As Monty Python said, "And now for something completely different..."

I just purchased a great (pristine, 62K orig miles) '97 DX Hatchback for my son who lives in New Orleans. Our first Honda.

Problem: Nawlins has potholes in the streets that can seriously damage a car with a low clearance / small tires. I need to minimize the risk / damage.

So, instead of following the trend of lowering the suspension, I was wondering if anyone can give me some advice on how to RAISE the car a few inches with seriously affecting center of gravity, etc. Larger wheels? Bigger tires? What is the largest Honda (or other make) wheel I could get from a junkyard that will fit the car's bolt pattern?

Don't want the car to look like a monster truck. Just want to go the least expensive route to getting it up a little higher. BTW, searched and didn't find anything on this subject. Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

buy a set of coilovers on ebay and use them to raise the suspension up.

 

Went to eBay, found coilovers for the 97 Civic. But all that were listed speak of using them to LOWER the car. I'm thinking it would take taller coilovers in order to raise it (?)

 

Aha! I searched "coilover" on this site and found a link which explained that there is an adjustable frammis with the kits that allow raising or lowering the suspension. That helps.

 

teach your son how to drive around potholes, here in colorado potholes are everywhere too but we still live fine with lowered or stiffer suspension, sure we may blow a tire here and there but i'd rather get insurance on my tires rather than raise the suspension.

on the other hand, i've read that simply getting a higher profile tire that is overinflated helps a lot, though the overinflated goes against what i would think is logical where an underinflated tire should help dampen potholes...

 

you dont want to talk about potholes... PA is crazy with pot holes because of all the snow plows and rock salt, then itll all melt and do it over again.. every state has potholes but i wouldnt really worry about it.. you should be fine at stock height.. you can go around potholes or go over top of them if their small enough (wheels on each side, pothole in middle, totally miss the hole).. just keep it stock