abv

Alright,
So I've looked all over the posts for this but I can't find the answers i'm looking for.

1)I have an ap1 and i'm planning on using the car for ocasional track days and street driving. What i'm looking for is a suspension setup that can be plush enough for the street (aka stock or better feel) yet dialed in for the track. ( not autox more like willow or cal-speedway) I used to race motorcycles and putting on an olhins set up gave me better than stock feel as well as better than stock plushness. Is this possible?

2) konis with eibach springs. are these a good solution?

3) coilovers.....motion/olhins/tein are these high maintainance? (do you have to re do the cornerweighting alot etc...)

4) x braces do they actually help?

5) wheels mine are stock ..im thinkin avdan rg 17 inch yes no?

6) finally swaybars???

my goal with the car is to rid the tailhappyness and make it handle as well (neutral and predictable) as it can..

p.s. by the way it has a competch kit on it. stock wheels. and mugen catback.

p.p.s I don't really care about cost i'm more interested in performance not bling factor....But then again if the konis can do 80%-90% of the olhins/motions then there ya go..

So that was about 50 friggin questions in one.....

Thanks in advance for all your input...

loudes13

off the shelf koni's are pretty soft. some think the car feels too soft with them. With stock springs it's already borderline on the street, springs won't help that. I've never been found of eibach street stuff, kinda ricey.

is it aligned yet? I'm partial to leaving it close to stock, all these mods don't add up to that much IMO

alignment, big frt sway bar, r compounds, maybe koni's. If you still need it stiffer go with springs.

Orthonormal

The only thing I've tried is Penskes with stock springs. With the digressive valving that my Penskes came with, they seem to work very well for autocross and plenty smooth (comparable to stock) on the street. So yes it can be done.

I've been told that Penskes with non-digressive (linear) valving are no fun on the street.

SPLNDID

2.) Yes. The combo seems to work well. I drive with cars that have this setup and the drivers are very pleased.
5.) No. I've understood that the 17s are heavier and really not a good track setup. 17s on up are great for show, but may not be the best for road coarse driving. The 16's from previous years have more track rubber options and seem to do very well on road coarses. I'm running Toyo RA1s with 16s and am very pleased with the performance.
6.) Swabars... mixed bag. Heard both good and bad. For me, I installed H&R springs and I don't yet see the need for swabars.

You can correct the oversteer by throwing on a wider tire in the rears and going with a "Euro" Alignment. The Euro alignment has more camber and you will notice greater traction in the turns. Im not certain about the stock width of rear tire your year has, but I did hear that Honda widened the rear width in the '04 version to correct for the oversteer situation.

I'm running with 245s on the rear amd 205s up front. Car is very stable and sticks like glue.

My next mod will be shocks. I like the H&R compression stiffness, but am having problems with high speed minor lifts in the course. The car seems to come up and float a bit which makes it feel unstable at high speed. To correct this, I'd like to find a shock that can dampen the up-lift as well as limit the compression. Konis may be the best economical solution.

Have fun.

coop

Other will disagree with me, but this works great for me.

2) Koni's & the Eibach spring setup from Ground Control works very well. With this set up, you can set the car height, change the springs out for low price if you want to change the ride.
This is my daily driver and I track my car a lot, instruct for 2 different groups, I am using 380lbs in the front & 340lbs in the rear. For me, it's a little soft, so I am going to 420 front & move the 380 to the rear. I have the front shocks set 3/4 hard and the rear almost full soft. This setup is very hard to beat for the price.

3) the ones you listed are good, but the $$$$$ will be a lot more

4) I like mine

5) stay with the 16's, just get some good tires. If new to the track, start out with street tires and then go from there as you driving improves

6) looking my self, can't help


Last get a VERY GOOD ALIGNMENT done, not one that is just in the "green", but that is right on the numbers & that is the same on both sides. Not one wheel toe in a little & the other toe out a little, because they are still in specs. My car has never been "tailhappy" except when I had a bad alignment.

3312DC

this has been talked about alot... but I think I asked the same question

I have KW Varient 3 coilovers and love them, Gendron front sway bar- love that, stock wheels with 225/245 Toyo RA-1s... (do not get the bigger front tire without the swaybar, didnt work for me) and the most aggressive cobalt pads..

you can be as slow as I am for a CH under 4grand!

mikegarrison

Obviously YMMV, but I run my '02 with stock springs, stock shocks, stock swaybars, stock wheels, RA1s (205/245), and the anti-bumpsteer control arms. This has a "stock or better feel" on the street and works well enough on the track for my purposes. I'd rather spend my money on track days than suspension parts. The biggest limitation is that the front camber maxes out around -1.5 degrees. Far from being "tail happy" I find that the car tends to understeer unless you do something wrong with the throttle.

If you really don't care about cost, I suggest an Elise, a 997 GT3, or perhaps waiting a tad bit and trying the Cayman S or Exige.

If you really, really don't care about cost, those Carerra GTs are amazing out on the track.

MarchHare

I have been running Koni yellows w/ stock springs at SOW and Cal speedway infield and this set up works just fine. Just do the basics for tracking ie. 245/45-60 rears, brake pads and fluid (ATE blue is my choice), and by all means a good alignment and you are set. If you aren't in competition why go to the expense and inconvenience of a full race setup with all the compromises that go with it. For just a track day are those few tenths of a second worth the expense and hassle? I personally prefer going out and trying to drive better not see how much that last couple of tenths of a second cost
As a side note I run my Konis full soft rear/one half turn up front for the street and go to three quarters up rear/one and a quarter to one and a half front for the track.

s2kpdx01

I run konis with stock springs. I have only had them at one track event. But, I ran them at half stiffness on the front and back and they seem a lot like stock. I also run 17's. They are a forged wheel that isn't made anymore. It was one of a handfull of 17's that fit the S2000's offsets. They weigh almost exactly the same as the stock 16's, but I run 235/255 with stock sway bars. I don't know a lot of oversteer or anything, but I have to run stock ride height as my tires run in the front on banked turns or big dips.

silvershadow

Who did the valving on your Penske's. Mine just about pound the fillings out of my teeth, even at the lowest compression setting.