Warning: This got a little longer than I expected....sorry about that. Forums are for reading though right

Having been into the Honda scene since late 1998, I've owned over 25 Honda's since then. The majority having been CRX's, 92-95 hatches and coupes, a 4door 95 Accord, and a few Integra's. I've also dabbled with DSM's, but due to the heavy chassis, tons of body flex, and inadequate brakes I've never really been sold on them as an "entire package" car. I've had suspension setups ranging from lowering springs/stock everything else on a Civic coupe to 1 piece H&R's, susp. tech swaybars, full bushings, full bracing, braided brake lines on the Accord. I've got a good indication of the Honda feel, as well as the feel of a very stable good handling car.

Last year I picked up a rolling chassis DelSol Si. The car is in great shape, no prior accidents, and came on Skunk2 coilovers and Tokico struts. No bracing has been done anywhere, as I mainly focused on the important part of the build first....power production.

After a six month build including a GT30R and alot of fab time, along with my own headwork and engine build, the car hit the street in late August.

So allowing for break in time and my busy fab schedule for customer work, I haven't had a ton of seat time in the car, especially at any significant speeds other than some tire spinning jaunts through a couple gears.

Now, having just finished tuning on 880's at 10psi I took the car for a highway/street run three days ago. I couldn't be more disappointed. I've never owned a DelSol, but the chassis flex has shown itself on more than one occasion. The rear wheel just slightly unlevel with the rest, wouldn't even let me latch the top shut.

On this highway run, we have a number of interchanges and highway complexities in and around the city of Pittsburgh. With the power the car is putting down, getting up to triple digit speeds doesn't take much other than fighting the steering wheel.

Now, as is the nature of fwd, its understandable some lateral load capability is going to be taken from the tire as tire spin or acceleration is introduced (circle of traction..blah blah), but the fact is this car feels almost disassociated from the steering wheel.

I approached a sweeping right turn at about 110, went into it at steady rate speedwise to balance the car and it just felt hugely delayed on initial turn in. In addition, it just felt like it wanted to push if I went any harder. I can only associate this lack of "feel" to the fact the car is flexing heavily along with a lack of dampning.

I intend to check the front suspension, ball joint, wheel bearings, and tie rods. I also intend to start a myriad of bracing tactics to get this car stable, but I have to admit, I'm not happy. The current tune is at 10psi, and I intend to go more. With this level of accelerative ability though, I need to know the handling of the car can keep the car stable. I really enjoy middle of the night, high speed highway runs, and this car just isn't going to do it with any factor of safety.

I don't want to cage the car, but I do believe a bracing attack could work. I feel the suspension is lacking do to some excessive bounce, so strut wear could be an issue. I will probably end up going with some Tein Basics over winter here in prep for next year.

Any insight on Delsol chassis....do they truly suck or is there something at work here that I need to address?

Disclaimer: Please don't give me your opinions on highway jaunts at night. I enjoy it, the roads are all but empty, and I'm not talking about Getaway in Stockholm here. I just like to have some fun at night through all the interchanges and what not and enjoy the GT30r putting in a good night at the office.

 

del sols suck for handling. but others could prove me wrong! there's a bay area resident that road races his and does quite well from what i can remember. lemme try to find his username and maybe he can give you some insight. and lastly, tein basics suck IMO

 

found him!

parislohan

 

its not the car... its the driver

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vietnameeh &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">its not the car... its the driver</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well, then go dominate the SCCA World Challenge in a stock chassis, stock suspension delsol Mario Andretti. Contribute true knowledge, not your one liners.

I merely am looking for insight to determine whether or not what I'm experience is typical Delsol, or if I need to investigate this further (which honestly I'm gonna do anyway). I have just always read that the chassis have significant flex, and I'm just attempting to determine how much impact results from the flex.

 

Let me guess... you put all this extra power into the car but didn't even bother checking that suspension was up to snuff to handle it?

I'm also going to guess these are Skunk2 sleeve coilovers on Tokico HP shocks. Absoultely junk setup. For one thing you need to toss those shocks, and maybe even the coilovers too. Get a good quality setup like GC/Koni that can handle that kind of power and speed.

But you have to expect more chassis flex, as the car doesn't have a fixed roof. Of course chassis reinforcement was added, but Honda had to keep the weight from getting too high.

In the end you may just have to cage it to get the kind of rigidity you want.

Oh, and I don't care what you say, STOP RACING ON THE DAMN STREET!!!!!!!!!!

 

There is a thing called a budget bro. The car wasn't believed to have the best setup money could buy, but I guarantee on a hatch or coupe chassis it would be more adequate, which is why I didn't focus on it. I had to set aside some items for this winter in order to get the build to hit the street this year.

The loss of rigidity from the roof is obvious, along with the higher floor sills and additional subframe components. These facts are obvious and don't really need explanation. My question is for former or current delsol owners to speak on behalf of their own experiences and handling of their non-race modified DelSol....that's it.

This Suspension forum is filled with some weird individuals I must say. All I see is threads about "slamming" cars, and I haven't had one true answer pertaining to my question, just a bunch of this sucks and that sucks opinions.

So, my GT30 setup sucks because I didn't buy PIC's and act hardcore with the Z6 , Skunks with Tokico's suck, Tein Basics suck, street racing sucks even though I'm not racing anyone Ok young bucks, see ya later.

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Thanks for the insight

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RC000E &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
So, my GT30 setup sucks because I didn't buy PIC's and act hardcore with the Z6 , Skunks with Tokico's suck, Tein Basics suck</TD></TR></TABLE>

just stating the obvious... what more do you want other than 'opinions.' that's all this forum ever has. sure there are facts, but things like 'what suspension should i buy' is solely based on opinion. but like i said before, you can make a del sol handle well, ask PARISLOHAN or others in the RR forum

soo, if you want better handling, stay away from tein basics and spend that money on proven setups.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RC000E &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There is a thing called a budget bro. The car wasn't believed to have the best setup money could buy, but I guarantee on a hatch or coupe chassis it would be more adequate, which is why I didn't focus on it. I had to set aside some items for this winter in order to get the build to hit the street this year.

The loss of rigidity from the roof is obvious, along with the higher floor sills and additional subframe components. These facts are obvious and don't really need explanation. My question is for former or current delsol owners to speak on behalf of their own experiences and handling of their non-race modified DelSol....that's it.

This Suspension forum is filled with some weird individuals I must say. All I see is threads about "slamming" cars, and I haven't had one true answer pertaining to my question, just a bunch of this sucks and that sucks opinions.

So, my GT30 setup sucks because I didn't buy PIC's and act hardcore with the Z6 , Skunks with Tokico's suck, Tein Basics suck, street racing sucks even though I'm not racing anyone Ok young bucks, see ya later.

[/thread]</TD></TR></TABLE>

I don't know where you're getting your impression of the suspension forum, but it's by far one of the more technical-oriented forums on H-T. I think most of the "slammed y0" threads are in Appearance/Cosmetic and some of the model-specific forums. I know there are a few ricers asking how to get totally dumped in this forum, but in general most of the regulars in this forum look down upon it.

And yes I know there are budgets and things like that, but I hold the opinion that suspension should ALWAYS come before engine mods, especially when you're adding lots more power like with forced induction. Running stiff coilovers on junk shocks is not a good idea anyway, but when there is ALOT more power than stock, it's an even worse idea.

 

the setup i had on my sol was full omnis with race springrates, suspension techniques front and rear sway bars, energy suspension bushings, and strut and tie bars front and rear. the whole was was very stiff and hardly flexed at all. 3 wheeled turning into almost anywhere with a slight incline and had no problems with the roof while doing it.

my 2nd del sol felt a lot better then my 1st with the same setup....even just driving normal just plane rode better....

could just be ur car...could be the setup..

 

I have a 93 delsol with an ITR swap. I'm still having trouble with the right balance of parts. But here is the Set-up now:

1in sway bar in front.
Stock upper strut bar.
Energy Suspension Master bushing set.
Pro-kit springs
Illumina Shocks
Harness bar
22mm Rear sway/ASR brace
EM racing rear trunk brace - strut - floor - and cross brace.

Around town it's fine, but on the track i need a little more. For the most part this set up works ok, but I seem to bottom out when I really push it around the track. And I'm not cool with that. I set the shocks to #4 on the front and #5 on the rear, this gives it a very neutral feel. The car doesn't handle very well if set it to 5 & 5. I think i need more spring but I'm not sure what rate to go with yet. That will be my winter project. So, blasting around town or on the track I have no chassis flex.

Here is how I drive most of the time. Although I drive to the track and around town, some.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NPk9zsNQ5A

 

Yeah if you're doing any kind of AutoX or road course racing, I'd bet the ProKit springs aren't stiff enough. Those are meant to be more of a street application with only a mild increase in spring rate and mild ride height reduction.

 

having chassis flex doesnt automatically negate a car's handling ability... Miata for example. I'd bet they have as much if not more flex than the Del Sol and they are still an incredibly capable car, given a good setup and a reasonable driver.

fix the setup and the driver then if you still think its utter **** you can blame the car