dave94ex

I have a 94 accord ex sedan 5spd and I am planning on trying out AutoX this spring. I know the most important thing for me to do is get some seat time but I would like to do a couple of things to my car before the season starts. I have $400 to spend. What should I buy. I will be in Street prepared class. Right now I have
I/H/E
front and rear strut tower bars
lightweight 17's with Potenza RE950s
KYB-AGX struts

Any suggestions?

1stGenCRXer

I think for now I'd save the money and see what I may need/want once you've got some events done this season. You know, things to bring the handling that much closer to your ultimate preference.

Though, if you really want to spend the money, you can't go wrong with safety equipment. Maybe a new helmet, or [for autocross only!] a harness bar and 4/5 point belts. Just remember that racing harnesses are not street legal, and could be lethal anyways without a roll cage along with them, though autocrosses normally don't get enough speed for that to be much concern.

Shingoblade-GSR

Street-prepared? Looks more like STS to me (much easier class as well).

For $400 I would recommend getting some brembo blanks and a decent set of pads. You really can't go wrong with fade-free stopping power. With whatever money you have leftover get a tire-pressure gauge. The #1 recommendation that I received from the more experienced guys was to pay attention to my tire pressure. THere's always someone at the event who will be willing to let you use his air pump and whatnot.

Shingo

dave94ex

Yeah, I guess I meant STS class.

Am I better to invest in a ST rear sway bar, performance pads, SS brake lines, or something else?

GreenEX

With a $400 budget, you have some options. Depending on how you use the car other than autocross, ie. how much snow you have to deal with, etc, there are some things you can do. I'd say get a good set of front brake pads (or even do some junkyard scrounging and get the Accord Wagon 11" front brake setup) is a wise and cost-effective upgrade for autocross and the street. An Eibach Pro-kit goes well with the AGX's, the Eibach Sportlines are nice, but they drop the car enough to require alignment kits, and that might blow your budget (don't forget, an alignment after the install!) A large rear sway bar really helps these cars, the Suspension Techniques bar is cheap enough, but I'd go for a bar that uses factory mounts rather than the S/T bar the requires drilling into your control arms. A good thing to do at the time of the rear bar is urethane front sway bar endlinks and greaseable body mounts (very nice at $25 for the set.) With all the gear shifting, urethane motor mounts and shifter bushings are a good idea. My advice? Good brake pads (I like EBC Green & Porterfield R4S pads,) a good tune-up (Bosch +4 plugs w/ Accel wires work well,) and of course, air and fuel filters. Hang on to some of your money, let the course find out where the points that need work are (and no offense, usually the driver needs the most work.)

DakarM

I agree with the above. but not the rest. Wayyyy too many people start autoxing with bunch of modifications done to their car.

You'll learn a lot more with a stock car than any modified car. Modified car can hide a lot of your faults. Faults that you probably had for years. If you want to get any faster, you have to work on the faults.

I would spend the money on a new helmet like 1stgen suggested. Don't worry about having a stock car. Believe me there are people who can out drive me in their stock corolla and me in my M coupe. the great thing is that they will help you get faster

take advantage, ask for rides. it helps to have a helmet so you can hop from ride to ride.

DakarM

Heheh my air pump got passed around so much it was nick named the cheap trick :chuckles:

white_n_slow

If you want to put the money in the car, and not into equipment and whatnot, I'd recomend a polyurethane bushing set. It'll tighten up your suspension like nobody's business, and feels great through the cones. And unlike many other suspension mods, it will actually help you uncover your driving weaknesses, rather than just hiding them. :thumbup:

All these people recomending brake stuff.... I wish I knew what it was like to need brakes for autoxh: ......so slow....