I am looking for a good spring setup to run with. I have no idea where to go for a great set of race springs, much less what the hell I need i.e. leangth, rate, etc... I would like to have a nice drop too. btw i need them for a 96 civic with a b swap. Thanx.

 

i personally think, learn your car and the handling and then upgrade from there, do some more reasearch on different set ups and what will work for you. also if there are some old honda guys in your region.. talk to them, they usually offer up some good advice if autox is something your really into

 

i have run autox a few times before. The honda guys that i talked to just threw some eibach sportlines on them. they arent really into setups as much as they are into just runnin their cars. All of them are young. all i know is that my car plows and im looking for a lil more oversteer. Ive tried a few combos of tire pressure but its still plowing. i have 250 rate in the front and 320 in the rear. Im just lookin to upgrade to something stiffer and im not sure of a good setup.

 

A HUGE part of why your car plows is that you still haven't learned to look ahead 2 or 3 sets of cones. That helps you set up a line better and "attack" the course rather than "react" to the course.

When you "react" to the cone/cones that are right in front of you, it's too late to set up correctly and you plow. Period.

It's not the answer you want, but it's the truth.

After you learn to look ahead, you'll find that you only understeer when you really overcook it into a tight section. That can be cured with a bigger rear swaybar.

I have a Suspension Techniques Speedtech rear sway/tie combo that tuned most of the understeer out of my car. I didn't buy it until my 2nd full season of auto-x. I knew that my driving style was the problem. The swaybar was the icing on the cake.

Just be sure to look into swaybars that have some sort of reinforcement for the rear subframe. Big bars + soft-medium soft springs = subframe tearing. the bracing helps that.

My shocks are Koni yellows (adjusted to be pretty stiff) and my springs are only Neuspeed Sofports--I've had no troubles w/ the subframe due to the swaybar's big subframe brace.

hope this helps.

 

This is my 10th year autocrossing. I still have stock springs. There is so much to learn about driving that adding car setup to the mix will just slow you down. Stick with learning how to autocross better before making any mods to your car. Once you are consistently in the top 10% in PAX should you consider mods.

 

I beleive that ive heard that look 2-3 cones ahead before. I will start working on that 4 sure. Thanx for the advice I have an event this weekend and i will definatly try that. Just one quick question tho... was it difficult to get used to looking that far ahead w/o smacking too many cones? Thanx again

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FuLlRaCe XLR8R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I beleive that ive heard that look 2-3 cones ahead before. I will start working on that 4 sure. Thanx for the advice I have an event this weekend and i will definatly try that. Just one quick question tho... was it difficult to get used to looking that far ahead w/o smacking too many cones? </TD></TR></TABLE>

It's one of the hardest things to learn, but the ABSOLUTE most effective way to get faster/better.

I would definitely reccommend some sort of auto-x school--that's pretty much where I learned to do it. I still don't do it well.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FuLlRaCe XLR8R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I beleive that ive heard that look 2-3 cones ahead before. I will start working on that 4 sure. Thanx for the advice I have an event this weekend and i will definatly try that. Just one quick question tho... was it difficult to get used to looking that far ahead w/o smacking too many cones? Thanx again </TD></TR></TABLE>

It is hard to look ahead but think about it this way -

Have you ever been in a parking lot and have been looking for a space. Its pretty easy to look out the side window and look one or two aisles over yet still keep moving in your car without looking where you are going. How can you do this? You actually are using your peripheral vision to pick up the movement in front of you.

The same thing happens in autocross. Although you may be looking 3 gates ahead and have your head turned sharply away from your current direction of travel, you can still negotiate the gate thats in front of you using peripheral vision.

Another point - when you are traveling 40mph there is very little you can do to change the course of the car to avoid some obstacle that's only 30 feet ahead. Your path was already decided 30 or more feet ago. So looking at the gate 30 feet ahead does almost no good. But looking at the gate 80 or more feet ahead gives you enough time to adjust your course for that gate.

Finally, recognize that looking ahead is an "unnatural act." We human beings are hunters. Our eyes are attracted to movement. When you are driving the thing that appears to be moving the quickest is the cone closest to you. That's where you naturally will look. Training yourself to ignore the "fastest moving cone" and instead look at the distant one that appears to be moving slower goes against our nature.

Regards,
Alan

 

Very well said. I have been AX-ing for 5 years and waited until the 4th year to start modifying my ITR. Granted the ITR is pretty much perfectly set up from the factory, but as has been mentioned, I would strongly urge you to learn basic AX skills first, then you can much more intelligently decide on the best modifications to suit your car and driving style / skill.

Remember, you should be able to achieve neutral balance on virtually any car just by changing tire pressure - if you go low enough in the rear, the back end will come around !!!

 

Remember this too... lets say you are traveling at 30 mph you are moving 44 feet per second. at 60 mph you are moving at 88 feet/sec.

Do you think that you and your car can react quick enough to dodge a cone that is 5-10 feet in front of you car when you are traveling 30-60 mph? Probably not.

You car needs to be in the right place and pointed in the right direction well ahead of that point. Looking ahead will help tremdously.

 

thanx guys
before i do any suspension setups i will work on my skills FIRST.
check out this:
http://www.hondaspace.com/fullracexlr8r

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Another point - when you are traveling 40mph there is very little you can do to change the course of the car to avoid some obstacle that's only 30 feet ahead. Your path was already decided 30 or more feet ago. So looking at the gate 30 feet ahead does almost no good. But looking at the gate 80 or more feet ahead gives you enough time to adjust your course for that gate.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by itrdave &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Remember, you should be able to achieve neutral balance on virtually any car just by changing tire pressure - if you go low enough in the rear, the back end will come around !!!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Doesn't a lower pressure increase grip? wouldn't you want a higher pressure to bring the back around??

 

you can go to one extreme or the other. Ive heard real low pressures in rear can make the car loose. Ive always increased the rear pressure on my civic to get more rotation, but thats with 710's.