We are meeting with the college alumni tommorow to talk about budget and team goals. I think we have decided to go with a 92-95 Civic hatch. I believe this is the EG chasis which seems to have good high quality aftermarket support. Right now just pretend we are all experienced drivers that don't need any seat time. I know that experience is the best thing we can get right now, but I want to focus on the topic. After we get the car what will be the best route to go in terms of mods. Please keep in mind we will be starting off pretty basic for the first year or two, but we will eventually try to have a full blown race car in a couple of years. By saying this I mean that if we have to wait to get the best parts we will, rather than settling with a mid level setup that will eventually have to be changed. Here is my current train of thought after purchasing the car.

1. Gut it out.
2. 15rims with good tires.
3. Race Suspension setup such as Mugen/Spoon
4. Stabilizers
5. Strut tower braces
6. Racing Seat with harness and full rollcage

To simplify this lets say that I gave you $5,000 to modify a civic hatch. What are the first things you would do? Thanks in advance

 

Where is it going to be raced? Autocross, time trials, rallycross, circuits?

For most of these, the car will need to fall into one class or another dependant on prep level.

For autocross, a good starting point for this car is C Street Prepared. It will compete against CRXs, Miatas, and other small/light cars. This class allows quite a few mods, but also requires the interior to remain intact.

Or, if you plan to road race it, prep it to ITS standards. It will remain eligible for CSP, but under a different set of rules. It is totally outclassed by the BMWs and RX-7s in ITS, but still a fun car.

Buy the SCCA GCR and SCCA Solo handbook/rules. Many clubs base their rules off the SCCA's, so it's hard to go wrong with prepping by SCCA standards.

Specifically what to do?

Wheels, tires, and suspension.
13" or 14" by 8" works nicely. Or, if budget is a concern, use 14" Honda/Acura alloys 14x5.5 or 14x6).

Tires - it's hard to go wrong with Kumho V700s. Readily available, hard to flatspot, and decent tire life. Hoosiers can be faster, but wear faster and flatspot easily - not worth it unless you think you can win.

Suspension - TrueChoice and GroundControl come to mind. Both offer revalved Konis with custom spring rates. Rates will depend on track or autocross use.

Also, a ~22mm rear swaybar (ST, Mugen, ITR, Comptech etc), polyurethane bushings, and good brake pads/fluid (Hawk, Motul).

Buy the SCCA GCR and SCCA Solo handbook/rules. Many clubs base their rules off the SCCA's, so it's hard to go wrong with prepping by SCCA standards.