FAQ: Suspension Question: Autocross vs Daily Driver
Originally Posted by
senor honda
Quote:
Hey Bob I had a question about suspension
You helped me out in a post with a part of it before and now I wanna see what else
you think....I have a 90 Civic 4 door that if I would want to take to an auto x I could
but still be rideable everyday definitely care more about the daily ride and wanted to
see what you would use for struts and springs with a minimal budget.
Senor Honda replies:
I use stock spring rates, since they were designed for the cars weight.
I use heavier shocks and heavier anti-sway bars.
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Harder springs cause loss of grip in the turns, unless the pavement is super smooth, and they
don't work well on the street-too uncomfortable.
and most people don't know how to tune for the course........or tune for the street.
If you drive to the A-X track, a well-tuned street suspension will do well in both places.
If you tow to the track, then you can probably
afford several sets of suspension set-ups, and would hire me to make it work for you. 
-Bob
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Minimal budget?
When I had little money I cut coils to keep the same spring rates, and rebuilt the shocks, myself,
On my street car right now, I have cut coils,
(3" drop, and as proof, I carry the photos with me to meets)............ plus I have double sway bars and rebuilt shocks. I have no blown out shocks, no beat up suspension, no eaten tires..........
Every suspension is different, though. I had a
Nissan that was one exhaust pipe diameter off the ground, cut coils, rebuilt shocks, cheapo sway bars..........and it won 90% of the time.
I have spent some time in junk yards measuring
pieces, and found that a lot of things interchange that most people don't know about.....some Prelude suspension parts and some Vigor suspension parts fit my Accord.
I have sometimes relocated suspension points
or substituted a part from a different car that had suspension points relocated to start with.
I was measuring some shocks the other day and I think I may have found the next front setup for my car, but I need to check it again to be sure of what I was looking at.............
Catch me at some of the meets, and we can look at your car.-Bob