Well i've currently been building my car up for road racing.
it's going to be road race only and since there isn't much of a road racing scene for the honda family here in houston/surrounding areas i can't really find anyone to sit down and talk suspension set ups with to get a good grasp on what would be best.

Car: 2000 honda civic Si
Motor: stroked itr motor
car is gutted it's going to be my car to mainly get alot of seat time in before i start building an actual class car for 2009.

so i have everything set up already as far as wheels, brakes, interior, exterior, engine.

Just really need some suspension help.

i did multiple auto-x hpde on stock suspension, then on springs, then on tein flex. but just looking for insight on some decent suspension set ups.

i know alot of people are crazy about the koni/gc set up. but my friend has me down as a shop/sponsor car at his shop and i can get a brand new set of d2's with custom rates for a good deal.

D2's any good? anyone run them competitively?
i was thinkin' of a 600/900 rates or 800/1200
rear sway bar size?
front bar size?

also some good fluids and pads for my willwoods?

i'm really anxious to start getting more competitive

ANY ADVICE SUGGESTIONS INSIGHT WILL NOT ME OVERLOOKED I APPRECIATE EVERYTHING IN ADVANCE!

-andrew k.

 

Andrie Hartonto at http://www.prima-racing.com is the guy you ought to talk to. He won the 2006 H1 championship with that chassis.

I haven't talked to many successful road racers who ran any front sway bar other than stock. Rears vary. Hawk Blues seem to be the common starting point for racing brakes pads. Once you get a feel for what those are doing you can get more or less aggressive on whichever end you think needs adjustment. GS610 is about the best brake fluid you can buy. And its a little cheaper than the high zoot Castrol stuff.

Ask Andrie about spring rates.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by andrewk &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well i've currently been building my car up for road racing.
it's going to be road race only and since there isn't much of a road racing scene for the honda family here in houston/surrounding areas i can't really find anyone to sit down and talk suspension set ups with to get a good grasp on what would be best.

Car: 2000 honda civic Si
Motor: stroked itr motor
car is gutted it's going to be my car to mainly get alot of seat time in before i start building an actual class car for 2009.

so i have everything set up already as far as wheels, brakes, interior, exterior, engine.

Just really need some suspension help.

i did multiple auto-x hpde on stock suspension, then on springs, then on tein flex. but just looking for insight on some decent suspension set ups.

i know alot of people are crazy about the koni/gc set up. but my friend has me down as a shop/sponsor car at his shop and i can get a brand new set of d2's with custom rates for a good deal.

D2's any good? anyone run them competitively?
i was thinkin' of a 600/900 rates or 800/1200
rear sway bar size?
front bar size?

-andrew k.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I ran a H2 2000 SI and I did not run a front sway bar, my rear bar was 23mm JDM type R with the ASR subframe brace. My spring rates were 600F 900R but that was mostly at Sebring which is very bumpy so I might go up a little at other tracks but its really based on how you feel in the car.

I dont know much about D2's but I am sure they are like many of the other brands... they will work fine for now since your still new to track days and racing.

 

Well here in houston/surrounding area we having some pretty smooth tracks, Texas World Speedway Motorsport Ranch and i'll be looking to travel within a 10-12 hour drive to go to other tracks if it calls for it. so you think a 600/900 setup would be a good starting setup?

 

My first setup was 450f/600r and i did not like it at all and thats besides the point that the fronts were bottoming out in the turns... I then went with Koni yellow race shocks and 800f/1000r and to be very frank i still feel the car is not stiff enough.. our track is super smooth and others have had luck running 900f/1200r...

I am also running a 22mm rear bar and no bar in the front... I run wilwood dynalites on the front (Thanks Brian at Fastbrakes!!) and ITR rear calipers with 11" discs(also fastbrakes).. On heavy brake circuits you really really need high friction pads (Hawk blues will fall apart on fast circuits) i have successfully run Hawk HT-14 or Cobalt XR-2 (fades towards end of race) and Ferodo DS3000.

If you can get the race fluids then by all means get them AP, Motul, etc...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BRN12345 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My first setup was 450f/600r and i did not like it at all and thats besides the point that the fronts were bottoming out in the turns... I then went with Koni yellow race shocks and 800f/1000r and to be very frank i still feel the car is not stiff enough.. our track is super smooth and others have had luck running 900f/1200r...

I am also running a 22mm rear bar and no bar in the front... I run wilwood dynalites on the front (Thanks Brian at Fastbrakes!!) and ITR rear calipers with 11" discs(also fastbrakes).. On heavy brake circuits you really really need high friction pads (Hawk blues will fall apart on fast circuits) i have successfully run Hawk HT-14 or Cobalt XR-2 (fades towards end of race) and Ferodo DS3000.

If you can get the race fluids then by all means get them AP, Motul, etc...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Why are you not running a front bar? You can reduce roll and still keep the bumps under control with a smaller spring rate combined with an ARB than with big spring rates and no ARB. You are using the smaller spring rates and no ARB and you are describing the resulting large roll gradient (deg of roll/ g). The smoother the track the higher the spring rate you can run without the tires chattering all the way through corners.

 

I hope i am not hijacking the thread, but.. i am running no front ARB because with it connected the car understeers heavily on turn in and i found that it handles better without it.

I have not tried a softer spring in the front as it is difficult to do testing on race days. Also cant test anywhere else that would replicate the track.

When you say smaller front spring rates, how does 600f/1000r with 22mm front bar sound?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BRN12345 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I hope i am not hijacking the thread, but.. i am running no front ARB because with it connected the car understeers heavily on turn in and i found that it handles better without it.

I have not tried a softer spring in the front as it is difficult to do testing on race days. Also cant test anywhere else that would replicate the track.

When you say smaller front spring rates, how does 600f/1000r with 22mm front bar sound?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Did you know, that too soft in roll on the front axle will cause a push on entry too?

At any rate, if you can't get a fwd car to turn in with a front swaybar attached, you've done something terribly, terribly wrong.

Nate - uses a front bar on his autocross STS car specifically to improve turn in response

 

i doubt d2, ff, ect will handle 1200in/lb springs. i'd go with some good koni's and be done