Hi Everyone:

New guy here.

I have a 1997 EX Coupe that I have had since new and am looking to upgrade the suspension. It is pretty much stock other than the following:

DCM 4-2-1 header
AEM Intake
KYB AGX shocks

I just ordered some new wheels and tires which should be here by tomorrow – 17 x 7 with 205/40 tires (which could have been a mistake). From what I have read on here, 16” would have been a better choice – oops.

I would like to upgrade the handling characteristics of the car. For me, handling is more important than blazing speed or looks. I put the KYB’s on last year because the old shocks were gone. The shocks really improved things. But with the new wheels and tires coming, I think that I am going to have to do something in the spring department to get rid of some of the fender gap. And while I have the thing torn apart, I might as well replace a few other things.

First things first will be the springs. But there are so many of them out there, I am a little confused what would be the best match. Eibach, Neuspeed, H&R? I am also concerned that I may need a camber correction – Ingalls seem to be the way to go, but I know even less about this area.

Before you guys answer, you should consider a couple things when you make suggestions:
1. This car is not my daily driver anymore. But when I climb in it, I don’t want to get the crap beat out of me. I still would like to retain a little ride comfort.
2. I am old. Not Santa Claus old, but old enough that I would get some funny looks if the car was dragging on the ground with a bunch of extras hanging off it.

Since I will have the car torn apart, I figured that I would put in a sway bar kit. I may be wrong to assume this, but I thought that I should put in the same brand of bars as the springs. Since they work together, I thought that I would get the best performance out of parts that were matched accordingly.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you might have.

 

Sway bars: I myself like comptech. good name good setup if you get a matched set. One thing to keep in mind though is that almost every single company I know of designes their front/rear matched sway bar sizes to force a small amount of understear so your rear end doesn't come around on you as easily. This is done for liability reasons. People may argue that one with me but if you take a stock car and put a set on even a "race" set you'll probably see what I'm talking about.

Springs/Shocks: I have an H&R cup kit and it is rough. I keep it set that way though... It handles/races like you wouldn't even believe though... With this setup to adjust to standard camber a camber kit will be required.

Also, if you're going into it that much I would suggest getting an energy suspension polyeurethane(sp) master bushing set. They are like $120.00 for the whole master set and they will simply last a bit longer, and ensure a more positive response from everything, I.E. not nearly as much of the "mushy" feel to steering/handling etc...

While you're in there with the struts out I'd throw on a cheap set of Strut tower bars (about $80.00 or less will set you up...) I've seen some on ebay that look identical to mine (paid $80.00) going for like $40.00 with shipping. They don't add a ton but coupled with everything else it will add enough to be worth it.

 

cant go wrong with H&R springs.

 

some people like 16 better then 17 but its all more personal prefrence i think, people like 16s because it gives you a little better ride but you wont be dissipointed with 17s... and what about tein springs? A set of Tein S-Tech will run you about $160 and it’s like a 1.8 drop but they work with your stock shocks but aftermarkits will of course be nicer. Here are 4 links from people that have already installed them on here, myself, mynmisoli, 97_nw, and x2100

https://www.hondacivicforum.com/m_123028/tm.htm

https://www.hondacivicforum.com/m_69.../tm.htm#107781

https://www.hondacivicforum.com/m_150637/tm.htm

https://www.hondacivicforum.com/m_153260/tm.htm

 

question on those tein..... are they stiff? like really stiff? like you need a kidney belt to drive the car.... or just slight stiffer than stock? do you have any issues with tire rub over bumps or anything?

 

How much money do you have to spend on suspension? For about $1000 you can get Tein Super Street, which has 16 adjustable dampening settings as well as adjustable height (i think). For another $300-$400, you can get a little computer thing that lets you control the dampening from inside the cabin.

 

the s-techs arent too stiff. theyre made to work with stock shocks so they cant be.

 

Thanks for all of the suggestions so far. I really appreciate it.

A quick update and a couple points of interest:

I managed to race home yesterday and met the UPS guy at the door. I refused delivery of the 17” wheels and tires that I initially ordered and re-ordered a 16” combination: (16 “x 7” with 45mm offset wheels and 205/45WR16 tires). I think this will be a little better for the road conditions that I have in my area.

I am a bit concerned about lowering the car too much. First, I don’t want any dragging problems. Secondly, I really don’t want to have to deal with camber adjustments for the front and rear. I will if I have to, but I thought that I would pursue the options of lowering less than about 1.5”. If I recall correctly, anything much past 1.5” and I am going to have to install camber correction devices because of tire wear. I think that I might be able to get away with a little more in the front because of the adjustability.

I did not look at the Tein springs because most of them would have given me a very harsh ride (too stiff except the S. Techs). Additionally, I believe that the Tein S. Techs are a linear spring, rather than a progressive spring, but I could be wrong. Since I will be driving on the street, I was considering a progressive spring. For my car (1997 EX Coupe), I managed to find the following information which I believe to be correct:

Spring--------Rate (front)---Rate (rear) (lbs.)---Lowering
Stock---------165 (prog)----185 (prog)----------0F/0R
H&R OE-------280 (prog)----190 (prog)----------.75”F/.75”R
H&R Sport----330 (prog)----280 (prog)----------1.75”F/1.5”R
Eibach Pro----290 (prog)----190 (prog)----------1.5”F/1.3”R
Tein S. Tech--235 (????)----140 (????)----------1.9”F/1.7”R

If I have made a mistake in the above information, please let me know. I can’t find the information about whether the S. Tech’s are linear or progressive. But the stiffer Tein springs seem to be nearly all linear, so I had to make an assumption until someone can chime in and say for sure. But they are definitely not as stiff as the H&R or Eibach.

Since I am considering the Eibach sway bar kit (rear bar 17mm) or a comparable kit from another manufacturer, I was looking at spring kits with a higher rate in the rear to avoid tearing the chassis out at the sway bar mounting points and too much under steer. So far, I am really leaning towards the H&R OE or the Eibach Pro. Sure it would be great to have the increased stiffness of other springs and lowering effects, but I have reservations about a few things. The stiffer springs mean that I am probably going to bounce along the road, even with my KYB AGX shocks. And I may run into camber adjustment issues if I go that low.

I have not had a chance to check out the comptech sway bar kit yet, but I will soon. I also know that suspension techniques makes a popular kit as well – again, little time for research in that area. Springs have been more of a focus in the last couple days.

As suggested by sir_nasty, I do need to install some braces. There are so many of them out there at so many different prices, I would even begin to know where to start with them. But maybe it really doesn’t make a difference in engineering, as long as they are there. The Neuspeed front upper brace looks like it is great, but the price is a bit crazy. And I agree that a bushing kit is a must.

Again, I appreciate all of the suggestions. This is a great discussion.

Thanks.

 

I would highly recommend the H&R's, as I've used them on just about all my cars and wouldn't switch to anything else.