Track Car suspension set up tips

Bredsox24

New Member
Hi i just bought a 98 honda civic lx and want to make a good track car out of it. Can anyone point me in the right direction. Suspension build is new to me so im all ears. I do want to start at the suspension since it is crucial but lets leave engine swapping for later.

- What parts to get/ or consider and why? Thanks for the help greatly appreciated.
 

96romaCX

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I'd start with some progress cs2 coilovers, 10k front, 8k rear, and an eibach antiroll bar upgrade kit front/rear. Then you will problably want bigger front brakes and wider wheels. Just do some research on it, weekend track set ups topics have been beat to death. Google it.
 


mylovehx

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I could've sworn for track that the rear rates are stiffer than the front
 

lethal6

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Thread moved to correct section.
 


96romaCX

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I could've sworn for track that the rear rates are stiffer than the front
You are correct. For real race track drivers. He's and enthusiast. With those spring rates, and with an eibach anti roll kit, the car will still maintain slight understeer characteristics. Just like how the oem suspension set up handles, he reason being is everyone wants to race, but you need more seat time than mods to be a good driver. With the handling still being predictable, and way firmer for faster cornering, he can safely daily/ weekend track without killing himself on the roads, and have an idea of the cars limits before he tracks. You should never put race car equipment on a car you drive for transportation. Also, road race setups are more neutral usually, and auto cross has extremely high rates in the rear, along with very large rear sways and factory or no sway in the front, for oversteer in technical cornering Manuvers where top speed is t very high.
 

civexspeedy

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No one can give you any real helpful advice if you do not either have any experience doing track events already, or, have no idea what you want out of your car yet(which falls back to having track experience). People will throw out setups like they already have, most will be different as a couple have already mentioned. That does not mean they will work for you and your driving. So the result will be you wasting a whole lot of money for nothing... You NEED seat time, and LOTS of it, before you start setting up your car. Right now, you may have no idea what your car feels like on track and what your goal would be. Hell are you just doing HPDE or are you building for something specific? Get the car mechanically sound first, get as much seat time as possible(no, 1 or 3 or 5 HPDE events is not enough), then start worrying about what suspension mods you should do.

I have 7 years of autox experience under my belt and I'm still figuring out my suspension and making adjustments all the time to really dial in my car to my liking. Between my 2 race cars I've gone through 5 suspension setups, and a 6th one coming next month when I buy new springs, front upper control arms, install rear upper control arms, new alignment, corner balance, etc..
 

mylovehx

Hatches rock
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5+ Year Member
You are correct. For real race track drivers. He's and enthusiast. With those spring rates, and with an eibach anti roll kit, the car will still maintain slight understeer characteristics. Just like how the oem suspension set up handles, he reason being is everyone wants to race, but you need more seat time than mods to be a good driver. With the handling still being predictable, and way firmer for faster cornering, he can safely daily/ weekend track without killing himself on the roads, and have an idea of the cars limits before he tracks. You should never put race car equipment on a car you drive for transportation. Also, road race setups are more neutral usually, and auto cross has extremely high rates in the rear, along with very large rear sways and factory or no sway in the front, for oversteer in technical cornering Manuvers where top speed is t very high.
very insightful :thumbs up
 

Failsafe88

gt CasaNova
Registered VIP
No one can give you any real helpful advice if you do not either have any experience doing track events already, or, have no idea what you want out of your car yet(which falls back to having track experience). People will throw out setups like they already have, most will be different as a couple have already mentioned. That does not mean they will work for you and your driving. So the result will be you wasting a whole lot of money for nothing... You NEED seat time, and LOTS of it, before you start setting up your car. Right now, you may have no idea what your car feels like on track and what your goal would be. Hell are you just doing HPDE or are you building for something specific? Get the car mechanically sound first, get as much seat time as possible(no, 1 or 3 or 5 HPDE events is not enough), then start worrying about what suspension mods you should do.

I have 7 years of autox experience under my belt and I'm still figuring out my suspension and making adjustments all the time to really dial in my car to my liking. Between my 2 race cars I've gone through 5 suspension setups, and a 6th one coming next month when I buy new springs, front upper control arms, install rear upper control arms, new alignment, corner balance, etc..
Listen to this guy
 

96romaCX

New Member
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5+ Year Member
^yes listen to civexspeedy, my input is that of an enthusiast also, real experience is priceless.
 


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