It has been about a month now that I've had the new EX Coupe 5MT. To preface, I'm not a tracking-going driver but I'm an avid "driving enthusiast" and consider myself a strong driver on the backroad twisties.
I've been taking weekend drives to get more intimate with the EX's handling, braking and road holding dynamics and this is a review of those areas, based on my experiences within the past 4 weeks.
UNDERSTEER
Driving a front-drive car, understeer is always a big consideration.
Fortunately, it is easily tempered by judicious use of the throttle and is a surprise given the front-biased weight distribution. (60/40; FR/RR). Understeer gets more apparent at low speed, sharper turns than say, a high-speed sweeper.
I wouldn't go far as saying that I can induce meaninful oversteer midcorner, but I have been able to rotate the car via left-foot braking and lift-throttle yaw at speed.
I haven't driven the Si, but I know that the spring rates, damping rates and roll-rate is increased relative to the EX (which in-turn, is more aggressive than the Civic Sedan.) In particular, based on Shawn Church's review from TOV, the Si's rear roll-bar has a relative 4xx% increase in stiffness than the EX. Still, I'm surprised than the EX handles and communicates road-feedback as with as it does, despite these setbacks.
HANDLING DYNAMICS
The stock configuration is more set up for a balance of comfort and performance than aggressive driving. The car simply does not like rapid direction changes. There is too much body roll, the rear starts to feel unsettled in a slalom situation and there is too much brake dive & acceleration sqaut.
I appreciate the ground clearance but I would gladly trade 1 to 1.5 inches of that to address the areas above.
The upside is that the low weight of the car allows you to "throw" the car into a corner at speeds faster than the laws of physics prescribe, only to pull out of a four-wheeled drift with some throttle-action.
BRAKES
Surprisingly capable. The have a sensitive initial bite and becomes easier to modulate after that initial bite. Strong braking throughout but noticeable brake fade exists in high-speed and downhill driving. At one point, I was driving on a road which twists downhill for about 5 miles and ends in a 100+ mph straight stretch. At the end of the run which concludes with a 100 - 0 mph run, I got out of my car to find the front brakes growing bright red. Most research I've done suggests that rotor surfaces must exceed 1300 deg F for this to happen.
On the bright side, despite the fade that occasionally creeps up in intense driving conditions, the brake pressure on the pedal remains consistant even when the rotors are operating at temperatures that should boil the brake fluid over.
THE NEXT STEP
I feel like I have a good idea of how the car handles - enough to starting thinking about addressing the dynamic weaknesses of the car. They are as follows:
[sway-bars]
Much stiffer roll-bars, especially in the rear. I hope to drive drive an Si for reference and if that doesn't prove to be aggressive enough (I suspect not,) then I will look to the aftermarket. I have only seen the Progress rear sway to date, and I wouldn't get that unless I had a front sway to keep that balance in check. The Progress rear sway is even stiffer than the Si's.
[dampers]
More than anything else, the dampers are the performance bottleneck in the EX suspension system. They are simply under-damped because the OEM emphasis is on comfort and not performance. The result is vagueness and sluggish manners. It also creates the sensation of floating, and not a firm contact with the road.
[springs]
I wish I knew the spring rates for all of the springs out there in the aftermarket for the EX coupe. Most times, manufacturers just list the drop in height. This is good if you want it just for look, but I know that spring rates can really define how the car feels. I need the numbers!
Anyway, once I do more reseach, I want to lower the car 1.0 to 1.5 inches to allow the use of a stiff spring rate.
That's it for now. This review isn't so much of a review, but me thinking out loud and getting my thoughts on paper, er the web.
Feel free to comment or ask question if you have them.
