I'd like to see what would happen if I put some stiffer rear springs in my R. Nothing radical, just to see if I could reduce the understeer ( I already put in the JDM rear bar and that seemed to cut the understeer in half).

I'm not looking to lower the car as there are too many curbs, pot holes and dead animals in the road where I live.

Any suggestions as to how I might be able to do this? Any aftermarket springs out there that I could adapt? Any other Honda springs fit?

As an alternative, which aftermarket spring kits lower the rear the least? And what spring rate is used?

Thanks and I look forward to any feedback you might have.

John

 

Hey John, out of curiosity, what have you done to your car in terms of handling? The stock R is quite neutral in most track situations, in fact, one of the most neutral cars I've driven short of a Z06.

 

Hi Jimbob,

The feeling I have from my car is that it pushes ever so slightly. I'd just like to move it slightly to the looser side and figured that this was the best way to do it. I already put on the 1 mm larger JDM bar and used Energy Suspension bushings to do it. That helped, but I sense a bit of push.

Every vehicle is a little different from the next, so perhaps your's is more neutral than mine. My racing karts used to do a nice little drift where the rear tires would take an ever so slightly larger arc than the front.

Maybe I just miss rear wheel drive too much?
John

 

My R pushed way too much, but I had H&R sports. Now I have a 400 front 600 rear setup. On the street it rotates beautifully, totally predictable. I think it will be a lot of fun on the track. Phat Bastard has alot more track experience than me, maybe he'll chime in...

 

In what situations do you feel the car is understeering too much? Are we talking about track events or autox?

 

Also when autocrossing I find that jacking up the rear psi helps in getting rid of some understeer. I ran 42F 44R (on Azenis) at an autocross today and she only pushed a bit through some tight, low speed corners. I think I might try even more pressure in the rears at my next event.

 

Most aftermarket spring sets are still geared towards street use. They use a spring rate that's much higher in the front in comparison to the back. 400F/600R is what I would reccomend for a more neutral setup on race compounds. If it's rotating well on the street at lower speeds, it can sometimes be a little too much on the track, but perfect for autox.

Of course, I doubt that the stock shocks will last very long with 400/600 combo, so perhaps just changing the rear spring is an option if you feel it's still understeering too much.

 

If you only found understeer occurring in tight, low speed corners and nowhere else, I'd say you would be better off going into those corners slower. Sounds like the car is fairly well balanced. Understeer will always occur when you dive into corners too hot.

 

"In what situations do you feel the car is understeering too much? Are we talking about track events or autox?"

Actually when I commute to work.............

John

 

"My R pushed way too much, but I had H&R sports. Now I have a 400 front 600 rear setup. On the street it rotates beautifully, totally predictable. I think it will be a lot of fun on the track. Phat Bastard has alot more track experience than me, maybe he'll chime in..."

Ddub, what's youe setup? GC's?

Thanks,
John
_______

 

Another thing to try (I've done this) is to get an alignment and instead of the stock toe-in on the rear, tell them you want to go with Zero toe.

 

Good point Reid, I'm still rather new at this, but the car also pushed a little coming out of the turn as well, othing extream, but enough to notice. So far I've been amazed at the cars stock handling.

 

Bilsteins and Hypercoils


[Modified by Ddub, 6:23 AM 6/24/2002]

 

I used to run 400F/600R. Also ran 600F/900R on revalved Konis and sleeves. Worked great, though the 600/900 were a little on the high side for the valving that I speced.

You can run OOTB Bilsteins up to 400F/600R and they'll be just a little bit bouncy, but not bad. 400/500 is fine too if you want a decent street ride while still reducing understeer a little more.

And yes, the stock car still understeers.

Warren