I bought the CRX brand new in 1988 - I haven't seen it in 10 years, mom's been driving it.

Have it back now and I'd love to make a 'sports car' of it, but I can't seem to even be able to find sporty suspension - I call this something around 250 lb springs and 40 mm struts - any help?

I'd also like to source rims and an engine swap in Northern California.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by antiochcali &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> but I can't seem to even be able to find sporty suspension.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Your search for suspension returned 90 results.

The search feature in this forum is a good start. More than you want to read, I'm sure.

 

Hay antiochcali it looks like your new,, you should first run a search on your topic and then if absolutely need to be post something up, otherwise your open for hits...

 

Okay, Let's try this again.

I did a search - I got a hundred hits looking for springs/shocks, after spending more than an hour going through a few of them they either didn't mention my model year OR they didn't mention spring rates or strut diameter OR if they did mention spring rates, they were insane like 12KG/mm, I mean c'mon who wants to drive around with 670 lb/in spring rates? very uncomfortable - kidney jarring.

I'm looking for spring rates in the 225-250 rate in front and 200-225 in the rear.
I'd like 40mm struts, not 50 not 20.
I'd like to know what size wheels fit my car, max width and what diameter.

I did search, spent more than an hour looking yesterday and again another 90 minutes today - almost nobody mentions my model year.

That's why I asked. Maybe someone else knows where to get parts for an 88 CRX.

No offense,
Thanks.

 

You didn't quite say, but I gather you a have street-performance goal in mind. Some people may not have answered since the intended purpose of the car is going to dictate setup. Not to mention personal preference varies, what's soft/stiff to you, isn't to someone else, even if you are doing the same thing (road-race, auto-x, performance-street).

You already seem to know what spring rates you want so in that case, Ground Control is just in Rancho Cordova. Call them up and tell them what you desire. They carry Koni shocks and are an Eibach master distributor. They have some pre-determined spring rates that they'll recommend, but you can over-ride them with whatever you request.

As far at that whole 40mm vs 20mm strut, be careful of what dimension you're referring to here. All the manufactures play a numbers game and actually refer to different components of the damper. The JDM companies (Zeal/Endless, Tein, etc.) are typically the valve, valve orifice, piston, whatever... but its something in the 30-40's. Moton, Koni, etc. refer to the piston rod (which are 22mm and 12/14 respectively for those brands). It's like comparing apples and oranges. Just because 40 is bigger than 20, doesn't mean the shock is "better" (whatever that is). You may want to PM a fellow on here "CRXLEE", he's a Koni North America guy, he's also a CRX owner and generally helpful guy. He'll give you a fair and impartial opinion. Plus he's dyno'ed enough shocks to weed through the crap. He may be at the SCCA Runoffs right now, so don't expect an instant response.

As far as the '88 model year goes, I get the impression you believe its some oddball/blacksheep compared to the rest of the 2nd generation (89-91). It isn't, granted their are some subtle changes, the major thing you have to worry about is the way the rear LCA is designed. That's it, other than that you can use 88-91 suspension parts interchangeably. You have the stamped steel type rear LCA which wants a damper with an eyebolt lower attachment, very similar to the Integra Type-R DC2 chassis. So basically you can go two ways:

1) Keep your '88 LCA. Problem with this is you need to find '88 style rear shocks and not everyone makes them. An alternative part source would be to use anything for a USDM 97-2001 ITR. Although this can still be slim pickings and costly since it is marked up for a limited run "Type-R".

2) Swap your '88 Si LCA's for 89-91 Si LCA's. Note I said Si, since you want to keep LCA's that have the threaded hole for the rear swaybar endlink (non-Si's of any year don't). This opens you up to the world of greater availability of the "fork type" lower mounting that later 2nd gen CRX's have. Which is basically the same as the EG Civic's and DC integras (non-ITR).

Lastly, the wheels. Again, similar to what I first said about suspension, intended purpose/preference/etc. Here's a ballpark though:

15x6.5 to 15x7
+35 to +45
195-50-15, 195-55-15, 205-50-15

My sugestion, figure out what exactly you will do with the car. Choose the tire based on that. That will sort out cost and availability. That will in turn dictate the rim, chose by (size, weight, cost, appearance).

Of course someone is going to look at that and say: "Well I fit 16x7's...." or dubz or whatever. Back to preference and intended purpose... For the best combination of cost, availability, and performance use that range and adjust according for your taste.


Modified by XrcR6 at 11:32 PM 9/29/2004