Long story short, this is a DM car.

I can't seem to get enough oversteer with my current setup, and have gone as low as 21psi in the rear with azenis. I wasn't able to run my dried up old hoosiers b/c they said cords were showing on one of them when I tech'd.

Anyway, I need more oversteer. I have terminal understeer which makes the car no fun to drive hard at autox.

I may be able to run some 225/45/15 a3s03's at this next event with a little luck. (As an aside, could someone recommend pressures F to R as well?)

So how will front swaybar removal/ disconnect affect the handling of the car? The rear swaybar is stock, and suspension is somewhere in the 335 lb F, 274 lb R range (I know it sucks, but that's what I'm stuck with for now).....

 

Try trailbraking?

Though your car is definitely understeer prone, with those rates and stock sways, driving style will make the most significant difference.

No front sway can yield better front grip (inside doesn't unload as much) but many report it as "sluggish" with crappy turn in and response. A lot of autoxers do it and like it, though.

 

i took my front bar off my 91 si....

i had neuseed race springs.....

to be honest....i really couldn't tell a difference....

 

Put 45+ Psi in the rear. You will get some oversteer.

The spring rates to me seem just wrong. I cant imagine going lower in the rear than in the front for this situation.

I am guessing that you are having a mid corner out, throttle on push with those rates. (car squats, rear bites, front loses grip)

The trail braking will help, as will a later turn in, trying to induce lots of rotation early. Taking the front bar loose will help, as with the higher rear pressures as i stated.. (approach that at your own pace though.. can cause a nasty surprise)

Hoosier Tire Pressures will vary depending on driving style, but to start i would do something like 38 front 42 rear. Should produce something like 45/45 hot. I run mine a bit higher, but again.. something to approach at your own pace, i dont have the springs and sway bar goodies in stock class.

Jon K
http://www.seat-time.com

 

Can you swap the springs front to rear?

 

if you have coil overs, try swapping springs front to rear. loosen the end links so the bushings spin free. that way it may "bite" before the swaybar comes in to play. this next one may go opposite of what you are used too, but try the rear pressure equal to or above the fronts. has worked for me in the 15+years of ef civic's and crx's

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by o-man &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">but try the rear pressure equal to or above the fronts</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thats what I do to get the car loose

 

im a fan of going up in pressures. makes the car snap oversteer instead of taking all day to deflect the sidewall first. as for the bar, i would change to an hf front bar. its bigger, but hollow. thus softer. add a suspension technique rear bar on full stiff and 400 front 450+ rear spring rates. if you disconnect the front bar, your car will probably loose turn in due to teh soft front rates. disconnecting front bars realy only works on cars with enough front spring to keep things in order. front bars also help keep the lcas in place.
i used to be pro-no front bar for a long time. but i tried it and the car never felt better.

-spenc

 

With those low rates, and the heavier B series under the hood, taking off the front sway is going to make little to no difference. Even if it does rotate a little better, you'll lose the time going through the slaloms/transitions because the car will be so sloppy.

The fix? Put better springrates on the car. While disconnecting the front sway may work for roadracers, they don't see nearly the amount of abrupt steering inputs and direction changes that an autox car will.

 

For now, and for free, you can disconnect the front bar and reduce the front roll stiffness which will give it more bite. Bumping the rear tire pressures up at least equal to or higher than the front pressure will help increase the rear roll stiffness (if you consider the tire as a spring) and give the rear less bite. This will help reduce your understeer problem but not completely solve it.

When you can, put on a larger rear swaybar like the Suspension Techniques and change your spring rates. There are lots of combinations that work for folks but you might try for 350-450F and 400-500R for a street driven car and a little higher rates for a race only setup. Don't forget to have shocks that can handle those springs or it won't be fun.

I have had a similar setup for a few years now and it has served me well.

HTH

 

Find a used ST rear sway bar in the classifieds. You won't be able to keep the rear end of car planted, well I can't for some strange reason

 

I have the Supension Techniques rear bar set on full hard on 91 CRX. When I had almost no camber in the rear I was getting the *** end to swing way out at autocrosses. Its a lot of fun and fast way to get around a cornesr.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jisu009 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Can you swap the springs front to rear?</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

I just trail brake and toe-out the fronts and toe-in the rears about 1/16" of an inch.

works like a charm.

 

You can get a rear bar and/or have some toe-out put in the rear to help the car rotate.

 

bald rear tires always seems to help

 

I have 400f and 600r GC/koni for my 91 crx Si that I auto-x every other week or so, and until last week I didn't have a rear bar (now stock). I run Azenis with 38f and 33-34r and the rear during a race and this car can ( and has a few times) come around on me so easily..especially in the slalom. As soon as you lift the throttle in a heavy corner, it's over. just beef up the rear rates, it'll be much easier than you think.


<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by goforbroke &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Find a used ST rear sway bar in the classifieds. You won't be able to keep the rear end of car planted, well I can't for some strange reason </TD></TR></TABLE>

Dude, you sure can't..heh heh.

 

Great thread, im having the identical problem with my crx. Im feeling like my car is just scrubbing the tires and not biting during mid-turn to exit on hard corners.