Hey guys I bought a 99 Civic Si. It has 80k miles on it, and it has just bolt ons. I/H/E, and a stage 1 clutch. This is my first stick shift car and I taught myself how to drive it. Well recently I started driving it a bit harder, and just having fun with it.

Whenever I redline 1st gear and shift into 2nd, I get really bad wheel hop. The whole front end shakes. Same thing when going into 3rd after redlining 2nd. However 4th is absolutely fine.

Someone told me that it's probably the way I'm driving. Is it neccesary to slip the clutch when shifting in 2nd and 3rd, or are you supposed to just drop it quickly? I shift very quickly and get on the gas immediatly after getting off the clutch.

I know people that are pushing way more power than I am, and they don't have any wheel hop problems. My tires do not spin, they just hop..

So what can it be? If it's the way I'm driving can someone please explain to me how to shift FAST and effectively?

I've seen videos of people shifting Hondas extremely fast and no problems.

This problem is really starting to annoy me so much that I always have to take it easy in 1st and have to granny shift going in 3 after redlining 2nd.

It makes it hard when me and my friends go to the track because I can't even run.

All help appreciated, Thanks!

 

plz dont say granny shifting, double clutchin like you should be

 

prolly the motors mounts... if not then get more power, tires also could have something to do with this also


Modified by ATRekh2 at 1:55 PM 3/4/2008

 

there was a thread about this awhile back. same situation. the fact it with your set up your not making rediculos amounts of power. you dont need traction bars and they would be a waste of money. not to mention that force has to go back somewhere i.e. axles, clutch, trans. just dont stomp your foot to the floor when you shift and ull be fine. you can be hard on the throttle, you just have to learn where is too hard.

 

if you're going to drive like a jackass, then get different tires. Either get suckier tires so that the tires actually spin, or much better ones that actually get traction. Have fun at the track, but please don't street race/excessive speedin.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ATRekh2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">prolly the easiest thing to do it get some traction bars.... if not motors mounts... if not then get more power so u spin... haha, tires also could have something to do with this, ur prolly driving fine, its just the car</TD></TR></TABLE>



If you're getting wheel hop on a nearly stock SI then it's the driving, not the car. Bad or weak motor mounts can be attributed to wheel hop, but I have a feeling it's your driving.

Contrary to what was just said, you can be hard on the throttle as long as you know how to time your foot and your hand. There is no need to double clutch an <U>upshift</U>. The important reason double clutching exists is to rev match the engine and transmission on a <U>downshift</U>.

You're most likely always going to slip the clutch from 1st to 2nd and less from 2nd to 3rd, but slamming the shift lever from any gear to any next gear is going to ruin your transmission. Even on a near redline full throttle shift, you probably want to be a little easy disengaging and reengaging the clutch since your timing is not going to be 100% spot on.

From the point where your foot goes in and your hand shifts out of gear and into the next, and then when the clutch pedal comes back out, you should see a smooth drop in RPM with no sudden jolts, bumps, wheel hops, etc in or to the chassis. This applies no matter how hard you drive.

 

welcome to the world of fwd

 

Omg i love FWD!!!

 

i get the same thing in any fwd car that u vbeat on

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Blk00EJ8 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

From the point where your foot goes in and your hand shifts out of gear and into the next, and then when the clutch pedal comes back out, you should see a smooth drop in RPM with no sudden jolts, bumps, wheel hops, etc in or to the chassis. This applies no matter how hard you drive.</TD></TR></TABLE>

This is the most helpful thing for you at this point. in a rwd car such as my rx8 when i upshift into 2nd and 3rd i spin the tires just a little. in my fwd civic, i have to be very careful not to yank/throw the shifter into the next gear. be smoother and you will see large improvements in speed. same thing goes for non-redline driving. be smooth (not slow) and your lady friend in the passenger seat wont be worrying about her fake dd's hitting her in the face when you shift.

all im trying to say is that quick clutch action is overrated. double clutching is great for downshifts and that is fast. upshifts require finesse homie. match revs by being smooth and not jerky. otherwise your gonna find yourself looking at the rear every other car on the track.

 

ok..i also got a question. does the PSI of the tires also contributes to wheel hopping. If its too much does it wheel hop?

 

It's unlikely that your tire pressure will be a primary cause of wheel hop. You may find you will spin your tires more if they are overinflated since contact area is reduced, but not hopping.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by davefromPA &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">all im trying to say is that quick clutch action is overrated.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I wouldn't even use the term overrated... I would say it's stupid. You're physically shocking your drivetrain by dumping the clutch prematurely.

 

i think this question is messed uppp... just teach urself ho to drive like everyone of us did

 

dumb question....dont drive like a ricer and you wont have wheel hop.....its not a freaking v8

 

Blk00EJ8 is correct i his posts. i agree that it is not common to get wheel hop from a almost stock si, but possible.

IMO, the wheel hop is probably a combination of driver and also crappy suspension. wheel hop in a fwd is not the same as wheel hop ina rwd. although the same term is used, only in a rwd setup, is it truly "hop". in a fwd setup, there is movement front and back. in a fwd setup, wheelhop is usually from suspension not being good enough. traction bars would help, but i would look into the suspension first. blown shocks, and or springs with too low rates will commonly cause wheel hop.
think about it, part of the suspension's job is to keep the tire in contact with the ground. if the suspension cannot keep up with the amount of power being transfered to the ground, (regardless of how much that is) the overload will have to go someplace, usually wheel hop.

 

i have the same problem only thing is...can sum one tell me why my car shakez like krazy and you can hear this banging noise when ever i take off on my single cam.. its a 93 si i/h/e and when i take off like around 2500-3000 the whole front end shakes like theres sumthing banging back and forth... could it be my control arms getting weak? im not sure if its my motor mounts because i could barey shake the motor when i try to move it up n down...help!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bluxberryxhaze &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i have the same problem only thing is...can sum one tell me why my car shakez like krazy and you can hear this banging noise when ever i take off on my single cam.. its a 93 si i/h/e and when i take off like around 2500-3000 the whole front end shakes like theres sumthing banging back and forth... could it be my control arms getting weak? im not sure if its my motor mounts because i could barey shake the motor when i try to move it up n down...help!</TD></TR></TABLE>


Mine did that for a while but only on the take off. In my case I think it may have been related to me dumping the clutch on first a few times (accidentally lol) before the shaking started. The shaking was probably was related the clutch not gripping until the pedal was really high. Now its hardly noticeable but im a lot more careful with my clutch, I try to treat it like a baby and no double clutching for now till I get some experience.

 

I forgot to mention I have function form coilovers and they are pretty stiff, can this be causing the wheel hop?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by techsynthesis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">im a lot more careful with my clutch, I try to treat it like a baby and no double clutching for now till I get some experience.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Double clutching is not bad... on the contrary it's good. When done correctly it preserves your synchros, while from a performance standpoint, reduces (down) shift times.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bluxberryxhaze &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i have the same problem only thing is...can sum one tell me why my car shakez like krazy and you can hear this banging noise when ever i take off on my single cam.. its a 93 si i/h/e and when i take off like around 2500-3000 the whole front end shakes like theres sumthing banging back and forth... could it be my control arms getting weak? im not sure if its my motor mounts because i could barey shake the motor when i try to move it up n down...help!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Bad motor mount bushings or lack of torsion mounts on the trans-&gt;chassis and block-&gt;chassis (what the AC compressor bolts to, if present). Just because you can't move it with your hands doesn't mean the bushings are still good.

 

if u wanna go fast, then you shoudlnt slip the clutch at all.

 

if u wanna go fast, then you shoudlnt slip the clutch at all.

but of course thats not very good for ur clutch or tranni

 

Actually slipping the clutch is often a way to relieve stress off your transmission. Doing so allows a smoother transition, but it comes at the expense of clutch wear so you have a trade-off. It has nothing to do with going fast.

 

check your front end bushings!

 

yes, because when i put my si z6 engine in my sedan and made it 5spd in 1st gear it would spin them all the way then it would start wheel hoppen and 2nd did it worse. 3rd's good cause i dont have enough power to burn 3rd. i put 15 inch race rims with bad *** grip tires. and if i put my stock 13 inch rims it just spins them and no wheel hop.