Well ran my first event with the Comptech Rear sway bar combo. And WOW! I kick myself for not installing this sooner. I ended up with 1 turn front (from full soft), full stiff rear and the bar on it's stiffest setting. Car handled great and one section was a long sweeper in top end of 2nd gear and the car just kept sticking, where I know before the bar it would have just pushed like a pig. I think I need a little bit more negative camber in the front though - as suggested by Ryan

On some of my fun runs I was experimenting with shock settings then air pressures and got to spin 3 times out of my 5 fun runs - my tires loved me for that. 1st spin was crazy because I had full soft front and full stiff rear (same pressures as my competition runs) and going into the first slalom the car started to rotate and I got back on the gas, but the car kept into the spin. Isn't getting on the gas supposed to stop that?

2nd spin my shocks were at 1 turn from soft front, full stiff rear, 42f/37r and it did the same thing as my 1st spin.

Fun none the less

 

Out of curiousity, whats the rest of your suspension setup other than the Comptech bar and some sort of adjustable struts?

 

http://home.dejazzd.com/mlouie/mikecivicsi.html

 

Glad to hear it worked out for you. The 99-00 civic setup fast is harder to correct than the earlier civics. I'm not sure why because i always thought the longer wheelbase should make it easier. If you're spinning thats a really good indication that the car is setup how it needs to be. Now just get used to it and beat some 89-91's.

 

I just gotta get used to this setup. It's definitely a bigger improvement than I thought. I was also told that I had the highest "dog leg" on the course this weekend

Don't know about catching the 89-91 Civics though, that's a tall order! But I did catch Tad at the one M Club event - which was all top end of 2nd gear for me, which definitely helped.

 

now it's time to grab some 550lb front springs. trust me...

nate

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by solo-x &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">now it's time to grab some 550lb front springs. trust me...

nate</TD></TR></TABLE>


Only if he's gonna pair them with some 750's in back

 

don't get me started on front stiff vs. rear stiff!

550lb front/400lb rear springs. TRUST ME! ideally you'd want quite a bit more then that, but ride quality and shock valving become issues.

also, your shock settings are rather backwards. it's been a while since i was on OTS shocks, but i'd be running them biatches at full stiff all around.

nate

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by solo-x &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">don't get me started on front stiff vs. rear stiff!

550lb front/400lb rear springs. TRUST ME! ideally you'd want quite a bit more then that, but ride quality and shock valving become issues.

also, your shock settings are rather backwards. it's been a while since i was on OTS shocks, but i'd be running them biatches at full stiff all around.

nate</TD></TR></TABLE>

I know. Thats why I said it.

But we just disagree on setup. You're obviously very fast on your setup so it works for you. Doesn't work at all for my driving style though.

 

my setup approach probably doesn't work on the ef's anyhow. different chassis, different problems. hollis tells me he's not having any trouble with suspension travel. meanwhile i'm bottoming out on every part of the car imaginable.

btw, nice article in grassroots. just read it today. you've definitely taken the inexpensive but competitive thing to a whole new level. pretty cool!

nate

 

I thought about higher spring rates in the front than the rear. Say for instance you have 550f/750r versus 750f/550r. What would be the difference in handling with my car? I understand the car would be less prone to diving with the higher spring rates in front.

 

the difference in handling would be that i can drive it and ryan can't.

despite what i suggest, you do need to find what works for you. i've tried the rear stiff approach and it doesn't work for me. i didn't like how it felt and how it rotated. my current setup i'm really liking a lot. the front spring is a little softer then i'd like and i'd prefer a bit more front shock, but overall it's very good. with the kumho's on it now it handles very consistently and has a nice smooth, gradual rotation. it will still slap you in the head if you do something really dumb, but it soaks up minor mistakes with incredible ease.

nate

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by solo-x &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the difference in handling would be that i can drive it and ryan can't.

despite what i suggest, you do need to find what works for you. i've tried the rear stiff approach and it doesn't work for me. i didn't like how it felt and how it rotated. my current setup i'm really liking a lot. the front spring is a little softer then i'd like and i'd prefer a bit more front shock, but overall it's very good. with the kumho's on it now it handles very consistently and has a nice smooth, gradual rotation. it will still slap you in the head if you do something really dumb, but it soaks up minor mistakes with incredible ease.

nate</TD></TR></TABLE>

LOL

I will agree that a very tail happy FWD car is not forgiving at all, but I still think its the fastest setup. If you do something only slightly dumb be prepared to be looking at the course backwards.

Maybe you should try nates setup, you can be just a little bit more dumb before it'll slap you in the head.