Rep Power: 0

Just curious... you'd think the Civic would since the RSX has a heavier motor up front and b asically the same suspension.. I could be wrong though.

 
Rep Power: 0

I' hope the RSX handles better considering it costs more and bone-stock civics handle like crap.

 
Rep Power: 0

i say that the RSX would handle better if both were to compete stock...the rear sway bar helps quite a lot

 
Rep Power: 432

i liked rsx's handling better than my old ex. when i test drove one.

 
Rep Power: 0

i dont remember what it was like to have both cars as stock...

 
Rep Power: 0

ive dirven both and the rsx beats the civic by far.

 
Rep Power: 0

Is that just cause of the bar?

 
Rep Power: 0

defintly the rsx.. the base auto handle's way better than my civic

 
Rep Power: 0

handles better in what way? road holding.. side to side transition.. under steer? My civic handles pretty good I think. I have sprint springs, front strut bar.. and tires. im getting the rsx bar this week end.. well itw ill be shipped this week end

 
Rep Power: 0

the only thing i like more about the vic is that is has a way better turning radius.

 
Rep Power: 0

stock versus stock, the rsx because it hugged the road when i drove it, even with those *** tires. both cars are great handlers if modded properly. ROAD COURSES

 
Rep Power: 374

Ive got my car with 205/40/17s goldlines, front and rear upper struts, rsx rear sway bar...
and my buddy with the type s drives as crazy as i do with just rims



I just remembered that the rsx s's come stock with a front strut bar.

 
Rep Power: 338

well i would hope that the rsx handles better cause 1. it has wider tires, 2. beefier suspension, and 3 more balanced

 
Rep Power: 424

Its not better balanced. Its actually worse as far as weight dist. goes.

It has stiffer springs and shocks and a bigger rear anti-roll bar. It does have a tower to firewall strut bar from the factory, it doesn't look big enough to do much. The car was just tuned for sportyness rather than econoboxing. If you took a stock RSX suspension and put it in a Civic, with the lighter weight and better front/rear split, you'd probably outhandle the RSX, assuming you took acceleration out of the equation.

 
Rep Power: 380

Yup... Stock RSX > Civic

but Because of the weight difference the civic has more potential, weather or not that potential can counter the RSX speed advatage? I don't know. but we'll still be able to pull more Lateral G's then them.

Weight plays a much more important part in Handling then it does in acceleration.
i.e. You can have a very light car handle poorly if its weight is unbalanced (Poor corner weight. bad cross weight ect..).




and Boilermaker1 is right (More then He knows). The US version of the RSX is a modification of the Japanese Version. The Japanese Version is Right hand drive the US is Left. What does this matter? well the Japanese weighted the car to compensate for a Driver on the Right (So there is a little more weight on the Left) The US version has the driver on the Left, so that weight (Originally added to balance the car) now Hinders its cross weights. so the Japanese Version (Stock vs Stock) handles sightly better then the US version (Even though every thing else is the same).

 
Rep Power: 0

hmm, interesting, I'd have thought this was a stupid question and that the RSX handles much better than the Civic hands down.

Having driven both, I'll say easily the stock RSX is MUCH more responsive than a stock Civic. Never taken the RSX to the track tho, so don't know what it's capable of there, but just every day driving and horseing around, the RSX feels better.

I'd have thought the weight dist. disadvantage the RSX has over the Civic would be fairly easily countered by the vastly better suspension setup, but again, I haven't taken it to the track, so don't know for certain.

just my $0.02

 
Rep Power: 0

Where does the EP3 fit into all of this? I don't remember it's weight distribution but fill me in considering the engine and driver are on the opposite side like the RSX.

 
Rep Power: 0

Can you switch the suspension from the RSX and use it in our civics?

Like the whole assembly and pop it in our factory slots and have them work?

Hrmmmm......

 
Rep Power: 380

the RSX and the Civic have an almost Identical Suspension. In stock form the RSX was designed for performance, and the civic was designed for economy. what this means is that if both cars were given simmalar suspension mods, the lighter car would have an advantage in the corners. However, the RSX's engine may be able to make up for it in the straights.

SO ....... while the civic may be able to out corner the RSX, the RSX will make up the differenc in acceleration.

 
Rep Power: 0

what about the 02-03 Si's arent they better than the RSX?

 
Rep Power: 380

dosn't look like it. Its heavier then the Base line RSX and just a hair lighter then the RSX-S Though, like the RSX, what it loses vs the civic in the corners, it will make up for in the straights.

 
Rep Power: 0

i think the rsx-s (havent driven the regular rsx) handles much better

 
Rep Power: 380

of course, Stock Vs stock. but because the 2 cars have Virtually the same suspension set up, if both were to be set up Identically, the lighter car (Civic non Si) will have the advantage in the corners. However, I dont think that a Civic will be able to "hang" with either The RSX or RSX-S on a road course because the RSX's have so much better acceleration. (What the civic gains in the corners will be lost in the straigtaways).

I cant comment on how a civic with a K20 swap would do against them because I dont know how much weight is added because of the engine, and I dont know how that weight affects the balance of the car.

 
Rep Power: 0

I actually think my '03 EX coupe handles as well as, or close to, the '02 base RSX I last drove. I know the suspension/steering was slightly changed on the 7th gens after 2001, and the RSX I drove didn't have any better steering feel or quicker turn in than my Civic, which is bone stock. Also the RSX OEM tires suck just as bad as our 7th gen OEM Firestones, only they have a little bigger contact patch. I think with better tires and really basic suspension mods, I could take a RSX in the corners, but of course, like someone already mentioned, they'd smoke me in the straights. Such is life with a D17.....

 
Rep Power: 0

RSX

 
Rep Power: 0

Civic!!!

 
Rep Power: 380

wow, those are 2 really impressive arguments..............

 
Rep Power: 0

hehe

 
Rep Power: 0

I guess I should've been more specific. What about the weight distribution in an EP3 compared to the RSX and regular Civic?

 
Rep Power: 380

I dont have any weights of a 7th gen (Coupe or sedan) but I do have some info on both the Si and the RSX-s.

RSX-S total weight (As weighed by Grassroots Motorsports) 2724
LF 858 RF 839
LR 486 RR 541

This give the RSX-S cross weights of

LF+RR 51.36%
RF+LR 48.64%

7th gen Civic Si total weight (As measured by Grassroots motorsports) + 232 LB driver. 2847
LF 899 RF 820
LR 596 LR 532

this gives the Si cross weights of

LF+RR 50.26%
RF+LR 49.73%

Cross weights are Very important to Handling. 50% is what you want.

SO...... it appears that the RSX-S has a bit of a cross weight problem........ So the US version is Much More unbalanced the the Japanese version, and it looks as the Si (Being designed in Europe) is better balanced but Heavier (Due to the Driver)

SO I was wrong in my assumption, the Si will probably handle better, but the RSX-S's Hp will probably help it to win anyway.