First off I have an all motor 1988 Honda CRX si. I plan on doing alot of autocrossing and track days this summer to get experience. Im a complete newbie.
Well im getting to the suspension part of my build and I have about 1500-2000 to build up the suspension and tires. My question is what are the best bang for the buck suspension mods that will still be fairly tolerable on the street. I have a basic idea of what I want to do, but not being race experienced I only have a limited knowledge of what works and what works well.
Also I am looking for some input on street tires that will perform well at the track as well. (I don’t want to go with R-comps as its my first season) They only need to last the summer. I will most likely be running 16x7 bbs rg-f’s.
Some options i have considered are: (in order of price, ranging from 125 to 80)ish
Dunlop Direzza Z1’s
Falken Azenis
Hankook Ventus VS 2’s
Thanks for taking the time to help out a newb.:burnout:
and please make an half way intelligent response. (Get some mad sick coilovers, that are powercoated)<not what im looking for. If you could add what products perform well and what to stay away from and what suspension components are more for real fine tuning etc.
A rebuildable Koni will beat any commercial full sleeve coilover. Search HT race section when you are ready to compete, for you first year any spring rate higher than stock is all you need.
Direzza’s (although I am heavily biased)
The most important question is what class to do you want to be in, until you answer that question stick with what you have, drive, drive, drive.
Unfortunately because of my mods I have to be in street mod, I know im not going to be competetive right now, but once I have a couple seasons under my belt and gain some experience I will step up the game and run wider tires and r-comps and start doing some serious weight reduction. But for right now and for the near future its my daily.
yea ive been lurking scca, but i know there are some autocross vets on here, hence why i posted here. and there was some decent info on that site, thanks.
I would recommend keeping your 16s for the street, keep the suspension your have and just spend the money on some 15x7s and used R-comps. Tires have the most gains as far as handling mods go.
from what ive read and been told a beginner should not run r-comps because it hides your mistakes and you dont learn as well as would with street tires. and i havent bought the rims yet, im still waiting on a response. so im fairly set on just buying street tires for now. i would like to set up the suspension for future success, when i actually do run r-comps. but i will take this into consideration. thanks for your input again.
Also i dont know how long these GC’s have been on the car, nor do i know the model, any idea where I can get them rebuilt/or if they need to be/find out the model.
Koni double adjustable, Ground Control springs, call it a day. The best wheel/tire combo for autox is the 15x10 with Hoosier 275/15. But street tires for you first season is a good idea (in my opinion). Besides, we don’t let novices run rcomps anymore…
As far as the suspension stuff, Garick basically posted what I would have. Redshift is kinda the go-to place in the Northeast for stuff like what you’re looking for, and the owner is also an experienced autocrosser with at least one National Championship unlike the rest of us bums.
Locally, Marnie is the only person I can think of who runs a CRX (though in STS) and I think she gets her stuff from Redshift.
Tirewise, I liked the Dunlops when I tried them on someone elses car, but other than that I don’t have a lot of experience on streets
I have bought stuff at RedShift in the past, but my current build is mostly based on used junk
To add to what has already been said, consider getting a larger rear swaybar (Suspension Techniques is a good choice) and a CRX HF front swaybar. Do you have any idea of what springrates are on the car? You probably want to start with something in the 400# range.
For info on getting the shocks rebuilt check here:
Other than that, check your bushings and make sure they’re all in good shape, replace them with polyurethane if you feel like it.
I autocrossed mine on and off for the last two years with nothing more than 350# ground controls, poly motor mount inserts, and an ebay short shifter. It worked. I’m just now getting around to installing halfway decent parts and replacing some wear items.
but all the internals are not stock besides the rods and crank. everything else is aftermarket, and i have head work and a bore.
right now i have type r sway bar. i plan on upgrading that as well, its only a few mm difference but it should help.
and as far as 15x7’s with my current brake set-up i dont think 15’s will fit unfortunately. although i dont have the brake kit mounted on the car, nor have i tried to fit 15’s. so time will tell.
Werd. As a noob I wouldn’t go any bigger than the JDM 98 spec 23mm bar. If you have the 22mm JDM 96 spec/USDM bar then just keep it for now. Anything more will be very snap happy. Get some seat time with the current bar then upgrade down the road. It’s not a big deal starting off.
For tires, I’ll be on Azenis 615s and Dunlop Dir…Z. Star Specs this year. Not sure if the Stars come in a friendly size for you. The Kumho XSs have gotten great results so far. :tup: I’m thinking of grabbing a set of those when the Falkens are done.
