Hey guys, (pictures below)

Lots of questions about wheels, suspension, and tires that are 5th Prelude specific being that every car is made differently.

I currently have 18" Volk Racing TE 37 wheels with 215/35 Falken all season tires (yes I do understand I will need better tires) I had powdercoated hyperblack and I love them. I have had them in different colors for over 7 years.

Suspension now = good ole APC high quality coilovers I have had on there for like 7 years probably (I am sure you can pickup the sarcasm, I didn't know any better). I have pretty much spent all my time and energy on less important mods and now I am ready to grow up and fix these issues.

Main issue is traction and wheel hop. I have a lot of areas to improve in suspension wise, but before I make any decisions, I wanted to figure out whether or not I can keep these and still get good traction as well as stop the wheel hop keeping the VOLKS wheels. I am running 8lbs of boost right now and even when I feather the gas, I can only really use the power band until 3rd gear.

Doing my research, and correct me if I am wrong, you cannot fit 40 series tires on a dropped lude with 18's. Even if I lifted it up, is that true? I still want it dropped, but I am willing to raise it if that would work in conjunction with quality tires and a decent suspension set up.

Next option is to get with a heavier 18" wheel with a very good set of tires and get rid of the CF hood and go back to stock (for added weight). Suspension will still be a high priority, just don't want to get everything set up with these wheels or some heavier 18's and end up with the same issue.

Another option is to go down to 17's, still light wheels with 40 series quality tires. Would I still need a heavier wheel, or will the extra rubber make up the difference?

I realize that my horrible suspension is a huge part of this, but I planned on using the money from selling the VOLKS and getting a decent 700$ coilover and shock setup. The ride is absolutely terrible, so stiff, and I am sure the shocks have been a done deal for a long time. I do have a camber kit installed.

Traction bar solve all my problems? Engine Damper? Again, sort of sarcastic, but still wondering a combo of those two plus better tires and the stock hood adding weight would make a big enough difference.

What are some thoughts about this? I am looking for the less expensive way to get rid of the wheel hop and poor traction for now, and I will address the other issues one at a time.

Thank you

 

Traction bar setup will make the most difference, and stiffer engine mounts and better suspension will help as well.

I don't think adding/removing weight is going to make any difference.

FYI $700 coilovers also suck pretty bad.

 

What about the extra grip of a larger tire? If I could put 40 series tires on the 18's and some how fit with a decent drop I would. That is the main reason for going down to 17's is the extra rubber. The engine mounts I definitely read makes a huge difference. I would have to pay a shop to do it though, I don't have the tools and the space. It would be expensive. Your telling me this coilover setup wouldn't help? Crappy?
http://www.andysautosport.com/honda/...n00039282.html

 

traction bar and motor mounts......... a prelude weighs enough, dont go adding weight back to it.

 

From what I know, and what it seems like everyone is trying to tell you, you problem is not wheel size, tire size, or weight, it is your crap suspension. Break down and spend some cash on a decent suspension, and a traction bar.

On a side note, what are you doing when you experience wheel hop? The only time you should be launching hard enough to get wheel hop, is at a track, and there is no reason to be running 18" wheels on a prelude at any track, Volks or not. If you are drag racing the car, I would suggest a set of 15" wheels and drag radials or cheater slicks. If you are running autocross or a road course, a 17" wheel should suit you great. If you are daily driving this car, and racing on the street, I have no suggestion that would be appropriate to type.

 

polyeurethane bushings will help dramatically... check out energy suspension. strut rod bushings and motormount inserts will help a lot.

 

I have read from many sources the bushings make a huge difference. How difficult/how expensive to put them in? I know I cannot do the engine, I would have to pay for a shop to do that

 

the engine mounts are pretty easy, the rear one is tough to get at some of the bolts but they can be done in the driveway with the car on the ground. strut rod bushings and sway bar link bushings are all doable at home with basic tools. it's the control arm ones that you need a press to remove the old, and a spring compressor to do the shock ones. taking your control arms to the shop with bushings in hand would be a hell of a lot cheaper than taking the car...

 

thank you very much for the response. I will make that a priority and get some quotes after I do what I can myself.

Thanks

 

+3 to the traction bar.
Now Innovative Mounts -"click" has a replacement sub-frame/traction bar, as well as Explicit Speed Performance -"click", sorry no full-race unless it's custom(civic and integras: as I could not find a Full-Race product, doesn't mean that it never existed just doesn't exist now for the bb6 prelude) . ES has Poly urethane OEM replacements -"click" for OEM rubber Trac-bar/ Front strut-rod for the base model; For SH replacements -"click" from ES, that is the bargain route.

Both ESP and Innovative offer packages on mounts and Trac-bars. I believe both companies are great, as not one better than the other, they both offer longterm warrantees against material defect. Energy Suspension is good if your stock rubber is in good condition, otherwise you need to buy oem an mate to ES

IMO, if you don't know already, I'd stay away from E-bah, because of conterfeits.

I came across a auto-x'r that fabs a bushing replacement on a mechanical bushing, and I'll have to look around for it later, may not find that one again.. but I can vouch for motormounts helping.

If the rubber mounts are still in good condition, I say maybe cheapest route with the Energy Suspension inserts, I have a set of Innovative and they have custom durameters 60-85 IIRC. My motor mounts were shot. Seriously my OEM rubber mount looked kinda like a kids tooth barely attached and was about to come out.
-Kell

 

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-prelude-4/5th-gen-energy-suspension-kit-2860803/

 

I had bad wheel hop before I filled in my stock motor mounts. I got a tube of sealant like you would use for windows in your house and filled the motor mounts in. You'll have to take them out one at a time to do this.

If you want to do it "correctly", go with an expensive solid motor mount and traction bar. My way costs you the same amount of time, a LOT less money. I drove for 4 years with my lude like this with 0 issues.

 

All great Ideas, I actually found a post on filling the motor mounts with a similar substance here. http://www.raktron.com/misc/mt.htm Does anyone know all the locations I can use this for instead of the energy suspension inserts?

 

i did all of the motor mounts except for one to some extent. the one on the right(i believe) wasn't done because of the way it is. no filling would have helped it.

 

what about the places on the suspension instead of using energy inserts, can we apply the same principals? Where to use?

 

i didn't do anything like that to my suspension. i didn't see any reason to. i was only worried about wheel hop, and filling in the motor mounts solved my issue

 

most of the bushings apart from the rear trailing arms are pretty much solid rubber, no holes to fill

 

great, thanks guys. Any tips to reaching the rear motor mount? Also exactly how do I go about doing this (any instructions would help a ton)? What product should I use?