I asked this on another forum (which shall go unnamed), but curious what the H-T crowd has to say.

I recently switched to an EP3 from a CRX Si with a Neuspeed/Tokico 1" drop setup. I immediately bought some cheap Eibach Pro-kit springs for the EP3, but it's still really disappointing.

How realistic is it to mod an EP3 to match the handling of a CRX? How much would you expect that to cost? And what I'm really dying to know... how badly does it screw things up to drop an EP3 lower than 1.5"?

Apologies if that's a lot to ask... trying to find reasons NOT to immediately sell this thing and get something lighter.

 

to be honest your not going to have a ride like a crx or an eg6 civic car can't can't be lowered to much cause then it's a bumpy ride cause of it's suspension. Ask the peep who autocross their car..they may help you out...

 

try here https://honda-tech.com/search.php

 

Haha omg that is not the reason why you can't lower the EP3 for... the reason is because he will develop a huge problem with the rack and pinion... it will make a creaking sound which gets very annoying!

Btw you can make your EP3 handle just as good as an eg or a crx but you have to research alot cause there are alot of tips and trick to avoid certain issues!

 

i agree,ep/dc5's handle great.its just the way you tune it. imo a 1inch drop with good set of coilovers and 17-8 wheels with sticky tires would be great. i find 16's on fat tires (225/50) to be to loose. imo eps and dc5's are a bit too heavy for big sidewalls. thats just me...even if there R-compound tires

 

the problem is that you can't just slap on a set of springs and shocks and call it a day... with the EP3 you need to make sure you have the right spring rates, the right drop and so on... there is a lot of research that needs to be done!

 

*sigh* The reason you do not lower the ep3/dc5 is you drive the rollcenters below ground and your tierod angles go to hell . This gives you a ton of bumpsteer. It is my opion that honda designed the suspension on these cars so you can not lower them to give a big FU to the tuners like spoon and alike.

If you want to **** on a moded(street drivable) crx around the turns herre is your shopping list...

Camber plates...hotchkis make some...
custom gc kit.....400lb ft 8 inches long, 650lbs X6 in spring in the rear
koni's for the dc5....yes they fit
hotchkis 27mm rear sway
and 225 stickie tires
set the car to stock ride hight, set f&r to zero toe and set ft camber to -2.5

Want to go cheaper? just change out the gc kit for 02-04 type-s springs or change out the springs and shocks with a aspec kit with some camber bolts and some dc5 tie rod ends.

 

That's good info, thanks. Still have to research the use of roll center adjusters and figure out why hardly anyone's using them.

OT, but why would Honda want to **** off the tuner crowd? I don't know how they could possibly benefit from that. I thought it was the tuner crowd that changed Honda's reputation from "small and dinky" to "fun and desirable".

 

I think I'd actually bump up the rear rate to maybe even 750 or 800lbs, due to the motion ratio of the rear supsension. I do believe someone makes roll center correctors, but i doubt they are legal in any classes like sts, its the same cause for the inverted tie rods.

About the ride height I've autocrossed my daily driver civic sedan ( which is pretty low w/ a rear biased spring rate) and it actually did well. It probably could have done better if it wasn't so low and if it had a more than just coilover and tires.

 

Also Megan Racing has made a straight arm coilover which will stop the creaking problem that comes from lowering your car... I have read up on it and it looks to be a great setup! Alot of good feedback for the street and ppl that use it for the track!

Something too look into!

 

Yeah, I've definitely seen those. The only problem is that that make them illegal for use in STS solo2 classes because it relocates where the tie rods attach. But the likely hood of someone calling you out about it isn't really that great high I'd imagine.

 

i have found that the ep3 is ok with stock springs and a rear sway bar upgrade... maybe get some front camber adjust bolts..... other then that ur not going to get real close to the old honda chassi feel sorry bro... dc5 and ep3 sux, lowering the car makes it sorta bouncy and unstable iv noticed... i run 225 50 tires on the stock rims and they work well.. good luck !

 

don't the buddy club n+ correct for that too?

 

Honda claims to have very good handling cars, they are less than happy whan spoon(and alike) modded the type-r's and then posted adds in japan that they were 2 seconds(or more) faster on some of the local tracks. The reason more people are not on rollcenter correctors is the cost a bunch and they are a pia to install.

 

If you work out the Hz's numbers on the suspension,that is a pretty big differance f to r....400lb in the ft = around 2.1 Hz ansd 650lb rear = 2.19....750lb in the rear is around 2.35Hz and 2.43Hz.....I have seen that if you you suggest that much of a differance to a beginer, they will complain about "snap oversteer" in their car....your spring rates are great for autox but I would not use them on a roadcourse, sure getting the car to be tail happy is fast but leaving the track backwards is not fun....

 

Are you sure that's the only reason? When you're already spending ~$1200 to $3000 on coilovers + wheels, why not spend the $250 on the rollcenter correctors? Install looks fairly straightforward too.

 

If you know what you are doing, coilovers can be installed in less than 2 hours....rollcenter correctors are more like 4 hours if you have to tools and know how....

 

u guys prolly dont need any of that stuff.. learn to drive ur cars first b4 installing all that stuff ! or it wont even help u.. it will hurt u .. thanks bye !

 

Do the 225 50 16's on stock rims rub? I have 1.5" drop and waiting on RXS S rear bar & camber bolts(want more negative). Was going to go with stock size due to fear of rubbing for auto-X. Not trying to jack thread but very interested and in same situation.

 

My 225/50r16 direzza z1 don't rub on my rsx.

 

I am running 225/45/17 on my Works and they rubbed at first, you just need to roll the inner lips up in the fender well. I also run a 225/50/16 Kumho V710 on a set of Kosei K1 16x7.5 no rubbing.

 

im running 225 50 15.. since the car is a 2003 it has stock 15's..... no rubbing but the car is stock not lowered