streetable/Auto-X suspension setup?

[dt07Si]

Alright well here is the deal I have had my Si for almost 3 weeks now and I am currently selling a lot of Integra parts off of my GSR and parts that I never installed and after I sell some of them or a majority of them I will be taking that money and most likely putting it into the Si.

I love the way the car handles now with the exception of some body roll and somewhat of a high center of gravity (which I think contributes to a lot of the body roll).

I want to upgrade the suspension to either the

HFP suspension

Pros:Much more inexpensive than full coilover
Doesn't void warranty
Practical ride height

Cons:I'm afraid I will want to go lower
No ride height adjust ability
No dampening or rebound adjust ability

or

A full coilover like the Tein SS, Buddy Club N+, or possibly the Form and Function Type II

Pro: Ride height adjust ability
Dampening and/or rebound adjust ability
Possibility of custom spring rates (depending on system)

Cons:Voids Warranty
Possibly rougher ride than HFP setup
More expensive

I had coilovers on my teg and the fenders sat level with the tops of the tires which was a manageable height for a daily driver but not always practical. It didn't take potholes or crappy roads well and was pretty rough at times.

I am looking for a setup that is somewhere in between.

In general want to go lower, and have something that is a little stiffer than stock but still daily drivable and occasionally taken to a weekend Auto-X.

I am open to all suggestions or opinions, thanks in advance for any help with this.

-Dave

[Highrev1]

Body roll is no indication of how well a car handles. Already maxed out the Si in GS last year so we know what is needed to make the car handle well.
Dave anytime you want I am Jerz also We can get together for some Dunkin and chat Greg

[MIKEyyeeee]

Im going to assume the Civic is your daily. Since you are familiar with how full coilovers are on the street, you must ask yourself if you can live with feeling every crevice of the road. Ive had coilovers on my last car, and they are smooth on good roads, but harsh over bumps / crappy roads. This is not something I am willing to deal with everyday. They perform amazingly better than spring/shock, but are also much less forgiving over uneven surfaces.

Originally Posted by dt07Si

coilovers on my teg and the fenders sat level with the tops of the tires which was a manageable height for a daily driver but not always practical. It didn't take potholes or crappy roads well and was pretty rough at times.

Originally Posted by dt07Si

I am looking for a setup that is somewhere in between.

In general want to go lower, and have something that is a little stiffer than stock but still daily drivable and occasionally taken to a weekend Auto-X.

This above sounds like full coilovers will be too much. I haven't experienced HFP spring/shock combo, but it is apparent that some spring/shock combo will suit your needs better than full coils. It is only a matter of time before more dampers become available for '06+ Si. Springs may not go low enough for everyone though

It sounds like you know what you are getting into. G/L and be sure to post up whichever suspension stuffs go purchase

[dt07Si]

Originally Posted by Highrev1

Body roll is no indication of how well a car handles. Already maxed out the Si in GS last year so we know what is needed to make the car handle well.
Dave anytime you want I am Jerz also We can get together for some Dunkin and chat Greg

When I was referring to the Si's body roll and handling characteristics I am mainly comparing it to my GSR which I had a JDM ITR 23mm rear sway bar on and one piece 5-way adjustable coilovers. So it did sit lower and have less body roll than the Si does stock.

What do you mean Body roll is no indication of how well a car handles, just curious what you mean by that?

And I would be interested in hearing what setups you may have already experimented with on the Si and what advice you may have to offer in achieving a quality reliable setup along the lines of what I described in my OP, and maybe meeting up sometime soon. We conveniently have a weekly meet in Hamilton, NJ at Dunkin Donuts every Wednesday night!

Thanks a lot for your input!

Originally Posted by MIKEyyeeee

Im going to assume the Civic is your daily. Since you are familiar with how full coilovers are on the street, you must ask yourself if you can live with feeling every crevice of the road. Ive had coilovers on my last car, and they are smooth on good roads, but harsh over bumps / crappy roads. This is not something I am willing to deal with everyday. They perform amazingly better than spring/shock, but are also much less forgiving over uneven surfaces.



This above sounds like full coilovers will be too much. I haven't experienced HFP spring/shock combo, but it is apparent that some spring/shock combo will suit your needs better than full coils. It is only a matter of time before more dampers become available for '06+ Si. Springs may not go low enough for everyone though

It sounds like you know what you are getting into. G/L and be sure to post up whichever suspension stuffs go purchase

Yes, my civic is my daily driver. And I know exactly what you mean about how coilovers ride, thats why if I do go with coilovers this time around I want go with a higher quality setup and do more research on my options.

I have to imagine there is a quality coilover setup for the Si, with a good range in dampening adjustment and possibly the capability of doing custom spring rates or atleast a "medium" spring rate suitable for daily driving on the street and occasionally participating in an Auto-X.

I in no way do I want to go back to the harsh ride I had in my Integra.

However one of the major downfalls in my eyes of going with a coilover or for that matter a spring setup would be that it will void the warranty on my brand new car. Thats why I am still considering going with the HFP suspension which would atleast be an improvement on the stock Si suspension with a slightly lower ride height and would not void my warranty.

Thanks for your input guys, I obviously still have more research to do.

[dt07Si]

Bump... Any other input?

[954K20_SI]

well here is the route im taking. Current setup is Tein S-techs, SPC front/rear camber adjusters,steal braided brake lines,Royal Purple Syncromax for tranny, Motul RBF fluid for brakes. Carbing strut tower bar comes in this week, and im currently saving up for some Koni yellows when there released this summer. I say KONI FTW. you can adjust them so when your at the track you can stiff'n them up, and when your done return them back to soft. I would stay away from all those coil-over setups. Nothing beats a good spring and adjustable damper-combo. My last car i ran a full ebiach setup..sway/strut bars dampers..im a big time suspension slut..hahaha

[exhaust_note]

Hey man I had the same dilema and here's what I came up with. I ran the South Jersey Region SCCA on April 1st and placed 1st in GS (the stock class). But I hated the wheel gap that the stock suspenion left me with.

I searched lots of posts on here and h-t.com and I found eibach and comptech to be what I was looking for.

I chose the Comptech's
1. They are made by Eibach
2. Realtime Racing came up w/ the specs so they had to be good.

I just mounted the Comptech's on the stock struts and there is a significantly less amount of body roll then stock, so the ride is not harsh because the dampening is the same. I'm waiting for Koni to develop struts for the Si. And that will be my next mod.

I also have a set of Enkei RPF1's and Falken Azenis on the way. Should be here sometime this week.

Keep in mind though that springs will move your car from GS to STX. 06-07 Si's jump STS becasue they have a gear type LSD. You'll be up against 300whp WRX's.

I dont know what part of Jersey your from but you should come out to the Philly SCCA this Sunday.

Heres some pics. Before and After the Comptech's.

Before:









After:

[954K20_SI]

STREET MODIFIED FTW!~

[sbmon]

Although my fg is on stechs and spc camber adjusters too, I did it mainly because like exhaustnote said I just didn't like the look of the wheel well gap. As far as everyday driving this setup is not a hugely different feeling from stock. The stechs are like only around 20% stiffer than stock when comparing spring rates if I remember correctly. I am happy with this setup and have no plans to change it, if I blow the stock struts I will likely go the koni route too when they are available. This is by no means an ideal suspension setup for autocrossing, but it works decent, is not very expensive, and looks good to me. As far as body roll/suspension travel goes it is really not a bad thing, lower does not equate to a better handling suspension setup.
shawn

[King Bob]

I am running a set AMR coilovers, and they are like you say rough on uneven surfaces but smooth on good roads but I just callit feedback :). This is my first car on full coilovers and the roads around here are bad in places but I am comfortable with the ride quality. They have 8 settings ride height adjustability and you get to select your spring rates. So thats an option.

[dt07Si]

Thanks for all your input guys, exhaust_note I haven't been able to make it out to any events yet so far this season but I am gonna try and take the car out atleast once before I change anything on it so I am in GS.

Last year I made it out to a couple Philly SCCA events (which were my first events), and I plan on trying to make it to a couple this year too. Ideally though I need to get rid of these all season tires or get a set of second wheels with a nice set of street tires first.

As far as setups go, I am not really trying to put aftermarket springs on my stock struts. Although springs are really inexpensive and I may end up doing exactly what you did and get springs for now and wait until Koni and other companies come out with struts. I am just questioning whether or not It would be a waste of money and I will end up wanting fully adjustable coilovers.

[dt07Si]

What would the Ground Control setup (ie.Eibach Springs w/ threaded body for height adjust ability) ride like on the stock Si struts or HFP shocks?

I imagine it depends a little on which spring rate you go with but in general how well would it work? Would it be better or worse than say putting Eibach Sportline or Tein S-tech springs on stock struts.

Th main reason why I mention this is because Ground control has the Sleeved Coilovers available for the Si but Koni and other after market strut companies don't have struts available yet.

[dt07Si]

Bump for an answer possibly?

[exhaust_note]

I dont like the teins. They seems to be more gear towards style and not performance. I'm all about proper function before style. I would go w/ eibach or comptech on stock struts till koni's come out. I not need to adjust my ride height. I had coilovers once and there is no need unless it it a full out track car.

If you gonna go as far as getting HFP suspension. I would just use the HFP springs and struts combined and not seperate them. You cant go wrong with HFP on a performance note.

[dt07Si]

Originally Posted by exhaust_note

I dont like the teins. They seems to be more gear towards style and not performance. I'm all about proper function before style. I would go w/ eibach or comptech on stock struts till koni's come out. I not need to adjust my ride height. I had coilovers once and there is no need unless it it a full out track car.

If you gonna go as far as getting HFP suspension. I would just use the HFP springs and struts combined and not seperate them. You cant go wrong with HFP on a performance note.

Thanks for your input man.

As far as your comment on the Teins go, I am afraid that most springs are geared towards style (or lower stance) rather than performance.

If I were to go with springs I would probably consider the S-Techs or Comptech/Eibach Springs, but I really don't think I am gonna go that route.

I am leaning more towards either going with the HFP suspension for the sake of not voiding my warranty mainly, yet still improving my suspension slightly.

or

Going with the Ground Control sleeved coilover with a street spring rate on the stock strut until the Koni Yellows become available (then I could always change my spring rate if I wanted to). That way I will have height adjust ability giving me the ability to fine tune the cars stance and down the road once I get an after market strut I would be able to properly corner weight the car if I wanted to.

As far as coilovers go I am most likely gonna stay away from them with my Si unless I can get a ride in a couple different Si's I know of locally which are lowered on coilovers to see how they ride. If they ride the way my GSR did forget about'm.

[exhaust_note]

Originally Posted by dt07Si

Thanks for your input man.

As far as your comment on the Teins go, I am afraid that most springs are geared towards style (or lower stance) rather than performance.

If I were to go with springs I would probably consider the S-Techs or Comptech/Eibach Springs, but I really don't think I am gonna go that route.

I am leaning more towards either going with the HFP suspension for the sake of not voiding my warranty mainly, yet still improving my suspension slightly.

or

Going with the Ground Control sleeved coilover with a street spring rate on the stock strut until the Koni Yellows become available (then I could always change my spring rate if I wanted to). That way I will have height adjust ability giving me the ability to fine tune the cars stance and down the road once I get an after market strut I would be able to properly corner weight the car if I wanted to.

As far as coilovers go I am most likely gonna stay away from them with my Si unless I can get a ride in a couple different Si's I know of locally which are lowered on coilovers to see how they ride. If they ride the way my GSR did forget about'm.

Best of luck. Let us know what you decide and how it works out.