I'm about to totally revamp/ upgrade my suspension set up on my 1992 hatch. For reference, car has slightly more weight than factory cx hatchback due to a 1994 GSR swap and DC2 Integra brakes front and rear.

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First, I shall list the items that I've been considering purchasing and hope to see if anyone has any suggestions for any alternative parts that might offer better performance for price.

-- Like the look of the Password:Jdm holiday special that includes 3 point front solid tower bar, 4 point rear solid tower bar and includes ASR subrframe reinforcement brace - not bad for $589 ---- > https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1391190

-- Just thinking about buying Suspension Techniques sway bars; I've heard good things about them, but don't know if there might be any better alternatives, as long as the price is still reasonable. I currently have the LCA's from the integra, so I have the factory brackets for use of the sway bars. I figured that I might as well step it up from the beginning and just sell the 95 Oem bars.

-- I've heard about launch bars, such as those produced by full-race but don't know if these would offer me much benefit. Currently the car is a daily driver, but I ultimately plan to take it to the track and road courses. Not too concerned with 1/4 mile times or anything, but these bars could greatly improve acceleration from a start I would consider a purchase. I don't think they're too expensive or nething.

-- Haven't really decided on what to do with suspension. Any suggestions on a full coilovers or a coilover set with adjuststable shocks? Not sure yet whether I should shoot for the $700-$800 price range or instead shoot for something like the tein flex for $1350. Is there any middle grounds. I've heard great things about tein anyone have anything bad to say about a set of tein flex in a eg hatch?

-- Energy Suspension bushings. What are they about $120 for a full set? Are they worth it?


Anything else that might help me have a complete suspension and solid chasis that I've failed to investigate?


Thanks for the input h-t

 

Also considering buying a camber kit. Is this necessary? Is it a big plus. I was going to buy the Skunk 2 kit, but I heard that they are recalling many of them. What are the best alternatives. What is the cost? The suspension set up I have will have pillow ball top mounts, if that makes a difference.

 

I'm sure that there are some matches for some of my questions on here somewhere but I think that this topic is tech / performance related and should help tabulate a comprehensive list of information on complete eg civic and dc integra suspension and modification.

 

I would like to know also for my 92eg

 

Get Ground controls with konis.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Crazydave &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Get Ground controls with konis.
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Which Koni? You think that's better than a full coilover such as tien? How much would that set up cost? Like 300 for the GC and 400-500 for the konis? Less?

 

Koni Yellows would be what you want. The Yellow is a better performing shock than most of the tiens until you get up into the High End Tein Stuff. For what the yellows cost and the performance and adjust-ability they give you, they are bargain.

 

Would there be a good upper pillow ball / adj camber plate mount to go with these. Or should i just buy any such as tein, etc? Is it necessary?

 

Does anyone have a TeinSS full damper kit on their EG? If so, how does it perform? My previous setup are blue tokicos /w hnr springs. but now I plan on getting a full damper kit.

 

Without spending at least $2k you can't get a better damper/spring combo than GC/Koni Yellows.

Koni has a lot of support here in the US. They are also revalve/rebuildable.

The G/C have a great warranty, (though you won't need it) and their customer support is pretty good. Not only that, but you can get any spring length or rate that you could possibly need.

I coulnd't justify getting anything other than this.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jlsmi2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Would there be a good upper pillow ball / adj camber plate mount to go with these. </TD></TR></TABLE>

There is no reason to have and adj camber plate on a car that has shocks, as moving the positions of the shock will not affect camber, You could get an extended top hato from ground control or just re-use your stocks ones.

 

Don't bother with camber kits unless you want to dial in your camber for racing purposes. Just make sure to get a good toe alignment and that will save your tires from any un-even wear. As stated before, double wish-bone suspension does not use upper shock mounts for camber/caster adjustment. You would have to purchase replacement adjustable upper control arm kits or other weird things to adjust camber. No point for a street car since they can cause other problems if your not careful.

The koni yellows are actually called "sports". They are great and come with a lifetime warranty to the original purchaser, as do the ground control coil-over sleeves. Make sure to get the proper koni version of the ground control sleeves if you decide to go that route.

If your going to lower the car 2"+, get some ground control extended upper mounts for the front. This will help restore your lost shock travel, that civics are already short on. Your other option would be to research the "shock fork" mod that I talk about on the first page of the "Koni shock install" thread. That can be found at the top of the suspension forum. It too would add shock travel, but you must have coil-over sleeves to keep from lowering the car further...

If you haven't already, you should get some sway-bars. I run stock GSR bars on my 94 CX and they really make the car feel more stable over crests & transitions.

 

Thats some good info!.. so it'll be a waste of money to get a full damper kit for street use?.. Do you think tokico blues with sportlines will do good? I'm on 195/50/15 tires btw

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 94eg! &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Make sure to get the proper koni version of the ground control sleeves if you decide to go that route.

QUOTE]

You wouldn't have the part number of this for reference so I can check prices and order?

[QUOTE=94eg!]

If your going to lower the car 2"+, get some ground control extended upper mounts for the front. This will help restore your lost shock travel, that civics are already short on. Your other option would be to research the "shock fork" mod that I talk about on the first page of the "Koni shock install" thread. That can be found at the top of the suspension forum. It too would add shock travel, but you must have coil-over sleeves to keep from lowering the car further...

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Which do you think is the better alternative: G.C. extended upper mounts or the "shock fork" mod. How do they price compare?


I'm not sure if I plan to drop it that low. It wouldn't be mandatory at first. Aside from an obviously much more rigid ride, does the civic handle better and better on the street as you drop it lower, or is there a sweet spot for height so to speak.


Thanks for input!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vc &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thats some good info!.. so it'll be a waste of money to get a full damper kit for street use?.. Do you think tokico blues with sportlines will do good? I'm on 195/50/15 tires btw</TD></TR></TABLE>


Raises a question for me. How much do different tire sizes actually affect performance. For instance I'm currently on the same 195/50/15 size tires, would my car accellerate faster/slower if I moved to 205/50/15. Does the wider tire handle better but sacrifice acceleration? All around better?


- What are the most common sizes for an eg hatch other than the factory 15" tire size 195/50/15? I heard someone saying he'd prefer 205/55/15 over 205/50/15.

- In short how does the height/width of the tire ultimately affect performance. How much adjustment will mess up the factory speedometer?

 

listen to people when they tell you to get the koni/gc combo. As for tires 195/50/15's will be fine if you have 15in rims, just make sure you get good tires. I will be using Goodyear F1 GS-D3 tires on my coupe. GL.

 

GC upper mounts:
pros- look cool & add shock compression stroke
cons- cost $120 a pair

Shock fork mod:
pros- free & adds shock compression stroke
cons- requires some work & understanding

 

How about the chasis stiffening components I mentioned. Is there an advantage using a 3 point strut tower bar in the front. How about in the rear? Does it make a difference when you put the rear strut tower bar in. I was thinking about getting the 4 point.

What about the under car chasis brace.

 

the tokico blues are pretty much stock replacments. i'd say go with some KYB agx's. they are fairly inexpensive.

the rear subframe brace/sway bar mount is a good choice. with a big diameter rear sway it can rip the sway bar mounts from the subframe.

you can get good prices on sway bars at some online acura dealerships. i got a brand new TYPE R 22mm rear sway for my EG for $70 from DELRAY acura.
don't forget to add the mounts, bushings, etc. just look up a GSR integra, or TYPE R if you want the larger diameter sway bars. i'm running a 22mm rear sway only. but i custom welded on a adjustment plate to the end of each side with holes in it. then have Heim joints going to some lower control arms. it is probably a bit much for everyday driving as u can easily off-throttle drift around turns. great for autocross of course but if you aren't careful can be not so safe on highway offramps with big thick metal railing on each side.

in my experience the 3 point front strut is useless on an EG. were the firewall part mounts it is very thin with no real reinforcement. it might make your windshield wiper motor stiffer. but taht is about it. it is also not allowed in SCCA so if you plan on autocrossing, etc, you'd have to remove it.
it's mostly to look good. don't waste your money. spend the money were it counts. like on shocks/springs/swaybars/tires

just stick with a decent 2 point front strut tower bar. like a neuspeed (which doesn't have any pivot points in it.)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hybridmoments &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">just stick with a decent 2 point front strut tower bar. like a neuspeed (which doesn't have any pivot points in it.) </TD></TR></TABLE>


Why not the 3 point? What's the difference. How about for the rear - you're suggesting that I do get the 4 point rear and the subbrace, right?

 

honestly i have no experience with the 4 point rear bars.
just an opinion. but i wouldn't waste your money on that either. a 2 point bar in the rear should be fine
you are going to notice much more of a difference with proper damper/spring combo, sway bar setup, and sticky tires.

what are you going to be using the car for? i'd say for everyday go with the smallest front sway bar you can find. you could adapt an old CRX HF sway bar to the front. it's the same diameter as a normal CRX sway, but hollow. so it's lighter and has a lower rate from being holoow. and then like a GSR rear sway bar.
if you start increasing the front sway bar size it's going to continually increase the amount of understeer you have.

since you have the B series swap would probably wanna run a higher front spring rate then a stock d series EG. maybe do something like 400f/400r
i run 450f/450r on my 4 door EG, and it is a tiny bit bumpy, but handles excellent for my taste. though your Hatch has like a 3inch shorter wheelbase then mine. so you don't need quite as large of a rear sway to get it to rotate.

seriously. forget about the gimmick strut bars. spend the money on some decent shocks ( i can highly recommend KONI/ground control combo. which you can get for about $800 to $900 check out http://www.redshiftmotorsports.com/)
they've got all the shocks and spring combos that your EG will love.
then get some decent tires. some Falken Azenis RT-615 are definitely good on the street.

Just my opinion. it's your car so choose what you like for it. i personally just don't care about "the cool items" to have on my cars. if it makes it handle better, go faster, and weigh less . then i'm interested. after that just work on your driving skills!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hybridmoments &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what are you going to be using the car for? </TD></TR></TABLE>


At this stage it is going to be a daily driver. But once I've done these upgrades I plan to use it on road courses occassionally. Overall comfort isn't the largest concern, though I don't want to give it up 100%.


<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hybridmoments &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i personally just don't care about "the cool items" to have on my cars. if it makes it handle better, go faster, and weigh less . then i'm interested. after that just work on your driving skills!</TD></TR></TABLE>


I don't care about such items either. I was asking about some of these items because I wanted to get some discussion going to see whether or not they actually did make a difference in performance.


-- I actually own a set of Integra F+R sway bars that I could install. I was under the impression that if I upgraded to suspension techinques or something like that the car would handle better.... Should I just throw on the Integra sway bars and call it a day? I was waiting to get a decent set before putting on sway bars, but if it doesn't matter i can just install them.

 

well as for the strut bars, i have a civic si front bar and a cheap ebay 2 point rear upper bar in my 1992 cx with the teg brake upgrade. I saw or see no reason to spend a lot of money on the strut bars bc with the proper sway bars, your car will handle great anyway. the upper strut bars are just to minimise flex on the top of the strut towers.

I have a 1994 Teg LS Sway bar up front and a sus tech rear bar off a teg on the rear of my civic and it drives like its on rails. i would recommend going with a stock teg bar up front and a sus tech bar out back. very solid thru turns and very stable at pretty much any speed.

The traction bars, i dont have one but a guy i know had one and it helped him out quite a bit but if you are lookin to do the sus tech bushings, that would prob take care of a lot of your flex issues in the front end.

I have a set of the tein ss in my car and i wouldnt even go back to a sleeved coilover again. these are so nice when compared to my skunkworks sleeves and agx struts. I have a couple other people around here that wouldnt have anything else in their cars again. For the money, these are a great setup and i have had mine for 3 years now and the car rides nices, still easy to adjust the spring position after 2 winters and they have been driven at their lowest point for about 6 months last year and the car still rode nice and they show no wear.

 

nice!

 

Good nfo in this thread.

As for the koni/gc combo, if you shop around a bit you can get the whole thing for ~$700. The koni's can be had from "performancecloseout" or "nolimitmotorsports" here in h-t for $450-460 shipped. And I have seen the gc coilovers for ~$250 shipped somewhere. GL.