I'm excited to be picking up my new '08 CSX next week! I know that I won't stick my current plan of leaving it stock, so I might as well inquire now about my biggest concern when monkeying around with suspension.

I'm not a suspension expert, but I find that many "tuners" slap on a multitude of parts (not limited to suspension) and immediately assume their cars are race-worthy.

With my soon-to-be-previous '97 Civic Si (I'm in Canada), I did my best to make sure the suspension modifications suited the car's intended use and engine power output. The modestly powered D16Y8 was manouvered on city streets by disc brakes from a DC Integra, Tein NR (Civic Type R spec - now discontinued) dampers matched with Tein S.Tech springs. Front and rear camber was handled by kits from Ingalls and rear toe was kept in check with a kit from SRR.

I will approach suspension tuning with the same amount of care with my new CSX as I did with my Civic, but there is one thing that rears its ugly head to scare me: toe.

Is rear toe an issue for those of you that have lowered your CSXs? Have any of you addressed this issue to fix it? How did you do it? Do rear toe-adjustment kits even exist for the Acura CSX?

Don't bother responding with, "The toe issue on my car is not a big deal! I've been riding around for two years with no problems! All you have to do is replace the two rear tires once a year - a small price to pay for looking fly while slammed!"

As above, I'm no suspension expert, but I know that rear toe-in results in reduced performance in braking, accelerating, and in overall stability. I'm sure that rear toe-in also puts unnecessary stress on other suspension components.

We all modify our cars to increase their performance (well, some clowns are in it purely for looks). Sacrificing safety is not on my to-do list.

 

As far as I know, the suspension on the CSX is the same as the 2006-up Civic sedan (they are essentially the same car). If you come across anything that fits the Civic, I'm nearly 100% certain it'll fit the CSX.

 

Toe is adjustable from the factory on all cars in front, and all cars with independent rear suspension (and some even without) in the rear.

Having said that, I have also learned from the experts in this forum that those adjustable rear toe compensator arms for 90's Civics/Integras is NOT a good idea, because you end up with a different length compensator arm on each side, meaning the toe changes differently on each side as the rear suspension compresses and expands, which can make for some unpredictable handling.

I'm not sure how the new Civics adjust rear toe, but be careful of things like that which can alter the intended suspension curve, or make it different on each side of the car.

Also, I can tell you that you won't need any camber kits. Just have toe corrected via 4-wheel alignment and you'll be fine.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PatrickGSR94 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Having said that, I have also learned from the experts in this forum that those adjustable rear toe compensator arms for 90's Civics/Integras is NOT a good idea, because you end up with a different length compensator arm on each side, meaning the toe changes differently on each side as the rear suspension compresses and expands, which can make for some unpredictable handling.</TD></TR></TABLE>

If somebody has drastically different lengths on the rear toe compensator arms then something is bent, and that's what's causing the problem.

I run spherical bearing equipped adjustable rear toe compensator arms with no problems. If they are at all different in length it's down to the millimeter which is definitely negligible.

 

I dunno, I'd rather have them the exact same length on both sides and adjust via the factory adjustment.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ginsu2k &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

If somebody has drastically different lengths on the rear toe compensator arms then something is bent, and that's what's causing the problem.

I run spherical bearing equipped adjustable rear toe compensator arms with no problems. If they are at all different in length it's down to the millimeter which is definitely negligible. </TD></TR></TABLE>

The issue is that when you have an adjustable length toe compensator arm, you have 2 different forms of adjustment active at once. The mounting location can be moved (stock toe adjustment) and the length of the arm itself can also be changed. If one arm is secured all the way in, the other all the way out, and the toe set by changing arm lengths, you'll have much different toe curves left to right.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TunerN00b &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

The issue is that when you have an adjustable length toe compensator arm, you have 2 different forms of adjustment active at once. The mounting location can be moved (stock toe adjustment) and the length of the arm itself can also be changed. If one arm is secured all the way in, the other all the way out, and the toe set by changing arm lengths, you'll have much different toe curves left to right.</TD></TR></TABLE>

This is really a non-issue if you're smart about the way you install them. What I did was say to myself, "Will I ever need toe-out on the rear?" "No!". Before I installed the compensator arms I made sure they were almost exactly the same length, and then when I installed them I slid the bolt mount back all the way toward the inside of the car. That way, both arms are the same length and installed at the same position on both sides of the car. If there is any difference it is really negligible.

Also, remember, we are talking about very small differences here. And on top of that, when we are talking about the difference in effective length, you have to factor in the cosine of the displaced angle.

Let's say one compensator arm is an even 100mm in length (I'm pretty sure it's not, but it's an easy figure), and another is adjusted to a slightly different length like 105mm (human error). If we are traveling down the road and we hit a bump, the wheel is displaced several inches....then let's say the compensator arm rotates about 15deg because of this bump.

effective Length (100mm) = 100*cos(15deg) = 96.6mm

effective Length (105mm) = 105*cos(15deg) = 101.42mm

total difference = 4.82mm

So even if we were retarded enough to have installed both compensator arms at different lengths the effective difference between the two would be reduced when the compensator arm is active.


But, really, my point is all this can be minimized if you take the time when you install them to make sure they are set up the same way on both sides of the car.

 

Well, when you consider toe measurements, you're also talking about pretty small measurements. Just 3-4 mm of toe out can cause some nasty tire wear issues.