benefit from switching to poly; sometimes it can cause an unatural range of motion, hindering the ability of the suspension as a whole.

 

The next thing I would do is tires. Seriously, get some sticky summer tires and it will dramatically improve handling. There are several "budget summer high-performance" tires that are relativly cheep for the amount of grip they provide. Look in the wheel and tire forum for some of nsxtacy's posts, or just make a thread and he will break it down for you.

 

best handling upgrade?

in order of importance:

1. tires.
2. Tires.
3. TIRES.
4. making sure your wheels are pointing straight, aka 4 wheel alignment.
5. fresh shocks.
6. springs.

 

Ok, tires. Im buying a set of 15" black 5-spokes from a friend, and ill wrap them in some new tires. Guess ill have to start putting pay checks away for some koni yellows or something. Thanks for the advice!

 

tokico illuminas.

 

not necessarily new tires, GOOD tires, there's a difference.

 

Im rocking some toyo all seasons right now, haha.

Ill get a more aggressive tread pattern on the 15s if i can afford them.

How much do the tokiko illuminas run?

 

these are just retail prices.


92-95, exc S/W, Front, BU3456, $115.10 ea
BU3457, $115.10 ea
Rear, BU2847, $109.48 ea

you can probably get a better deal at shox.com

 

falken azenis rt-615 very good choice in my opinion, 205-50-15 would work great for you, i love mine

 

yeah Falken Azeni or their lower priced but competitive counterpart, Hankook R-S2 Z212. But neither are really budget minded since you'll have to replace them within 15,000 miles, 20,000 if you go damn easy on em. I'd go with something sticky but longer laster such as Toyo Proxes 4 or Yokohama ES100.

The Hankook Z212's are about $75 a tire and worth double that in the grip they allow, but if your on a budget, go with a lower priced or longer lasting summer tire.

I did springs/shocks on my car with Toyo Proxes 4 and it was a good set-up (tokico illumina/H&R sport) but now i'm rockin the HAnkook Z212, 22mm CTR rear sway have have Buddy Club coils on the way. Best bang for the buck is spring/shock after TIRES. sway bars are great, but i'd go

#1 tires of high quality summer
#2 shocks
#3 springs
#4 rear sway bar