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I have tein basic dampers, and 17s with yokohama paradas 205/45. I am going to give autox a go and possibally a bit of road courses. As of now I have a 2" drop and - camber. Here is the setup that I am thinking:

Neuspeed front strut tower bar
Some type of rear strut tower bar (I don't know who makes one)
Progress front and rear anti-sway bars
greys endlinks
energy suspension front and rear control arm bushings

What do you guys think?????

 
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That front swaybar is too big and you might want to raise it a bit.

 
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agreed, Though I would run an event to see if your bottoming out, before i spent the time to raise the car up.
You may want to re-think the 17's... Think Expensive tires (autocross and Open track eat tires), and they are slowing you down(Rotational Inertia).

other wise, run a few events, have some fun (Thats what its all about after all) dont worry so much about your setup untill after you start to get compeditive

Have fun and keep the shiny side up.

 
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Have fun putting the control arm bushings in

 
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my 17s are on the lighter side and I really don't wish to buy new rims. My exhaust is closer to the ground than I would think the sway bar could be (I could be wrong). But I have never ran a autocross event before why do I need to worry about bottoming out?? The bushings are that hard??? Are they harder than the shocks or the engine mount inserts???

Thanks guys

 
Rep Power: 424

You're going to bottom out because the car is to low. The force on the outside of the car in a corner is enough to compress the suspension a lot more than you think. I say don't spend a dime until you know how to drive the car. Drive it as is, don't add anything to it. The more of a pain it is to drive the car, the more you'll learn.
As far as 17s go... if you like paying 100+ per tire every year.... have at it. Most people run smaller sizes for economic reasons as well as the speed advantage. 15s are quite a bit less per tire than a 17" one. I know from experience..... its not fun replacing them 8 months later.

 
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I am going to say that I am a really good driver, BUT I know that autoX is different than taking backroads fast and I will be taking things to a new level. I also see what you are saying about the fact that the sway bar is all the way across and the exhaust being in the middle the sway bar will bottom out before the exhaust. How low do you think I could go??? As far as the tires I hate my tires (they have alot of road noise) so I hope the damn things go bad.

 
Rep Power: 412

Everyone thinks they can drive. Your exhaust muffler will probably bottom out before your car. The sway bars cannot bottom out as they are directly attached to the frame, so if you bottom out you are hitting your subframe.

 
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LOL yeah I know what you mean. I was a good golfer and worked at a golf shop everyone thought that they could golf until I played a round with them . I don't know what I was thinking about the sway bars draging, but my exhaust will be fine I have pushed my car to its limits with no problems. So I sould not have to raise it

 
Rep Power: 424

You're not going to drag the car, you're going to run out of suspension travel. Bottom out.... exceed the suspension's limit, hit the bump stops, whatever. Tein Basics work by compressing the spring to lower the car, so the piston gets shorter since its already compressed, so you end up with less travel that you started with. It doesn't take much of a corner to compress the suspension a lot, especially at speed, even more so on a grippy surface where you're tires dig in.
Trust me, you're not as good a driver as you think you are. I've been in it for 3 years now and I still don't consider myself good. Its a lot different when you're on a clock with an equal playing field. You gotta know what you're doing and you need to know just how far the car will go. Its not like tossing it down a country road. If I threw the car around the boonies as hard as I do on the course, I'd be on my 5th Civic by now.

 
Rep Power: 380

THis is what he's talking about... (both in suspension compression and how hard you push the car)


when's the last time you had your inside rear tire a good 4" off the ground....?


Before I went to my 1st event, I thought I was a pretty good driver.... after, i realized I didnt know squat. I came in Dead last in my class.... Two years later, I've got 2nd pretty tied up for the region... unless another 89 Si shows up.... (i loved driving that car...)