A03

iTrader: (2)

I've read the suspension basics 101 thread and have been poking around the suspension thread for a while now. Hopefully I don't get the old 'use the search button' response.

My car is an 03 coupe EX, with about 45k on it. I do no type of racing whatsoever, just drive it for transportation all year around, winter, summer and in between. I do a lot of highway mileage and drive pretty fast, whenever possible. 80+/- mph is about average for me on clear highway.

The car is mostly satisfactory and does what I need it to in the handling department. What bothers me a little only shows up at around 80mph or beyond. At that speed, the suspension really likes to extend upwards a long ways going through any pavement elevation change, then come back down not as quickly as I'd like. When it comes upwards, it gives the car a light 'airy' feeling and reduces confidence. Its not much of an issue on flat pavement, but going through a bend and over a pavement elevation change is not good!

When the time comes to change my shocks out (due to wear) I would like to be ready and a little more educated as to what parts I might want to purchase as replacements. I need to keep stock ride height, because I drive through snow and everything else and just don't want a low-rider. The only thing I'd want to change from stock is to reduce that stretchy feeling at moderate speed, and keep those tires stuck to the ground. I figured it would have to do with shocks, but after reading the basics page it looks like to fit my desires I'd be looking at shocks and springs?

Hopefully the pros can help, and offer some advice. I don't want to get into 'modding' I am just looking at possibly better working alternative parts, for parts that need to be replaced anyway.



Also - unrelated. I seem to warp front rotors pretty fast. The stock set I had to take off at around 30. I had new ones (not Honda brand, aftermarkets) put on the car with new pads, and had the originals cut. Now, at nearly 45 they are slightly warped again and I can feel pulsing when braking at moderate speed. My mechanic says that I am warping them faster than most people, but that happens if you're hard on the brakes at higher speeds.. I guess I am sometimes, I drive slightly more aggressive than average.

Simple question: Would slotted rotors help to get the heat out of the brake discs enough to hold off warping for longer? My pads are usually still fine, but I have to get it serviced because of the stinkin warping. My mecahnic is waiting for his new house to be built, so can't do my car as a side job right now.. going to the dealer is obviously $$$$ especially if I keep on doing this often before the parts are actually worn out (just warped).

So on this, I am happy with the stopping power - I'd just like to get longer duration out of them before they warp. Would slotted or vented fit the bill?

Thanks a bunch to those of you in the know, who take the time to answer all of our questions.

A03

iTrader: (2)

Also, I don't know if it matters much, but I am on stock alloys with stock firestones. Before snow hits this year I am going to be switching to BF traction T/As in stock size, on stock wheels. I plan to stay on stock wheels, unless somthing very unusual happened that made me change em.

dma001

Actually, I would be interested in some informed opinions about this, too, as I have experienced similar "airy" sensations at higher highway speeds -- it is a little scary, I'll admit. I like my stock ride height, too.

Blahman240

fyi, traction t/a are great tires for year round all season traction, but they will hurt you in acceleration. As they are meant for more of the performance car.

shroomster

your best bet would be to get KYB's or tokico blues and keep your stock springs...they give you the same ride heighth as you have now...aside from that they will last a heluva lot longer....for control you could replace the sway bars that are more solid and capable of those speeds....civic was meant to be economical not a high speed performer....if you want some advice for tires look at the siping....the cuts in the tire...the more tiny cuts and grooves the better wet handling i.e. snow and salty snow....something like a goodyear regatta or assurance (comforTread [touring] or TripleTread [directional & year round]) but back to the suspension sway bars and get some eibach prokit springs it will lower ride heigth about 1" and as an example I have prokit and tokico's and going into tight corners around 45-50 the car noses down not up

Zzyzx

Two things, Shocks (dampers) for a stock suspension where ride quality is a must, Tokico HP's would probably be your best bet. and Check to see if you're tires are properly inflated. If your still on stock sized rubber, a bit of that "floaty" feeling could be caused simply by tread squirm and sidewall flex. Also, allways expect to lose a little traction when cresting bumps and hills...its only physics at work.


Warping brake rotors is actually VERY hard to do... most of the time its just an uneven build up of pad meterial on the rotors surface. Slotted rotors BTW, acutally would run the brakes HOTTER... (less rotor mass = Higher rotor opperating temp) Your problem probably stems from incorrect bedding... and over the long term, if I read this right, you're ocationial Heavy use can acutally cause the transfer film (the layer of pad meterial built up on the rotor by the bedding procedure) to be worn off... makeing it nessisary to rebed the pads/rotor... if you dont, what can happen is that over time as the pads rebed themselves you end up with a thicker layer of transfer film in one section of the rotor vs another... and that can cause that pulsating pedal feel that so many people assume is a warped rotor. Best way to fix it would be to swap to a pad that is more stable under higher heat. you dont need a race pad, just something that can take the heat better. something like a Hawk HP Superduty or the HPS, or their equivliant.

A03

iTrader: (2)

deleted my own message.

Boilermaker1

iTrader: (16)

well the car lifting up at 80+ due to undulations in the road can really be only solved by the Mr. Obvious solution.... SLOW DOWN. There's a good reason race tracks don't have potholes and undulations in them. The bump causes a huge compression, which launches the car upwards and your complaint is the car unloads. Think of it like a trampoline of sorts.... the car hits the bump, the springs compress all the way then up you go... well you don't have much control on a trampoline either do you? Firmer damping would help, but will not completely solve the problem, go to firm and you'll find yourself doing one of those pictures with the car on 2 wheels over a track curb (extreme, but possible). Addition of downforce (this is not to be read as a huge wing) would also help, but the effect would be so minimal that it wouldn't matter unless you did a major redesign of the car's aerodynamics.

As for the brakes, slotted rotors solve nothing. If you're cooking rotors something's not right. You're either riding them, or slamming them. I've never warped rotors and people would probably concede that I'm not easy on brakes. Find a way to get air to them. The 7 spoke Si/EX wheels that come stock aren't the greatest for cooling brakes since they cover so much up. Something more open would definitely get more air in there, but I would say a modification to braking technique would make a big difference.

A03

iTrader: (2)

My post that I deleted was to comment on not wanting to have to modify HP's. I re-read the sticky up top and realized most of my post was already discussed in that thread, so I deleted the whole thing.

On smooth pavement, the car sails along at 80 without a care in the world. It's smooth, feels safe and I feel totally in control, as much so as doing 65. I take long trips usually through the country, so these speeds are normal and seem pretty safe to me. Around chicago, most people actually drive that fast and sometimes they will blow by you while you're doing 80. Although SLOW DOWN is one obvious solution, it's not the one I am seeking.

Today I get my Traction T/As mounted, which I am excited about. YAY! Maybe that'll do somthing?

My shocks aren't shot or anything, so I'll be leaving them on until atleast spring. I would like to try HP's, but I am just not happy about having to make modifications to them to make em' fit. Sadly, the picture of "what to modify" in the sticky was not available today, it was showing as just a little red X.

I'd like to see the pictures and everything before trying the HPs. My work is all done at the dealer, and although the mechanic knows Hondas very well, he probably isn't going to understand the shock bolts not fitting right. I'll need to get good documents to explain the modification procedure correctly to him or for me to do myself before bringing it in. Pictures would be the greatest help, so hopefully they will re-appear for me to download.

As far as the brakes, like xxyxz said maybe I was just cooking brake material onto the rotors in an uneven fashion.. I'm not sure. I've still got solid discs, and plan to stick to them, but may try the recommended pads.