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1st generation suspension
For the Gen 1 you have many choices suspension wise
depending on what your needs are.
1- Where are you driving and what tires are you going to
use?
Race compound street tires develop more grip and wear out in
under 2000 miles. If you are going to use these tires to
their fullest potential your suspension will have to be much
different and much more $$$$ than someone that wants to
enjoy a sporty ride just to and from work. also the oil pan
will need work if you use the soft tires as its possible to
starve the engine under high cornering force.
2- How much are you going to lower your Civic? The Civic has
fairly good suspension geometry from the factory, but if you
lower the car too much the design goes into the toilet. Roll
center and bump steer along with camber really get bad when
lowering over one inch . If you want to lower further be
prepared to spend $$$ and time fixing these problems or you
handling will be worse than if you left the car at a taller
height. Also lowering the car requires a shorter strut to
keep the springs in place over bumps and to give decent
wheel travel.
I have heard people say that after putting on springs made
for other cars their cars goes around corners like a slot
car, truth is there is a difference between lack of sway and
grip. A softer spring within reason is best for most
applications as it will keep the tire on the ground and give
more grip on most surfaces. A spring cut down from a car
weighing twice as much as a civic might be too stiff causing
the tire to loose contact over the smallest bumps and the
ride for a street car would be awful. A much stiffer spring
will also require a custom valved strut to be effective even
if needed in a full race application. Also think about
handling in a emergency, you don't want to be worried about
handling when you have to avoid a accident.
Personally I have done the latter I had increased the spring
rate on my car to control the sway in the corners and it was
better under most race conditions but if I hit even a tiny
imperfection in the track the handing would get scary, Once
I hit a very small bobble on a straight and spun the car
right in the middle of the straight ( I was going about 65
mph at the time so it was kind of scary). I sent the struts
in and the shock guy said that running that stiff of spring
with the stock valved koni's was not recommended.
So what would I recommend for a Civic that sees mostly
street use? I would get a set of openable 73-74 1200 casings
and use the Koni inserts. (note the 75s are easier to
shorten but the koni inserts for those use grease for
corrosion protection and that hardens gluing parts together
and those parts some times cant be cleaned and have to be
replaced. I'm thinking that the 73-74 koni inserts would be
in better shape after sitting on a shelf for 20 years as the
are oil filled and may not use the grease at all inside.)
For springs I would try to locate the Dobinson sport springs
and combine that with a rear sway bar. If you cant find the
casings to use the konis a quality heavy duty or gas charged
strut would probably be ok. Handling could be adjusted by
playing with front sway bar size and shock adjustment. I
would start with a stock front sway bar, if you wanted more
under steer go with a bigger sway bar if you want more over
steer take the sway bar off. Bushings are also important,
and at the very least they should be replaced with new
rubber ones.
For competition use it gets allot more complex and
$$$$$$$$$$$
Related links
Advance Design
Classic Garage
Sell is Engineering
Whiteline
Fulcrum Suspension
Don |
