fstrnyou

I've been searching the forums and I've decided on getting the AGX's. However, I'm not sure of the springs to get. kinda torn between RB and eibach. Also, not sure about swaybars...probably get RB also. And maybe Cusco upper/lower strut bars and Cusco rear strut bar. One day I might get the Auto Exe sub frame brace kit. My diff mount isn't broken yet and i've read a little about the pinion snubber. Also know about the camber link and toe bushing. Now the hard part is this. What other bushing kits do I get. I know about Energy Suspension and some other brands but those are polyurethane. Are there any other materials that companies offer. I've read some posts about nylon bushings on the FD. Is there a kit for us FC guys? And are there any other suspension mods to consider. Thanks for your help.

sunrotor

fstrnyou,
before I would comment, what are you going to do with this car: drag, autocross, daily driver, crusin... all this needs perspective

Nylon bushings are generally for full roadrace cars(no give) while poly tightens things up but doesn't transmit nearly as much shock.
Springs.. Mine is a daily driver, so I use the Eibach progressive springs with AGXs.
I assume you have a 5-bolt suspension (you have an 88 TII). If you plan on modding the engine for 500+ HP, I'd have a few other suggestions ;-) Like a full rollcage, and racing harness!!

fstrnyou

Nah, if I wanted 500hp, I wouldn't have started with this. I autocross regularly and go to the strip rarely. I don't mind a rough ride as long as it's not jarring. I had Eibach sportlines on my camaro w/agx's and they were great. I like to take turns fast. I rely more on hp to get me down the track vs setting up the suspension for drag only.
Basically, I want a car that handles like nobody's business.

87cncnu

sunrotor
I was looking at Eibach progressives and AGX's for my 87 NA next spring. Mostly street with a few lapping days in the summer. Had it on the track for the first time last summer and it 'pushed ' like crazy (guess the 16 yr old parts are getting a little soft). Was also looking at poly bushing throughout, and maybe sway bars, but I'm not sure they're necessary, or which ones to get. Think of anything else while I've got it apart? How much difference does the adjustment on the AGX's make and do you adjust it for street/track, or just set it up and leave it?

fstrnyou

My car already corners fairly well. During a high speed corner during an autocross, it was going well and when I eased off the gas for the next chicane, the back end stepped out slightly. I love the way my car handles but I know it can be better. The only problem I have with my suspension is the wheelhop at the track. I can't even warm up my tires. And when I launch, the very moment they start slipping, it's hop heaven. The last time I think I made it 20ft or so before they started hopping. The launch was really good until I broke traction. I also know my shocks are still good. The ride is great, but some have said that they replaced the shocks and wheel hop was gone. I'm also looking into bushing kits. I was also hoping to get some sway bars. RB seems to have good stuff. Does anyone use RB springs with AGX's or use RB sway bars?
Really, I'd like to get Tein RA's with my own spring numbers. Considering that TII's have tight springs already, they measure 2.1/1.9 kg/cm or something like that. The springs that come with the Tein RA's are 8/6 I think. There's no way I'm putting those springs on. Even the Tein Flex kit has 6/5, which is still way too stiff. RB springs are 20% stiffer than stock and I feel that may be enough. So, what does that come to? 2.5/2.3 I guess.

doncojones

8/6 kg front/rear is equivalent to 447/335 lb. In the scheme of things that's not overly stiff, and the dampers included with kits such as the Tein RA or JIC FLT-A2 are designed to control the ride with those spring rates in mind. Hell the JIC FLT-A2 application for FD's uses 12/9 springs and the FD guys generally love the way they ride.

Anyway with the stock swaybars 8/6 springs are about what you want to be running for solid handling, which is why both the Tein RA and JIC FLT-A2 come with those rates. If you step up to thicker swaybars then you can run 6/5 springs but be sure that you have an adjustable rear sway bar since the roll stiffness in front will be more similar to the rear. That can make the car twitchy and potentially want to wag its tail out so you'll probably want to put the rear bar on its softest setting with those spring rates.

If you want a custom setup but don't want to drop the minimum of $1500 for the JICs then a set of Koni Sport (the yellow ones) shocks and Ground Control coilover sleeves with your choice of spring rates can perform nicely as well. They build stuff to order so you can get whatever the hell spring rates you want. Oh and just as a point of reference the standard spring rates they sell to people with little Honda Civics are 450 lb F/350 lb R.

Replace the "toe steer" bushings with whatever you feel like but the rest of the suspension likes urethane which is the usual choice in the enthusiast market. It just so happens that nobody makes urethane bushings for the FD which is why the nylon ones came about. Luckily the FC was sold in much larger numbers so you can get urethane bushing kits which cover most of the car from either Prothane or Energy Suspension.

fstrnyou

Well, a friend of mine just happen to have a civic and recently installed GC's on his. His mistake was reusing his stock shocks. Makes me laugh just thinking about that ride i had with him. It was mostly because his stock shocks but that was the bumpiest ride i have ever had. that **** is stiffer than my 1st gen race car. I think a spring rate of 450 lbs vs 110lbs stock is insane. I think I am just going to get some AGX's with either eibach or RB springs until I have the money for Teins. hopfully by then I will have decided on a spring rate. Who all makes swaybars for the FC? I know of RB. I plan on getting Cusco bars front and back and the Cusco lower front bar.

doncojones

Well if you don't have the money for some truly beefy shocks then by all means stick to a more conservative spring. Of course your buddy's Civic is going to ride like crap with GCs and stock shocks, the stock shocks have nowhere enough damping to handle those spring rates. How well the car will ride with a given spring rate is totally contingent on what shocks you're running and Konis, Teins or JICs are perfectly able to provide enough damping for the higher spring rates they are supplied with.

If you're on a budget per se I would at least save up for Konis and GCs. You get proper firm springs, good shocks, and the ability to set your corner weights which arguably will make the most difference in how your car handles. Best thing to do is go to a race shop and have the corner weights set then tweak with the shock and swaybar settings.

As for who makes FC swaybars, the list is as follows (at least off the top of my head):

Racing Beat
Eibach
Suspension Techniques
Tanabe
Mazdaspeed

fe1rx

I ran a couple of track seasons with Racing Beat springs, Tokico Illumina shocks, Energy Suspension urethane bushings, rear steer eliminators and stock bars. This combination worked pretty well but I needed to use too much damping to control body motions (which is really the job of the springs).

I have recently gone to GC coil overs with the same shocks. Since I also drive the car on the street I wanted to keep the spring rates sane and I chose 350 lb/in front, 250 lb/in rear. Since they were so much stiffer than what I had been using I was expecting to pay a ride penalty. Surprisingly the ride is better than with the RB springs and I only need mid range damping to control these springs. In retrospect I should have gone stiffer because my concern is primarily track performance. GC recommends 450 lb/in front, 325 lb/in for a track only car.

I would suggest that bars are the last thing to change. Get the springs and shocks done first.

fe1rx

I ran a couple of track seasons with Racing Beat springs, Tokico Illumina shocks, Energy Suspension urethane bushings, rear steer eliminators and stock bars. This combination worked pretty well but I needed to use too much damping to control body motions (which is really the job of the springs).

I have recently gone to GC coil overs with the same shocks. Since I also drive the car on the street I wanted to keep the spring rates sane and I chose 350 lb/in front, 250 lb/in rear. Since they were so much stiffer than what I had been using I was expecting to pay a ride penalty. Surprisingly the ride is better than with the RB springs and I only need mid range damping to control these springs. In retrospect I should have gone stiffer because my concern is primarily track performance. GC recommends 450 lb/in front, 325 lb/in for a track only car.

I would suggest that bars are the last thing to change. Get the springs and shocks done first.

fstrnyou

I did mention that I had a 1st gen race car didn't I? Ya, I already have a level garage and a scale set from Longacre. If you go to this thread, you can see me going through turn 5 at Roebling Road in Savannah.
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...hreadid=253690
My typical lap times are around 1:28 on Toyo RA-1's.

doncojones

Heh, it's not in your sig so I was assuming you might not have known about it.

b00b

ummm...tein RAs have a 10/8 spring rate and are highly recommended for race only applications. itll ride too rough on the streets, and will have to be rebuilt in a short time span. a more equivalent comparison would be the tein HEs and FLTa2s in terms of spring rates. flta2s would be the better choice due its construction.

doncojones

My bad, I was just going by what fstrnyou had said the spring rates on the RAs are.