A lot of questions... 1996-2000 Civics
06-26-2006, 08:37 PM
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A lot of questions... 1996-2000 Civics
Hey everyone, I've been looking to pickup an 1996-2000 Civic EX Coupe, yeah I'd love the 1999/2000 Si, but, I'm too scared it'd be stolen.
Anyway...
I honestly know nothing about Honda's, I used to be a Nissan guy until someone crashed into my car and totaled it, but also loved the looks of the 96-00 Civic coupes and have been thinking of picking one up.
Anyway, I love mountain and canyon driving, so my first thoughts are suspension...
I know Honda's are already low, but could someone give me a quick run down on suspension?
What are some good springs to drop it with, that will not ever scrape, but still drop it. Some good struts, sway bars, strut bars, endlinks.
Basically, what's the moderate suspension setup, that will still be daily driven, but also on the weekends out there mashing it, not just a sceneic cruise but straight up mashing it, and also planning on auto-xing. Love feeling the road, so a bumpy ride doesn't bother me.
Also what are the stock wheel sizes? 14's or 15's? What's the idea wheel setup with 15's without screwing up the speedmeter but getting the best tire size for hugging the road?
Also any brake kits, or any kind of aftermarket rotors and pads that would be good, or anything you could swap over from an Accord or anything else?
Also looking at power, but require it all to be California street legal...
Are there any cold air intakes that are CARB aproved? Any header(s) that are CARB approved?
And what kind of numbers do they put down? How hard do they pull on the low end? And curious about top end highway, you know?
Thanks a bunch everyone!
Anyway...
I honestly know nothing about Honda's, I used to be a Nissan guy until someone crashed into my car and totaled it, but also loved the looks of the 96-00 Civic coupes and have been thinking of picking one up.
Anyway, I love mountain and canyon driving, so my first thoughts are suspension...
I know Honda's are already low, but could someone give me a quick run down on suspension?
What are some good springs to drop it with, that will not ever scrape, but still drop it. Some good struts, sway bars, strut bars, endlinks.
Basically, what's the moderate suspension setup, that will still be daily driven, but also on the weekends out there mashing it, not just a sceneic cruise but straight up mashing it, and also planning on auto-xing. Love feeling the road, so a bumpy ride doesn't bother me.
Also what are the stock wheel sizes? 14's or 15's? What's the idea wheel setup with 15's without screwing up the speedmeter but getting the best tire size for hugging the road?
Also any brake kits, or any kind of aftermarket rotors and pads that would be good, or anything you could swap over from an Accord or anything else?
Also looking at power, but require it all to be California street legal...
Are there any cold air intakes that are CARB aproved? Any header(s) that are CARB approved?
And what kind of numbers do they put down? How hard do they pull on the low end? And curious about top end highway, you know?
Thanks a bunch everyone!
Last edited by IONO_Anything; 06-26-2006 at 08:41 PM.
06-27-2006, 08:27 AM
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well i suppose i will try and answer some of your questoins. any one else that has input please give it.
personally i like my koni yellow shocks and neuspeed race springs. stiff around turns and its externally adjustable so it makes life easy if you want to change on the fly. alot of people have oppinions about what set up to use, i would talk to people you know with hondas and see what they say. im not running sway bars yet so i dont know for sure what is great but i hear that the civic type r bar works pretty well.
wheel size depends on model, most of them are 15". people run sizes from 13 inch with slicks to 19" with street tires (i think thats a bit large but to each his own). You probably want to stay close to stock size, im running 16" with 205/40/16 toyo proxis4 and i havent lost traction running around the canyons except in the rain.
Brake kits from what ive read dont really do much. i would say get a set of brembo blanks, maybe slotted, and a set of good quality pads.
Im in So Cal also so i know the pain of the carb laws. you can do an engine swap of the same generation and it can be BARD but i dont know alot about that. there are people here that have gotten it done so maybe they will input somthing. they make carb exempt CAI's and im pretty sure they make headers that are carb exempt as well if you dont relocate the cat. 120-150HP is a pretty reasonable estimate for just bolt ons, but it depends on the motor and the bolt ons.
im just putting in my ideas so if anyone else has anything add it.
personally i like my koni yellow shocks and neuspeed race springs. stiff around turns and its externally adjustable so it makes life easy if you want to change on the fly. alot of people have oppinions about what set up to use, i would talk to people you know with hondas and see what they say. im not running sway bars yet so i dont know for sure what is great but i hear that the civic type r bar works pretty well.
wheel size depends on model, most of them are 15". people run sizes from 13 inch with slicks to 19" with street tires (i think thats a bit large but to each his own). You probably want to stay close to stock size, im running 16" with 205/40/16 toyo proxis4 and i havent lost traction running around the canyons except in the rain.
Brake kits from what ive read dont really do much. i would say get a set of brembo blanks, maybe slotted, and a set of good quality pads.
Im in So Cal also so i know the pain of the carb laws. you can do an engine swap of the same generation and it can be BARD but i dont know alot about that. there are people here that have gotten it done so maybe they will input somthing. they make carb exempt CAI's and im pretty sure they make headers that are carb exempt as well if you dont relocate the cat. 120-150HP is a pretty reasonable estimate for just bolt ons, but it depends on the motor and the bolt ons.
im just putting in my ideas so if anyone else has anything add it.
06-27-2006, 08:36 AM
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Koni yellow's are some of the better stuff available, I personally went with Ground Control coilovers and koni's to get the option of chaning rates later on. Also it allowed me to go with custom rates for my swap.
If you really want rims, stick around 15" or 16". The bigger they are the more they way, and usually tire cost goes up as well.
Don't look into big brake kits until you're really good at auto-x, just not worth it until then. Get some Brembo blanks and a good set of pads. If you want to spend a little more try some stainless lines, although they won't stop you any faster than can improve pedal feel. DO NOT get slotted or drilled rotors, waste of money and they'll decrease performance.
CAI, headers, and exhaust won't add a whole lot, especially for the cost. Biggest bang for the buck would be forced induction or motor swap. I dont' know the legalities of a motor swap though, as I'm in Florida, and around here they don't care about anything pollution related.
Best thing to do at this point is search and read a ton. Figure out what you want to do, and what your budget is, and go from there. Or, post your budget and we'll all make random suggestions based on what we like as to what you should get. That's always fun!
If you really want rims, stick around 15" or 16". The bigger they are the more they way, and usually tire cost goes up as well.
Don't look into big brake kits until you're really good at auto-x, just not worth it until then. Get some Brembo blanks and a good set of pads. If you want to spend a little more try some stainless lines, although they won't stop you any faster than can improve pedal feel. DO NOT get slotted or drilled rotors, waste of money and they'll decrease performance.
CAI, headers, and exhaust won't add a whole lot, especially for the cost. Biggest bang for the buck would be forced induction or motor swap. I dont' know the legalities of a motor swap though, as I'm in Florida, and around here they don't care about anything pollution related.
Best thing to do at this point is search and read a ton. Figure out what you want to do, and what your budget is, and go from there. Or, post your budget and we'll all make random suggestions based on what we like as to what you should get. That's always fun!