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Worthwhile sensible suspension modifications

Lewis.

Lewis.

Messages
924
As above please guys. My Type R is my daily driver and I already have a heavily modified 106 Rallye as a toy, however, I am looking to see what the options are for the Civic in terms of mild upgrades without turning it into a speed bump scraping, wheels at rickockulous angle 'stance' wagon. Not interested in all that.

The roads where I live are ***** and want to retain OEM height if possible, I am thinking more along the lines of uprating (or even replacing with new OEM) bushes, thicker ARB bars etc, more to make the steering more responsive/precise, things like that. Don't want to increase vibration in the cabin or make the ride much firmer. So in a nutshell as close to OEM as possible while still making improvements.

There's a plethora of shiny parts available for the Civic, but which one's are worth buying when it comes to camber bars, tie bars, strut braces etc etc?

Any advice appreciated, thanks.
 
What you want is pretty much what I currently have.

I need OEM ride height, so have OEM shocks and springs.

I have the following upgrades:

JDM rear ARB - highly recommended
Eibach front camber bolts and rear arms (also known as SPC rear arms) - required for a fast road set up. I currently run -1.4° on the front and -1.0° on the rear. This makes a HUGE difference.
Castor correction poly bush kit - you may not need the castor correction, only really needed if you have, or are thinking of getting a slippy diff.
Strut brace - not recommended at all - does nothing.

Avoid poly engine mounts if you're concerned about vibration through the car.
 
Hazz said:
What you want is pretty much what I currently have.

I need OEM ride height, so have OEM shocks and springs.

I have the following upgrades:

JDM rear ARB - highly recommended
Eibach front camber bolts and rear arms (also known as SPC rear arms) - required for a fast road set up. I currently run -1.4° on the front and -1.0° on the rear. This makes a HUGE difference.
Castor correction poly bush kit - you may not need the castor correction, only really needed if you have, or are thinking of getting a slippy diff.
Strut brace - not recommended at all - does nothing.

Avoid poly engine mounts if you're concerned about vibration through the car.
Click to expand...


That's great Hazz thanks for the advice. What sort of costs are we looking at for that lot^ Is the JDM rear arb thicker as the front is the same right, just different shape to accommodate manifold variations? Does it make the car more skitty tightening up the rear?
 
I'd say that's a pretty good route to follow. Polybushes for suspension and engine create a lot more vibration the OE, for not much gain.

FRSU is a must, the settings you'll find in the FRSU thread are a happy medium. That's what I started off with and it's surprisingly effective, changes the behaviour of the car quite significantly. I've played around with mine a few times now (local garage has just got a proper alignment machine and is keen to practice!), I've found that I prefer a slightly more aggressive toe, it's all about what works for you.

If anything, I'd say that the generic FRSU + JDM rear roll bar makes the car less "skitty". The loss of traction is slightly more progressive, not like the snap that my car had as standard. The biggest difference is through the front wheels and steering though.

Try it, you won't be disappointed.
 
Ok thanks, that's awesome. SO really I only need to think about buying the JDM rear ARB and a set of Eibach camber bolts for the front and rear?

I know what you mean abou the current set up. I had a track based saxo years ago and the civic handles very similarly to that, especially in the wet!

I need some better tyres to begin with, if it's one thing I hate it's cheap ass tryes, and mine currently has a full set! [-(
 
JDM rear ARB and a full FRSU will transform the feel of the car and it will inspire a lot more confidence. I agree with Jimbo in that it reduces the snappy feel of the rear end.

IIRC... front bolts are £20-30, rear arms, depending on make are £90-£140, fitting & professional FRSU circa £200, JDM ARB, £100ish.

So all in using top quality parts, you're looking at around £400-£500. It could probably be done for around £250-£350 on the cheap/2nd hand parts & doing the labour yourself (just getting FRSU done by a pro). If you're doing the fitting yourself, just set the arms and bolts to the same lengths as your OEM ones. Oh and you might need a new set of rear drop links too, as they don't like coming off in one piece if they're old.
 
Looking into this a bit more - is the JDM rear ARB a substantial upgrade, or would it be better to go for something thicker still, say like a progress one?

Also reducing the engine movement without adding vibration to the cabin - would a torque damper achieve this, or would it be better to just upgrade the rear engine mount and leave the rest as OEM (to reduce engine rock upon acceleration and deceleration)
 
Whatever you do with engine mounts you will feel in the cabin. I've put the poly inserts in mine, and I'd say the vibration increase is noticeable but not too bad, all my fillings are still in place :lol:

The UKDM roll bar is 16mm, JDM 19mm. I believe progress do a 22 and 24mm bar. They will be significantly stiffer. Whether that's a good thing or not, I don't know. I thought the JDM bar was one of the best mods I ever did, I've never considered upgrading it again.
 
Ok cool, I will take your advice then I think. Making it too stiff at the back could be too much too!


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They do require JDM bushes to fit. I have the poly bushes on mine, I had them all uprated at once though so can't honestly comment on the difference a poly roll bar bush had over an OEM.
 
Ok cheers. Will probably stay OEM as not keen on throwing loads of money at it! Already gone mad and its supposed to be left alone as I have the rallye as a toy! :D


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