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I have something to add. The #1 issue with the handling of the 2006 Civic is in the difference in camber curves from front to rear. Where the rear has a high camber gain in under compression, the front has no camber gain.
The purpose of a camber curve is to allow the tire to maintain contact with the ground when the car rolls (in a turn). In a turn, the rear tire gains alot of camber, and that tire remains solidly on it's tread surface and working as well (good grip). However, the front has no camber gain and the tire is not working well because it's leaning off the tread surface. And if you are doing alot of spirited driving or racing, you'll overheat the outside edge of the front tire, and that makes it even worse. The car goes from understeering at the to rediculousness at the limit after the tires heat up.
So, if you can make the car use it's tires correctly (camber plates or bolts in front), then it will handle WAY better at the limit. The whole point with suspension/chassis design is to 1) understand and manage the tires contact with the road and 2) control the car's mass properly.
So, alignment is the most important thing. If you set the 2006 Civic up to stock specs in front, the car will handle horribly at the limit. So, I'd recommend even for a person who wants the most life of our his or her tires to run at least 1.5" camber in front if you can get that much (you can't with the stock bolts or even the Honda crash bolts...you have to get aftermarket parts for that). You'll lose a little life of the tire, but you'll have a car that handles WAY better than the Civic next to you.
Chris at RedShift
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