My ep3 is a little sloppy when I throw it around. I did tokico struts and tein s techs. I also installed esmm inserts. My next mod, I think is going to be a type s sway bar. I don't know. tell me what you think.

 

I would suggest ditching that suspension setup for full coilovers and getting some good tires. A rear sway bar couldnt hurt either.

 

A sway bar will really change the way your ride handles. It really stiffens your rear end and limits body roll a lot. If you are focusing on suspension, you can't overlook your rear sway bar. Its the way to go

 

I was interested in coilovers, but from what I understand they are ment to be corner weighted, correct? How whould you dial in the suspension without it? I have always been a drag oriented guy, but because of the cost of an a2 I'm going to be focusing on the handling and braking of the car. I also installed axxis ultimate brake pads on the front and they work alot better and the oem pads.

 

Type r sway bar is better. $99!

 

What do you mean by sloppy?
Installing a rear sway bar on your car will stiffen the rear suspension and will cause increased oversteer (when the rear of the car gets loose). This may not be what you want concidering you already think the car is sloppy. In my opinion your should learn to drive the car better(go to autocross events and hpde events) and when your driving skills become limited by the car THEN you should change your suspension. Just my opinion....do what you want.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thrty8street &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I would suggest ditching that suspension setup for full coilovers and getting some good tires. A rear sway bar couldnt hurt either.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Full coilovers = overkill for 95% of Honda-Tech.

What Tokico's do you have?

 

The car seems to not follow a line when I go full throttle around a turn or curve. I had a 89 crx si before this car and the crx felt alot tighter. It might just be the character of the strut suspension as oppossed to the double wishbone. I just want the car to follow a line.

I have tokico HP's.

I also wanted to know what the widest tire I could fit on the stock 02 wheel. I know everyone going to tell me to get bigger wheels that isn't an option finacially.

 

Did you even think to get the car aligned after replacing the most basic suspension components?

 

You're not going to be able to compare your car to the old crx. The crx has a much shorter wheel base, less weight, lower center of gravity, and probably had less power than your car.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ryanplayjoint &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The car seems to not follow a line when I go full throttle around a turn or curve. </TD></TR></TABLE>
Full throttle through a turn is not always the fastest way.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by WhiteOnRice &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Did you even think to get the car aligned after replacing the most basic suspension components?</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

my old crx had a lsvtec in it and it didn't flop around as much as the ep.

I aligned it, but the camber is negative at all four corners. I am looking into reducing the front sway bar size and increasing the rear I was thinking something as close to 22 front & rear like the ctr. I also want to change my tires to a wider conact patch. I was reading that for a ep on stock 15inch wheels a 205 is about the limit. What do you think?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ryanplayjoint &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">my old crx had a lsvtec in it and it didn't flop around as much as the ep.

I aligned it, but the camber is negative at all four corners. I am looking into reducing the front sway bar size and increasing the rear I was thinking something as close to 22 front & rear like the ctr. I also want to change my tires to a wider conact patch. I was reading that for a ep on stock 15inch wheels a 205 is about the limit. What do you think?</TD></TR></TABLE>

The JDM CTR had a 25.4mm front (same as USDM and UKDM) and 22mm rear sway. The EP3-R never came with a 22mm front sway bar in any country. The only difference in the JDM sway are the bends to accommodate for the K20A header.

I personally run 205's on my 02-04 RSX wheels; but if I had to do it over I would go for 215. 225 is probably the max you would want to go on the EP...any more than that and it would be overkill and could even hurt performance. I'm not sure what the max tire you could fit on a 15" EP wheel; but try and go with the max possible when you find out as I'm sure it is under 225.

You will likely never get the EP to handle as good as your CRX, as the CRX had a superior suspension setup from the ground up.

The EP has a number of things wrong in its design; but the items that strike me as most inferior is the McPherson suspension and center of gravity. The COG isn't too terrible; but when you compare it to the CRX its a fairly significant hindrance. The suspension itself wasn't too bad and was better perfected on the newer FG and FD chassis, but the mounting of the tie rods to the strut arm was a huge flaw in the design.

Unfortunately there is only so much you can do to improve the EP's handling. The biggest and most significant flaw is in the chassis design, and unless you plan on doing some serious welding and fabrication that isn't likely to change. This is the biggest reason why the EP and DC5 were largely written off by tuners around the world.

 

Get camber kits and get your car aligned.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by WhiteOnRice &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Full coilovers = overkill for 95% of Honda-Tech.

What Tokico's do you have?</TD></TR></TABLE>

lol what do you have against honda-tech?

 

Just estimating that 1 out of 20 HT members actually take their car out onto a track where coilovers are "needed."

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by WhiteOnRice &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just estimating that 1 out of 20 HT members actually take their car out onto a track where coilovers are "needed."</TD></TR></TABLE>

um not all coilovers were made for tracking. That wasnt an accurate statement you just made.

 

Yeah coils are definitely necessary for daily trips to school, work, avoiding potholes and maybe a few twisties here and there.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by WhiteOnRice &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yeah coils are definitely necessary for daily trips to school, work, avoiding potholes and maybe a few twisties here and there. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Im glad we could come to an agreement. Sarcasm noted.

 

If what your saying about the CTR sway bar diameters are true than ephatch has the wrong specs under their suspension sticky. I've also read on that site that the 05 and up type s sway bar is 21mm and will bolt in w/ just bushings and bar. Do you know if this information is right? I would like to try a larger diameter sway bar. I am most likely going to pick up 205/55 kumho ecstas. they are a decent price and I don't want to invest in a pricey tire until I know for sure the wear pattern of a tire installed on my ep.

I would get camber kits front & rear, but I have been reading poor reviews about the camber bolts for the front and that camber doesn't contribute to tire wear. Weather the second stament is true or not I will find out with my new tires.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ryanplayjoint &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If what your saying about the CTR sway bar diameters are true than ephatch has the wrong specs under their suspension sticky. I've also read on that site that the 05 and up type s sway bar is 21mm and will bolt in w/ just bushings and bar. Do you know if this information is right? I would like to try a larger diameter sway bar. I am most likely going to pick up 205/55 kumho ecstas. they are a decent price and I don't want to invest in a pricey tire until I know for sure the wear pattern of a tire installed on my ep.

I would get camber kits front & rear, but I have been reading poor reviews about the camber bolts for the front and that camber doesn't contribute to tire wear. Weather the second stament is true or not I will find out with my new tires.</TD></TR></TABLE>

The original listed sway bar size of the CTR was wrong on ephatch. I posted a correction in the sway bar size thread.

Here are the suspension specs of the JDM CTR: http://www.honda.co.jp/factboo....html

Same sway size as the USDM EP3, 25.4mm.

As far as camber kits go. Don't waste your money on the front...it's not necessary. A camber kit in the rear would be a good idea for performance since you can add a little bit more negative camber in the rear. The real enemy of tires is toe...camber isn't a huge deal in comparison.

I'd also try and go for some better springs. The S-techs aren't all that great of a spring from what I hear. They are fine for daily driving; but if you want a little bit more, then start looking at replacing your springs. Honestly if you can afford it go for the Mugen SS....or if you can find them the HFP suspension that occassionally pops up on ebay.

Good luck with your setup...the rear sway will definitely be a bit improvement.