2004 Civic EX 4door 5speed. I don't race the thing.. but i can't help spirited driving when I come to a canyon, or the occasional push around a 25 mph turn coming off the freeway. I have read a lot of the post about springs and shocks on your forum here, but one question i have not come across:

Do I need to lower my car with springs? or can I keep the ride height and improve performance with just stiffer springs? Do new shock need to come into the equation?

The car is completely factory stock. I spoke with a friend who told me i could just get stiffer springs and improve my performance.. But he is a truck guy. I wanted to hear it from you Honda Civic experts!

Also . Will adding a sway bar negativity effect the vehicle? I was informed it reduces body roll.. but will there be any other characteristics I should know about?


Thank you for you time and wisdom!

NoHo.

 

you can also lower car it helps cornering but if you lower get a camber kit also.


add front and rear strut bars they make a difference in handling around corners
like this and they are very easy to install

 

Lowering your car's center of gravity will reduce sway, which is essentially what anti-sway bars do. Most sport springs combine lowering with stiffening but taken too far, would be somewhat impractical for the street (due to bottoming out over driveways, dips, and speed bumps, for example). This is why I went with springs like these (shown for your car)
http://www.tirerack.com/suspension/s...140&perfCode=S

Those ^ springs drop the car only 1-inch, so you'd sacrifice nothing and gain better handling. The ones shown in the link below will drop your car 1.4 inches and even then, you won't be scraping bottom all the time, but driveways may cause a bit of damage.
http://www.tirerack.com/suspension/s...140&perfCode=A

Keep in mind that sway bars also reduce sway, but in doing so, they can also increase the incidence of side-hopping around rough corners. My car handles extremely well and it has no struts or sways. It does have a matched set of shocks, which goes a long way to keeping the characteristics of the stiffer and lower springs mated nicely to the dampening characteristics of the shocks.

 

^Another nice spring set is the H&R OE Sport springs. They only lower like .75" in the front, .5" rear.

 

Question conceptualpolymer, I was reviewing the first springs you posted. they seam nice.. If i was to purchase would i need to change the stock shocks as well to get the effect? Or could i keep my currents shocks.

Oh and i hear ya on the impracticality of a low low car. I am just trying to get a little sport for the daily commute. Not trying to go too extreme.

Thanks to all replies .. this has been informative.

 

Those springs he posted would probably require aftermarket shocks. The ones I recommended should not.

EDIT: nevermind, the ones i recommended aren't made for your Civic

 

Welcome!!! post picutres.. even if your car is stock. we want to see it!! i love 7thgens!!

 

For the first set, no, you shouldn't have to buy new shocks, but whether you should depends on how many miles are on your OEMs. If you have over, say, 80,000, it might be a good idea, since the shocks have to come out before the new springs can be installed. So actually, you save on shock installation labor if you have everything done at once.

 

^huh if you drop a car the shock if not already blown will blow stock oem shocks are made to ride at stock height. less than a 1.5" drop shouldn't be to bad on the shocks. your ride will be bouncy as hell
if the shocks are bad or go bad when you lower.

 

No, you do not need to lower the car to get a little better performance out of your suspension. Although, it can sometimes be the cheapest way to do it. If you want to retain your stock ride height but want to corner a little faster, I'd suggest strut bars like 94civichatchback has shown. They are cheap, $20-$100 on ebay, and usually make a slight, but noticeable difference. Another thing would be sway bars. Front and rear kits can go for about $300. Easy to install and make a good noticeable difference in handling without sacrificing ride quality or height. I've never heard of sway bars causing "hop" while cornering like conceptualpolymer said, nor have I ever experience it and I've dealt with sway bars on different cars with difference setups under street/race conditions. Hell, many cars come stock with front/rear sway bars from the factory... Any hop would probably be from bad tires or the over dampened shocks. Speaking of tires, one of the best things to get to improve handling is some sticky rubber. There are some good all-seasons that grip well, the best would be a summer tire but depending on where you live you may not want that(snow, heavy rain..).