lanevo7

ok guys this is what i have and what i want to deal with i know there other things out there that are better but i am look to just impove on what i have allready. ok i have a 01 civic LX which sucks for engine mods. so i auto-cross with it becasue i really do not the power to have fun. i have 5 zigen wheels which are 17" i am going to get a set of 16" slipstreams and put falken aziens on them. i have megan coilovers which are great for every day and the track which have the camber plate stock on them and 32 way ajustments for damping. i have a suspension tech front anti-sway i have the rear anti-sway but i can not install it becasue i think i have to change my rear a-arms to the ex one so that i have the mounting the rest that i have is a magnaflow exhaust. if you have any kind of help would be great i am going to go into STS but right now i am in FSP so that i can run in novice becasue i am still just geting into it. HELP with what i can add next thanks

Zzyzx

1st question would simply be... How is the car handling right now?

lanevo7

the car handles good i would just like to impove on that. i was thinking camber kits in back and to get that rear anti-sway in. then i was going to get cold-air and headers back for the exhaust. i do not have any other ideas for performce in engine becasue if it being LX and not EX

Boilermaker1

iTrader: (16)

I dont see why you're running FSP, but anyways. Get 15s, not 16s. There are no real useful 16" tire sizes, whereas 205/50/15 is pretty much the Civic standard as far as autocrossing goes. before fricking around anymore, just take it out and drive it, because nothing will make you faster than improving the guy behind the wheel.

chawski

iTrader: (1)

i always tell people auto-x first, upgrade second. there is no reason to not auto-x on a bone stock car.

in all honesty, i wouldnt modify the engine much as a novice driver, simply bc youre gonna be racing guys with a) a lot of power, and b) most importantly, a lot of know-how. upgrade only when you find a weak point

lanevo7

well i understand what u guys are saying i am not going to do all the work right now i am just geting future ideas i were to go with this car that is all and i would think that u guy would know for the fact that u race and run close to the same car. question so you are saying that go to a 15" rim is better then go to a 16" were u can have 225 but on a 15 you can only get 205 i would think that a 225 is better than 205

bomerman19

iTrader: (1)

I have heard some people have fitment issues with 225's most people I know run the 205's. I would also get that rear sway bar on and possibly lose the front one you can tend to get better braking and accelerating without the front bar. But I don't suggest you pull the front bar till you get some more runs in. I've seen guys show up to auto-x totally done up with suspension and obscene amounts of horse power thinking that they would whip up on everyone, only to get shown up by some beat up old car that looks like its falling apart, and is completely stock. Auto-x is all about the driver not about the car. So the only real advice I can give you is get out there and practice.

jdm_es2

225s will rub hardcore when taking turns. and yeah basically what ^^ said.

Boggie6868

iTrader: (1)

225 will rub depending on the offset. Get these rims, 949racing.com they are 15x8 and you can fit the 205/50/15 azenis rt615 on them. I just picked up a set last week.

lanevo7

does any one know if you can install the rear sway on an LX without replacing the knuckle to an EX knuckle????

Boilermaker1

iTrader: (16)

No they dont... thats what camber and fender rolling tools are for.

The other thing is the 225 v 205 thing is crap. You need to look at the actual measurement of the tire. my 205 R compounds are wider than my 225 street tires. The number on the side means very little other than how to calculate the diameter of the tire.

Zzyzx

"Good" wasn't the type of description I was looking for.

Rather, does it understeer a lot? and when does it? corner entry? corner exit? mid turn? and what are you as a driver doing when it does?


Progress sells and adapter kit to mount a rear anti-roll bar on an LX.

lanevo7

well it controls great on the entry of the turn the only thing is when i take a tight turn i think i am taking it to fast or i am doing some thing wrong becasue i have a habit of my tires peeling out when i get back on the gas coming out of the turn. the rest of it the car handles great i do have some ruff areas but the old auto-x guys help me out with that as well just how to enter and exit just tips the same it get form you guys.

boosted.es2

iTrader: (6)

from what you said. your car handles just fine as you want it. auto-x is 90% driver and 10% car. dont know much about auto-x but majority of my buddies do and thats what they all say.

chawski

iTrader: (1)

what i recommend is to go to the scca page (or whatever club you race with) and print out the regulations for h-stock. dont to anything that will pull you out of h-stock and into a modified class. as a novice driver, a modified class just wont be fun.

as for your exits, any time the tires are chirping or slipping you are losing speed. if you are having trouble keeping friction out of the turn, i would first take a look at the line you are running. can you track out any farther or are you already using the entire course? another thing to look at is tire pressure. i usually run 38-40psi rear and 32-ish front. i was having a big problem with understeer and that seemed to help a lot, as well as maybe give me a slightly larger contact patch on the drive wheels

Zzyzx

Spinning a tire on corner exit is 100% driver error. I say this because you as a driver are actively exceeding the cars traction budget by getting back on the throttle too much, too soon, for that given setup.

That being said there are a couple of things you can to to lessen the amount of inside wheel spin you encounter.

the first one would obviously be to simply reduce throttle inputs until the car grips, the other would be to soften your front anti-roll bar.

Of the two, I'd say learn better throttle control 1st.


If you were understeering coming in to the turn then I'd say you entered the turn with too much speed.

lanevo7

thanks guys well said this well be great for next months auto-x next issue i am going to get rota slipstreams and form what i have been reading 15 is the way do go. even though you can only get a 205/50-15 in the rt-615 is this becasue you can go lower presser so that you get a wider contact patch

Boggie6868

iTrader: (1)

Yep lower pressure greater contact patch, greatest excuse to get wide *** rims.

lanevo7

so what you are say is go and get the slipstreams 15x7.5 and put the rt-615 with low pressure

Zzyzx

necessary Tire PSI is going to be determined by how much static negative camber you have.... as in, if you lower the psi in the hopes of gaining grip, you may find that the tire is rolling on to its side wall too much... causing a greater reduction in traction.

For example, When I was running close to OEM spec alignments I had to run my RT-215's at around 45-48 PSI to keep them from rolling over. Once I dialed in -2.5 deg camber (with no other changes) I was able to drop tire psi to 35-38.

lanevo7

thank that is great info what is the best camber to set at for auto-x????

Boggie6868

iTrader: (1)

Zzyzx how to u look for roll over? Wear indicators right?

chawski

iTrader: (1)

anything larger is illegal for your civic to stay in a stock class

really trail and error for yout tires and preference. i wouldnt move more than .5-1 degree at a time to find what fits you

yup, the wear of the shoulders of the tire are a good indicator for this.