rincewind

Hi,

I've got a stock 97 CX and want to improve the handling. If I go over about 100kph on anything but a straight road, I start to feel like I'm about to lift off And a few times now I've lost traction going down the coast on what I consider wide easy corners... it just started slowly understeering. I know its easy to lose traction if u accelerate or brake heavily in a corner, but this was a massively wide turn, and in my CX, already doing 55mph I seriously doubt I was putting any extra power down at that point during the turn to make me lose it, and I wasn't braking.

Now, I'm no racer or anything, I just want it to handle better and therefore be safer. So with that in mind, are these decent ideas?

1) Grippier tyres. I've been recommended BF Goodrich G force Sports because my car has 14's and the tyre fitter said that altho Falken and Kumho etc do good tyres, bf goodrich beat them in the lower sizes. There is a possibily that I might get new rims because the last owner scratched them up badly (by parking badly I assume). My car has 14" rims. What size can I go up to and still keep the same overall wheel diameter? Because I don't want to screw up the performance / speedo. If I can go 16" rims and low profile tyres I'll be happy. The rest of the car doesn't warrant 17's IMO.

2) Rear anti-sway bar. What to look for with this? Are they all the same? I can't imagine there being a lot of difference.

3) What's a strut bar? Is that the one I've read about being under the back of the car in near the suspension? Will this help me?

4) Here in Australia, there is a brand of springs called King springs. Do u have them over there? A friend said you can get them fitted for fairly cheap so wondering if they're any good.

5) Any other ideas? Or things I should watch out for, or ask the tyre fitters / suspension place to check for me?

6) Stop laughing :P even tho it's only a CX, Aussie roads suck and it's easy for any car to lose it if ur not driving like a complete granny.

Thanks.

alphaxxn

never heard of king springs. I recommend Falkens

WalknIsStilHnst

Never heard of King springs either, I was sure I saw some eibachs on ebay coming out of Australia...? No matter, I think springs and new tires would do exactly what you're looking for to just lower your handling and cornering. I honestly don't know much bout anything else you're wondering about

'93TurboD

Yup the Falken Azenis Sport comes in a 195/60R14 size and is the best dry traction tire per $ out there. I don't trust the Michelin/B.F.Goodrich/Uniroyal group. Except the PS2 and KDW, which are both expensive and not as good a value as the Falkens.
A strut bar ties the two shock towers together completing the box and stiffening the chassis.
A rear anti-roll bar will require a sub-frame brace or it will tear. If you have a front bar you could dis-connect it for the same effect. Or play around with your tire pressures.
I have heard of King springs but I don't know any one who has them.

rincewind

Glad to hear I'm heading in the right direction (excuse the pun).

Sounds like a couple of u guys think the guy at the shop wasn't right when he said BF Goodrich are better for tires of this size? I've heard of the Azenis. I think they're available here. I've seen a fair few posts about them on here, sounds like they're popular, but how are they in the wet?

It's about 50/50 wet/dry where I am. But I think I'd lean towards wet performance designed tyres than dry. As far as I understand, tyres for dry will grip more in dry, but slip quicker in wet, whereas tyres for wet will slip less in wet, but .. how do they adversely affect performance (if at all) in the dry? I don't think i'm fully getting the wet vs dry thing.

We recently had enough rain that you couldn't see 30 metres ahead, and a lot of ppl were pulling off the side of the road to wait it out. Now I'm not saying that's every day, but we DO get some ugly conditions ocassionally.. and when I drive to the coast, if it's wet, i'll DEFINITELY want tyres that can cope in the wet. So if I was thinking 50% wet 50% dry, what should I look at?

And '93TurboD: a "sub-frame brace" sounds like something I'd need an engineers certificate for. Is that right? Other than the new springs which sound like something I'll let the pro's do, I thought the strut and sway bars were purely bolt on things that I can just remove if I'm worried bout them when I have to renew my rego (we have to be checked every 2 years in my state).

chimchim

I already did to my 97 EX what it sounds like you want to do with your CX. I modelled my upgrades similar to the 99-00 Si for a mild upgrade. I don't street race.

1) Grippier tyres. I've been recommended BF Goodrich G force Sports because

Bigger rims while maintaining the same wheel diameter means shorter tire sidewall, which is better for cornering (less deflection) at the cost of feeling more road vibration. Arguably, don't go bigger than 15" because the low torque of the economy Honda engine combined with big rims will be sluggish with all that unsprung and rotating weight.

The Si has 15" rims with 195/55 r 15 tires on them. That's what I did. I got Yokohama ES100's and I like them a lot. Great price for what you get, good dry and wet grip. But there are better tires.

I'd up to 205/50r15 though, for the wider track. Gas economy will suffer a little.

2) Rear anti-sway bar. What to look for with this? Are they all the same? I can't imagine there being a lot of difference.

The diameter makes a difference. Thicker than 19mm and you'll need reinforcement to avoid subchassis tear. I used the 13mm Si rear sway bar which is bolt on compatible to our cars. Sway bars only make a difference in cornering and you won't notice it unless you corner hard. For the street, TIRES and WHEELS make a bigger difference.

You would put a rear sway on your car to reduce body roll and reduce understeer.

3) What's a strut bar? Is that the one I've read about being under the back of the car in near the suspension? Will this help me?

Strut bars connect the top of the suspensions together to stiffen the chassis. This is good because you reduce the compliance of a flexing chassis which allows the suspension to do its job. You can have one for the front (the Si has a stock one) and for the rear. Arguably, these are near useless for the street. The front, if anything, would have more affect. Cheap, easy, fun, but near useless mod. Worth doing just for the fun of it.

4) Here in Australia, there is a brand of springs called King springs. Do u have them over there? A friend said you can get them fitted for fairly cheap so wondering if they're any good.

Dunno these.

5) Any other ideas? Or things I should watch out for, or ask the tyre fitters / suspension place to check for me?

If you upgrade the springs, go with the Koni adjustables.

6) Stop laughing :P even tho it's only a CX, Aussie roads suck and it's easy for any car to lose it if ur not driving like a complete granny.

Everyone starts somewhere.

I personally felt that the wheel and tire upgrade made the most dramatic difference in handling, braking, and control.

oscar_425

get a 3 pt. front strut bar and a rear sway bar... u'll notice the difference..

rincewind

Thanks chimchim!

This is gonna sound real dumbass: but when u say don't go over 16, do you mean with don't buy rims larger than 16 because the tires will have to be so low profile (if i stayed with the same overall diameter), that the ride will be too rough? that's the only way what u said makes sense to me.. hope its right. I'm happy to keep my overall diameter exactly as it is, long as I get more grip. Sounds like 15" is a good mix of smaller sidwall for the handling, but without a jarringly stiff ride. Am I right?

A friend said I'd only notice an improvement in handling if I went to 16's but larger than that would be detrimental.. reckon it's for the same reason I just said? Maybe he's jsut happier with a slightly rougher ride.

WRT tyres, mine are currently 185/60R14 (i think, off the top of my head). which is the track thickness? And why does wider track thickness mean less mpg? Unless its purely the fact that the tyres have more surface area (and therefore grip) on the road and the car has to work harder to move them? In which case, wouldnt any of these mods reduce mpg slightly anyway? Or am I confused?


Sway bar: Where did u find out the max thickness is 19mm? I like the idea of reducing understeer, it pisses me off when it happens, even tho I watch out for it.

Are "Koni adjustables" coilovers? or just springs that u can adjust? And why would I want adjustable springs if i don't race? Wouldn't a normal set be fine as long as they are set up right from the shop?

rincewind

oscar_425: Does "3 point" strut bar mean its bolted down at each end and also somewhere in the middle? I would have thought that would allow for more rotation/twist through the front of the chassis than something directly connecting the two points ur trying to stablise??

rincewind

Also: My friend was really pushing the lowering thing because it lowers the centre of gravity to help handling. How much effect does it have? What's a good amount of lowering to help handling (i.e. don't care about looks). Cos if I get new tyres and/or rims, I might as well get the same place to do any lowering and install replacement springs too.