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My 2001 4 dr sedan just doesn't seem to sit firm on the road over 110 km\ph and jumps around a bit going over uneven, but smooth patches.

The car has not been modified in any way apart from better tires and re-alignment. I've had my car to Honda several times with this problem and they say my OEM struts and suspension are to spec and OK.

I'm a little worried as my car has nearly lost control a few times and doesn't feel safe to drive at high speeds.

I know a lot of owners have had their struts replaced several times as this seems to be a standard Civic problem.

I'd like to here from other Civic owners giving there opinions on their ride as well as any advice on how to firm up the supension without lowering to help make the car sit firmer and safer on the road.

Any advice welcome?

 
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What you are experience is a little wheel hop. It happens when you take a bump too fast. You can get coilovers. True coilovers will allow you to lower and/or raise your car or keep pretty much stock height. The usually have stiffer spring rates which help. If you don't want to mess with that, you can upgrade your sway bars, get strut bars, an X brace, but I think polyurethane motor mounts will help the most with your problem.

 
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This is not a little wheel hop it's a serious problem as far as I'm concerned. We've got another 2 cars at home, a new mazda MX 6 and an old Toyota Corolla and both sit on the road OK.

The springs seem really soft if you press on the front and rear end of the car, but the shocks don't bounce.

Anyway, today I nearly lost control of the car. This shoudn't happen under normal driving conditions.

 
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hmmm never had that problem. The springs are a little soft. You can try what i said above as a start.

 
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what were you doing when you nearly lost control?(Turning? going straight?) what did the car do when you nearly lost control, and approximatly how fast were you going at the time? Also, what type and size tire are you using, and what is the serface of the road like? with out this we will be pretty much guessing as to what your problem is.

 
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do you have anything in the trunk? try going to a different dealer.
it might be because you have an 01. the rear on the 01s are much bouncier than the 02s.. i had the 01s and they were pretty bouncy, not "i'm going to lose control of the car" bouncy tho.

 
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The road I was driving on was a straight fast expsess way although there are a few uneven patches which aren't usually a problem in my other cars.

As for the tires, they are new Bridgestone Turanza ER60 195\60R15 which were fitted 2 months ago.

Civics shouldn't bounce as much as they do.

 
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ya.. should try taking it to a different dealer

 
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I know exactly what you're talking about, although I've experienced this not from faulty shocks but from shocks that aren't meant for fast speeds. The problem is... it's your shocks.

Don't the Koni yellows work with stock suspension? I would say get stiffer struts. But if you're going fast on stock springs, I say take it easy - especially on weak struts. If the car's suspension rebounds on mostly the springs and it bounces hard enough in the front, your front wheels will lose traction on the way up - and if you're in a turn or your front wheels are turned enough, you can lose complete control of your car and end up in circles or even worse, flip your car.

The stock struts just aren't designed for that type of driving condition. The stock tires will be sure that you do lose control with the limited amount of traction they offer, and the springs aren't stiff enough to keep the driver in control within an unpredictable change in the road.

Slow down.

 
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Just been to Honda service with my problem and they test drove my car on the same road and found the same problem, infact they nearly flipped the car at one point. They're going to replace the rear shocks today.

Civics aren't safe in my opinion, there's too much roll!!

 
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I hate to say it, but since it's an economy classed car, it's designed to roll.

Now if you really want to fix it, keep in mind suspension dynamics start with the springs... if you'd like you have many options on upgrading them with better struts.

If you can, get the dealer to install 2002 struts on your car because those are definitely better than the 2001s by FAR.

 
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Well, got my car back this evening and the rear seems much firmer.

The rear struts and springs were replaced, but now I can really tell the front seems bouncy.