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i'm going to be coming into $400 soon and i want to spend it all on my car of course. i'm going to try to keep my car in H-Stock since i have never attended a 'true' auto-x event, only GM and Ford comparison test gatherings (i held the quickest time for a couple hours, driving the focus on the auto-x course, and on the drag strip i had a reaction time of .552 my first time at at a drag). anyway i'm getting off topic here...

what is the best thing(s) i could do for $400 to improve my car in auto-x and still stay in H-Stock?

here's a list of mods that i have already;

-Skunk2 catback exhaust
-Falken Ziex 512 - 205/50/15's
-Axxis ultimates (will arrive on wednesday)
-Brembo blanks (will arrive on wednesday)

 
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Koni shocks... Not really $400, but very close... (around $560 or so..)

 
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is it worth buying koni's if i'm only going to buy coilovers (i think i am) in the not too distant future? skunk2 is making a full coilover. i'm torn between full coilovers or koni yellows with skunk2 sleeved coilovers or GC's or something.

what about a sway bar?

 
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strut bars. spoon!

stay away from dc sports. those things bend like nothing.

 
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i'm reading the rules but i don't see anything about chassis support, are strut bars allowed in h-stock?

i could probably get a strut bar and a sway bar for $400

what about short shifters and things?

 
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Strut bars and such are not legal for hs. I've been researching the options also, and it comes down to wheels/tires, shocks, front sway bar, and crash bolts. If your car is a 2001 ex, you should already have the biggest stock front bar (25.4 hollow, roughly equivalent to a 22.8 solid) and the only bigger option I know of is the progress solid 26 bar. It'll be a whole lot stiffer since it's solid, and might overwhelm your stock dampers but it might be a good approach if you're going to stick with hs and wide/sticky tires. But it's probably a waste if you're going to coilovers later since you'd probably want less front bar and more rear bar. Although you could sell it I suppose.

There are some legal crash bolts for the 01, described in a Honda Tech Service Bulletin, that are good for -.5 degrees camber on the front. Again, they're probably a must if you were gonna stay in hs, but they have drawbacks like possible slipping under high load and you'd probably get rid of them once you get the coilovers.

At the end of the day, alignment changes to front/rear toe, tire pressure, and experience (what I sorely lack) are probably your best options if you're going to make bigger changes to the suspension later.

 
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thanks a lot. i do intend on going to STS in the future, but i wanted to try out HS first. i guess i don't have to totally deck out my car for HS if i'm just trying it out. i could run essentially bone stock for that matter. just to get the feel.

 
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putting a bigger front sway bar on your car will induce more understeer which you don't want. The progress bar is 27mm BTW. I would suggest konis too and then get custom GCs when you decide you want to go to STS.

 
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a bigger front sway can sometimes help a car with very soft suspension, they did it to the project srt-4 in grassroots motorsports. or if you plan on going to sts you could get the 03 smaller front bar, it's like 15.9mm. or save your money and don't worry about have a fast car until it has a fast driver.

 
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a good $400 can go into 2 driving classes too!!!

 
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Save the money for some wheels/tires.

 
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i already have falken 512's (which should be 'okay') and i'm going to get rota slips, but i want to get the 7" wide rims which are not allowed in HS. you have to keep stock size. i'm going to go into STS after i fiddle around in HS for awhile. i just want to get the feel for the car before i dump a bunch of money into the wrong things.

 
Rep Power: 318

My tip: Dont dump any money untill on your car untill you learn to drive it, & you know for sure what class you want to run. If you get some 15x6 rotas, then decide youre bored with stock class, then you'll go into STS with 6 inch wheels...there goes $600, get my drift?? Taking a driving class & riding out a half or a full season the way your car is now is the best way to get a feel for the sport in general. Then youll start to realize the pros & cons of each class & start targeting a class of your choice.

Hell you might be like me & run a whole season then decide youre bored with FWD, now im glad I listened to everyone & didnt blow all my money on the civic. Because now im having to start out brand new again with the Miata, ive been bumped back to a n00b

Just my $.02...