Honda-Tech - Honda Forum Discussion

Honda Civic: Suspension Modifications

You need to be able to keep your vehicle under control at all times. Some of the most effective upgrades that improve track times have nothing to do with engine modifications. Better handling puts more of the potential power of your Honda to work. Find out what the options are for updating your suspension system.

By Brian Merrill - April 3, 2015

This article applies to the Honda Civic (1992-2000).

Do you want to get your Honda through the corners faster? Your suspension system is responsible for keeping your wheels on the ground. While your engine produces plenty of power, it takes some effort to keep that energy from being scrubbed off by slipping wheels. Altering your suspension system to perform adequately through higher-intensity forces takes the right alterations to your suspension set up. Fortunately, there are many aftermarket companies that create upgrades for steering and suspension setups.

Suspension System Modifications

You want to do more than just throw parts at your car and pretend that it's fast. Your four basic options include lowering springs, dampers, coilovers, and sway bars. Everyone's driving style is a little different, and many suspension kits allow you make adjustments to your handling characteristics.

Lowering Springs

DIY Cost – $200-$400

DIY Time – 2 hours

Professional Cost – $400-$600; expect at least 2 hours of billable labor plus parts

Skill Level – Hard; requires special tools and sometimes parts are rusted together

This is one of the most popular modifications. Bringing your vehicle lower to the ground has many performance advantages. It lowers the center of gravity and increases roll stiffness, which is the body's tendency to lean. Fine tuning of the spring rate, or spring stiffness, is imperative to getting the car to handle the way you want it to. Too soft of a spring rate, and the car will roll too much and overheat the tires. Too stiff of a spring rate, and the tire will "skate" over the pavement. You need just enough compliance to match available tire grip and surface conditions. It's best not to over do it though. If you get your Honda too low to the ground, you run a higher risk of bottoming out and hitting objects in the road. Also, a lowered car needs to have its alignment adjusted to make sure that it is within spec, or at least where you would like it to be set. Buying a camber adjustment kit is often recommended when running a lowering spring.

Dampers

DIY Cost – $200-$5,000 depending on the dampers used

DIY Time – 3-4 hours; similar install to springs

Professional Cost – $500-$5,300; expect a few hours of billable labor plus the cost of parts

Skill Level – Moderate; requires a spring compressor and is potentially dangerous

When it comes to putting money into your car to get the best bang for your buck, the money rides on the dampers. They allow the spring to work properly and limit bounce while controlling the rate at which the spring compresses and rebounds. Matching the right shocks to your springs is crucial in getting decent ride quality and a properly optimized spring. Many aftermarket shocks offer adjustability of the compression stroke (downward movement) and the rebound (upward movement). This allows for extreme levels of precision tuning. Good entry-level adjustable shocks, like Koni "Yellows" or Sports, start at around $500 a set and offer rebound adjustment. If every tenth of a second at the track counts, options like AST or Penske exist where the shocks are built from scratch to your specifications. Offering near-limitless adjustability, the sticker shock is astounding, with a set of four often costing in excess of $5,000!

Coilovers

DIY Cost – $600-$15,000+ depending on the brand

DIY Time – 3-4 hours

Professional Cost – $900-$15,000+; expect a few hours of billable labor plus parts

Skill Level – Moderate; requires use of a spring compressor and removal of other suspension parts

A coilover is exactly as the name implies: it's a coil spring over a shock. What makes coilovers different from any shock and spring combo? The extra money spent is in the development of the springs and shocks, to know that they are perfectly paired for each other in terms of spring rate and height and available shock damping. Also, coilovers offer, in addition to shock tuning, ride height adjustment. This means that the car can be set up so each side is exactly perfect in terms of ride height. This assures that the car will be perfectly balanced.

Much like the expensive shocks, there are even more expensive coilovers; the pictured JRZ units cost in excess of $14,000 USD! On the flipside, if you just want to be low and are not looking to be the fastest there ever was, companies like Megan and BC Racing offer budget solutions under $1,000.

Pro Tip

If you opt for coilovers, pay the extra money and have the car "corner balanced." This is a special type of alignment where the car is weighed, often with the driver in the car, and the ride height and shocks are tuned on each side to counter-balance any differences in weight, side to side, and front to back. It assures you that your ride is going to handle at its absolute best.

Sway Bars

DIY Cost – $100-$300 depending on if you buy one or both

DIY Time – 4-6 hours

Professional Cost – $300-$500; expect several hours of billable labor plus parts

Skill Level – Easy; these are bolt-on parts that are easy to access, especially the rear

A sway bar is a lever that connects the wheels from side to side. Most vehicles have a front and a rear sway bar, one for each axle. What the sway bar does is limit side-to-side body lean by attaching the suspension links from one side to the other. For example, if you make a hard left turn and the car begins to roll to the right due to weight transfer, the sway bar lessons the ability of that side to lean by tying it up with the inside (in this case, left) corner. Since a sway bar's sole purpose is roll resistance, you can think of it as adding "effective spring rate" to the car. If the front end seems to roll too much, and you don't want to switch to a heavier-duty spring, then adding a larger sway bar would help. That means that the sway bar is a fine tuning tool. It's something you add, remove, or change once you have your preferred suspension installed and want to make minor changes to it.

That being said, most FWD cars, like your Civic, do benefit greatly from a massive rear sway bar. It limits body lean on the back end and causes the rear tires to break traction rather than having the car wallow. This helps a FWD car turn more tightly and possibly experience moments of oversteer while cornering. If the car doesn't want to change direction, or it understeers too much, adding a big sway bar could be just what you need.

Pro Tip

All of these suspension components can add up to a great package. However, if your tires aren't up to snuff, it may be money well wasted when it comes to actual performance and lap times. The suspension should only be as stiff as the tires have grip to cope with. Putting a really stiff suspension on a car with plain Jane all-season tires may actually reduce ultimate grip, as you've made the car too stiff to allow the tires to remain in contact with the pavement. Consider upgrading to high-performance rubber if lap times and good handling are your goal.

Related Discussions