Keef's Car Thread | Wheels on the Bus | 09/08/23

[Keef]

I thought you said you were dumped..

4x4 status.

Agreed. Where's the mad camber and stretched tires Keef?

GTFO of my moderately lowered thread.

Oh, btw, I raised it a little today. Apparently 205 tires just don't fit very well under fenders even when it was even at that height. Rubbing on the plastic is not cool, so up she went. I'm going to wait a while before I fine tune it because it's not seated yet and it's a huge pain in the ass to fiddle with it.

Besides that, it rides nice. Now I can for sure say that all that clunking my suspension was making was from 148,000 mile on-their-way-out stock shocks. Even with the lower spring rates, the rear is noticeably stiffer than the front, so I've got the front damping set just a notch higher than the rear, at 3/8 instead of 2/8. It sure is fun though. The front seems to have higher grip limits, and the rear rotates much more and easier than before. Overall I say it's pretty comfy. It's not harsh over tiny bumps like the aged stockers were, or at least it's as smooth as an old-school chassis allows it to be. But while it's not harsh, it is much, much stiffer. Everybody is right when they say these spring rates are as high as you should go on a daily. At least whenever I finally get a chick in the passenger seat I can watch her boobs bounce around while we're cruising.

EDIT 2: So I just took myself a donut run, and on the way home I took the car on the highway to see how she rode.

HORRIBLE.

The two ends of my car are dancing to the beat of two different drums. I think the rear end is too stiff--I went over a railroad track slowly earlier and the ass end landed on the ground with a supremely solid "thud". Like, damn, some suspension travel would be nice. But the front end was cozy soft at the same time. So just now I lowered the rear damping a notch and raised the front up one. I'm eager, so I'll do the one-at-a-time thing later.


EDIT: I got a muffler from a buddy for free, and I'm going to use its flange and bend to rig up some sort of straight axle-back pipe. Because right now with the muffler off and dumping out underneath the car, it's just not loud enough.

And I took a few pictures while I was adjusting my beast earlier because I forgot about it during the install.

Any of you coil owners have a better method or better reference point for adjusting ride height?

Oh hello suspension articulation, meet a couple inches of droop travel...

 

[Eric.]

Got any shots of when you had it dumped?

 

[slidesquad#1]

So did ya manage to suss out the harshness issues somewhat?

That's a really clean Civic dude, makes a nice change from the stance brigade.

 

[Jim Prower]

Oh, now I see where things were going with the QM thread.

That was mean-spirited on the part of those other posters.

 

[Keef]

So did ya manage to suss out the harshness issues somewhat?

Yeah, I think I did. I turned the front damping up 1 and turned the rear down 1, and now the car seems much more tied down, but definitely still stiff as hell.

I can't make any judgements on the handling balance because my toe is out quite a bit on either end. Both ends are toed in, which gives good steering response on the front end, and stability and understeer because of the rear end. I won't say how I found out, but I did find out that pre-alignment it'll rotate quicker and a lot more than before. A lot more.

 

[Perfect Balance]

You must have really crappy highways.

 

[Jim Prower]

Well, if his winter was anything like ours, everything's torn to bits. There's pavement not two years old that now has fair-sized rises and cracks 'round here.

 

[slidesquad#1]

Yeah, I think I did. I turned the front damping up 1 and turned the rear down 1, and now the car seems much more tied down, but definitely still stiff as hell.

I've got full on factory 4x4 status going in the Evo, and it's still uncomfortably stiff if the roads get bad. Can't imagine what harsher suspension would feel like. Pretty sweet when you have to turn though.

 

[Eric.]

I've got full on factory 4x4 status going in the Evo, and it's still uncomfortably stiff if the roads get bad. Can't imagine what harsher suspension would feel like. Pretty sweet when you have to turn though.

Granted, your Evo is meant for a little 4x4 action. The Si, not so much.

 

[ND4SPD]

You must have really crappy highways.

You think that's bad. One of the main highways in Ontario the 401 has potholes so big they'd swallow you're whole car if you're not careful. I hit the biggest pothole once in the Interceptor doing about 70mph I tried to swerve but there was just no way. probably 4ft wide by almost a foot deep. (Not exactly sure, it just looked huge at 70mph) When I hit it, I swear the car's frame smashed on the road! That's with severe duty police suspension!

 

[Casio]

So first they'd swallow your car whole, then they're a foot deep. Get your story straight!

 

[Keef]

So I rigged up an axle-back exhaust. I'm sure some of you guys are gonna hate it because it really does qualify as "redneck", but it works, and it sounds just fine.

I used an 18" length of 2.25" I.D. pipe, one of those screw-on chrome exhaust tips, and an exhaust clamp that I got from O'Reillys. Relatively dirt cheap. I started by taking a sawzall and cutting an angle I liked on the tip. I didn't get it quite right because I left a little it of a flat spot at the bottom, but it's good enough for me. I then scuffed, brake-cleaned, and painted it and the extension with VHT (Very High Temperature, I assume) silver paint:

The most redneck part about it is that fact that I used a coat hanger to hang it at the rear:

But it works fine. Every now and then it has a slight vibration because it's rubbing on the subframe, but it doesn't stand out among all the other noises this car makes. This is what it looks like on the outside:

It's even quieter inside and out than I figured it'd be. Very reasonable inside, and on the outside it seems muffled a bit. I'm assuming that the gap between the extension and the tip draws ambient air through while the exhaust flows past, which muffles the sound a bit. As a matter of fact, that technique is used on diesel exhausts and turbofan engines to shut them up and cool it down.

This is what made me want a turndown:

It's TODA's trademark for their tips. I like the style. Plus, it points it at the ground which helps to avoid some noise limitations at many race tracks.

 

[Perfect Balance]

Sound clip. Now.

Go make one.

 

[Omnis]

Dolphin tips only look good on RX7s. Yours isn't so bad though. Anyway, get on that sound clip.

 

[ND4SPD]

So first they'd swallow your car whole, then they're a foot deep. Get your story straight!

I was just describing one of the many giant potholes on the 401!!

 

[Keef]

Yeah. It was dark out, but you asked for it. Make sure you turn it up so you can hear me a block away.

 

[Rotary Junkie]

Sounds nice, very nice actually...

Yet another reason to envy your car

 

[Eric.]

Sounds pretty good, Keef. I want my Skunk2 now.

 

[Casio]

You sound like NFS:U2

 

[Eric.]

You sound like NFS:U2

Which sounds pretty damn good.

 

[Keef]

Sounds pretty good, Keef. I want my Skunk2 now.

Oh no, you're not getting off that easy. With your new-fangled insulation and sound deadening you could easily get away with one of these...

Note the test pipe. So that, mounted to this...

Aww, never mind. They don't make a Spec 2 for FGs yet. You wouldn't happen to know if DC5 exhaust parts are interchangeable with the Civics, eh?

I'm not about to spend grands on a bunch of pipes when I can piece together my own for $15. Redneck engineering FTW.

About my exhaust: it doesn't backfire enough. I think it's time for a header.

 

[Casio]

About my exhaust: it doesn't backfire enough. I think it's time for a header.

I think you need a Flamethrower.

 

[homeforsummer]

Yeah. It was dark out, but you asked for it. Make sure you turn it up so you can hear me a block away.

Doesn't sound too bad, but next time could you cut off the whole first minute of absolute nothingness? I'll never get back minutes like that.

 

[Eric.]

Oh no, you're not getting off that easy. With your new-fangled insulation and sound deadening you could easily get away with one of these...



Note the test pipe. So that, mounted to this...



Aww, never mind. They don't make a Spec 2 for FGs yet. You wouldn't happen to know if DC5 exhaust parts are interchangeable with the Civics, eh?

I'm not about to spend grands on a bunch of pipes when I can piece together my own for $15. Redneck engineering FTW.

About my exhaust: it doesn't backfire enough. I think it's time for a header.

Its an FA5, thank you very much. The plan is to get a 70mm Megapower R catback for now, then a Vibrant header with high flow cat. I don't want it smelling like ass, or I'd get the S2 header to go along with it. Trust me, the 70mm is plenty loud while having a good tone. Even my Mustang buddy thinks it sounds good.

And as far as I know, nothing is interchangeable between the RSX and our Civics. Well, some of the transmission and engine internals probably, it has the same tranny just with a couple of different ratios and the LSD.

 

[Keef]

Its an FA5, thank you very much.

You know what, I still feel the name for this generation has yet to be settled. In the past it seems the generation as a whole has always been referred to by whatever the top-dog car was. For EFs with was because all the Japanese Civics were EFs--we didn't actually get any in the States--including the Civic and CRX SiR. For EGs, all the Japanese cars were EG, including the Civic SiR again. For EKs, the Civic Type R was an EK9, among others, but not all of the JDM cars were EKs. The EP name stuck for the next generation because the CTR was an EP3. So after looking I suppose the new generation should be called FD (sounds familiar, lol), because the JDM CTR is an FD2.

 

[Eric.]

Yeah, this gen is a mess.

FA1 - 1.8L Sedan
FA5 - Si Sedan
FG1 - 1.8L Coupe
FG2 - Si Coupe
FN1 - Euro Type R - which isn't even related to these other cars...its more of an updated EP3
FD2 - JDM Type R

How about F-body?

Edit: Oh, and the Skunk2 race header makes a little more power than the Buddy Club.

 

[Keef]

Hell the Euro CTR is more related to the Cobalt than any other Civic! A 2.0 liter 4-cylinder, front-wheel drive, limited-slip, and a torsion beam rear axle = Cobalt.

I just watched a Youtube where the people from Fifth Gear took their own CTR and a Japanese import around the Castle Combe track in the wet. The JDM car beat theirs by 3seconds.

 

[Jim Prower]

That'd be interesting to see how our SI compares to the Euro CTR.

 

[McLaren]

Its an FA5, thank you very much. The plan is to get a 70mm Megapower R catback for now, then a Vibrant header with high flow cat. I don't want it smelling like ass, or I'd get the S2 header to go along with it. Trust me, the 70mm is plenty loud while having a good tone. Even my Mustang buddy thinks it sounds good.

And as far as I know, nothing is interchangeable between the RSX and our Civics. Well, some of the transmission and engine internals probably, it has the same tranny just with a couple of different ratios and the LSD.

That's going to be a good choice then. I think our cars are already loud enough from the factory, and have just the right tone to keep them from sounding like fart cannons.

 

[MarinaDiamandis]

Hell the Euro CTR is more related to the Cobalt than any other Civic! A 2.0 liter 4-cylinder, front-wheel drive, limited-slip, and a torsion beam rear axle = Cobalt.

I just watched a Youtube where the people from Fifth Gear took their own CTR and a Japanese import around the Castle Combe track in the wet. The JDM car beat theirs by 3seconds.

Many thanks for spelling Combe correctly! 👍