Hondas in racing.

[Mars]

Im thinking of building up a 3 g.
Nothing too trribly fast, but excelent suspension, etc etc.
I plan to have this car as a daily drive and race it on weekends (autocross)

I like the suspension in my 86 lx, and im assuming this would be a good car to autocross.

Anyone race thier 3g's here?
How much work/money would i need to dump into the thing? (i have an idea, just getting people with experience)
Debating going with the accord, or mabye finding a corrolla gts or a late 80s celica, i like accords tho.

[2drSE-i]

these cars have GREAT (i emphasize great) handling

there are quite a few things u can do to make the suspension better
we have a fellow member who makes strut bars, not a whole lotta options on struts, but there are tons of options on springs.

search is ur friend :)

[FyreDaug]

Yeah they handle nice stock, if you had an SEI you probably wouldnt be changing much. All you can really do is get some sway bars (typically stock from a higher end model) with some tight springs off ebay. Drop it a little. You dont have many options for anything else though. Corolla GTS would be a nice bet

[Forgar_88]

Check with Eibach, thats what springs I got on my hatch. I went to Les Schwab and they did all the work with the 1.75" drop. I dont think it cost that much either. I have had it on the local road course out at Spokane Raceway Park, and the hatches are awesome with a lower center of gravity. Hey 2drSe-i, whos the dude that makes the struts?

[b8er]

there isnt anybody that makes struts, or that i know of, i think he was talking about justin who makes strut bars, nice work that iv seen

[A20A1]

http://shadybowl.com/photos/2005/images/040905/sbmitchellfull.jpg

http://shadybowl.com/photos/images/2005/033005/p13.JPG

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http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/7/web/763000-763999/763691_2.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/7/web/763000-763999/763691_3.jpg


http://www.3geez.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3947
http://www.3geez.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3948
http://www.3geez.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3949
http://www.3geez.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3950
http://www.3geez.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3951

[FyreDaug]

Wow mike you can sure find the pictures.

[Mars]

What do i need to do to the engine to make sure itl handle running wide open at a track every now and then? im guessing new valves, springs, injectors, that stuff.

[A20A1]

Engine cooling, radiator, oil, trans fluid.

[cardoc33]

What class are you wanting to run in?

[Mars]

I dont know, racing is a bit new to me, and im still looking for a good tracka round here.

Ive been looking for local scca chapters and such.

[cardoc33]

SCCA has about the best organization around. The best people, too. Everyone is very friendly and helpful. Go to scca.com to check for a local chapter.

[bobafett]

there is A LOT you can buy, but its not cheap. i would recomend starting with brakes and then working suspension over (Since brakes can be finished for cheaper than suspension)

engine mods and suspension mods will get your way out of your class in a hurry though.... so read the classifications really closely before you just haphazardly throw your next mod on.

im doing a bit of research of auto-xing my car, but i havent done it yet... :)

[cardoc33]

Try Street Touring, Street Tire. This class is fairly open to easy suspension mods and light engine mods. All the fast guys use race tires, which can get expensive.Check out Tire Rack. Make sure the brakes are in good condition. You dont need anything fancy, just renew the hydraulics and use a good set of pads and rotors.
High RPM running is stressful on the engine, if you have high mileage, you may want to go thru the engine.
Drop it about 1.5" with some stiff struts and Ground Control coilovers. Use a bigger rear sway bar, but dont use anything more for the front. As with any front drive car, you need to get it to rotate(oversteer) more. Thats the fast way around an autox course.
Most importantly, have fun. Just get out and do it.

[Mars]

Cool, thanks guys =)

[LiTtLe xOx BitT]

For suspension you can do tokico or kyb shocks and struts with new springs by weapon-R, intrax, eibach, arospeed, bomz and there some others. For engine cooling you can get a high-flow koyo radiator and maybe a transmission fluid and oil cooler which are basically small radiators for the oil and trans fliud. If the suspension is going to be under a lot of abuse you might want to replace all the bushings like sway bar bushings, control arm bushings and other ware items on the suspension like ball joints, tie rods, ect. If you upgrade the engine your going to want to upgrade the brake system as well like using drilled rotors and good brake pads.

[hot-87-hatch]

I bought the bomz adjustables with kyb gr2's. Not to happy with the gr2's. The back feels ok but the front takes forever to settle out after a bump. I don't do any track driving. I wish I would have invested in some konis instead. The gr2's just dont get it done. I don't know much about setting up suspension but it seems the gr2's need a little more rebound damping. Anyone else?

[bobafett]

yep.. thats why anybody who knows better will steer u away from the GR-2s or sensatracs... they are just oem replacements.
unfortunately, and as u probably know, konis are pretty much non existant for the 3g anymore. so you are better off getting revalved bilstiens, valved for whatever type of spring you want. also you can opt for external adjustments when u do this. :) making it a bitching setup. OR do what zeph did, and run civic shocks. it does take a bit of modding though. :)

[POS carb]

what I would do:
start with a light body (DX)
gut it (seats, a/c, dash, accessories)
port and shave the head
intake/exhaust
roll cage
the cooling system is great but i'd rig both fans to stay on full time
upgrade the induction and fuel system
buy a brain bucket
koni shocks on coilovers
225 tires on lightweight rims

[Zufer]

i race my car in autocross and am starting to get into track days... first one is coming in a couple weeks. My suspension package works awesome, if you want more details i'm more than willing to share. I have been racing in FSP for autocross and doing fairly well, and that's without race tires. And i don't have much into my car as far as money... just lots of time with tuning and custom stuff.

[cardoc33]

Don't be stingey! Share with us!:) I would love to here what you've done to your car. Are you running the steet tire class?

[Zufer]

I am running in street prep. The only reason is that a weber carb bumps you out of the STS which is where the car should really but. If you have a FI model that's where you would probably end up.

My car started as a 88LX 4door
My mods
Adjustable struts front and rear
Sleeve Coil overs 350lb/in in the front 450 in the back
ST rear sway bar
lxi front sway bar w/urethane bushings
prelude control arms
front and rear strut bars
weber 32/36
exaust from stock header back
light 14" rims with 195/60 Hankook Ventus Rs2 tires


Comments on my set up.
I need a header.
The tires are great for street tire class, i'm gonna get some true R-compounds in the spring
The struts are totally worth it. The fronts are kinda a pain in the ass to custom mount but ask anyone that's ridden in my car... it's awesome
I wanna try dual side drafts or 4 motorcycle carbs
If you wanna be competitive at Auto-x don't get a cam, it bumper you up to street mod which would requite a turbo and lsd to be at all competitive
The strut bars are a must. I had mine off for a little while to paint them and the car drove horribly
Starting with a completely stock car isn't a bad idea. i'd say 80% of auto-x is the driving, so figure out how to drive, then you can see what each mod does. And if you start off by buying some r-compounds then i think the car would be competitive in H-stock where it's classed.
Focus on suspension not power, you just need a smooth powerband, not high HP
I have a East Bear racing seat.... another must, you either go with a racing seat or 5 point harness, the stock accord seats don't hold you in at all.
I daily drive my car, if i wasn't going to i'd build it for a Prepared class.

BIGGEST UPGRADE IS TIRES, they are expensive but they are worth it.

Any more questions feel free to ask

[bobafett]

hey man i hear u are going to be at PIR on saturday the 5th? im probably gonna come down and watch that shit

[Zufer]

oh ya... i'm actually gonna be there the 4th and the 5th.. I'm so stoked... we'll see how the car does out there.

[EricW]

I autox my daily driver and here's what I'm running. I have no clue what class I am in since no one really cares that much in the region where i run (its rather small usually around 20 cars and my group is usually 5 of them). I do know that if I was to actually race cars in the proper class I would get :Owned2: .
1986 Honda Accord Lx-EFi
Fuel injection Conversion
Pacesetter Armor coated 4-2-1 header
Pacesetter Monza High Flow cat
Pacesetter Monza Cat-back
Custom upgraded 4 Gauge Grounds
Optima Red top
Pacesetter Adjustable Quick shifter (short shifter)
Pacesetter Polyurethane shifter bushings
Suspension techniques 15/16" front sway bar
Addco 3/4" rear sway bar
Energy suspension polyurethane sway bar bushings
Energy suspension polyurethane end-link bushings
Koni Special reds (adj. to 3/4 stiffness)
Ground control coilovers (lowered to the point were the lower arms are parallel to the ground)
Ground control Koni adapters
14" Black Enkei 92 (mesh) w/ Falken Azenis (Autocross)
Custom Front and Rear Strut tower bars
Custom lower tie bars
Air filter on Throttle body
Golden Eagle 10 deg Adjustable Cam Gear
Ingalls Front camber kit
Gude cam
Msd 6al w/ Blaster 2 coil
That's all of the mods i can think of at the moment.
http://www.knology.net/~ericrw/Pics/AutoX%209-11%20me.jpg
From what i have been told I have little or no body roll. I am able to make my rear come loose with out braking coming into a corner. I'm currently working on some seat brackets for some corbeau CR1's that i just picked up because the stock seats suck for autox. I would also like to have my car corner balanced but can't find any scales to do it with.

[bobafett]

corbeau makes brackets. they are 78.50 a side, with sliders, u can order them direct, ask to talk to nate smith. :)

i have A4's in my accord. seating position is slightly higher than stock, so you may want to mod the bracket ever so slightly to get a little more close to the floor. also you can cut out some foam from the bottom of the seat. supposedly with the a4 u can cut out an inch maybe 1.5... but each seat is different, but if u call them up they will tell u how much you can shave off the bottom.

i love my A4's in the accord. the brackets are really simple too, so im SURE u could make your own without too much trouble.

[Zufer]

what rate springs are you running Eric?

[EricW]

As for the seat brackets I am trying to take the cheap way out and mod the brackets the I got with the seats from a mustang (the seats came out of a VW jetta) to the seat brackets out of my parts car. I am just using the square from the mustang bracket and going to weld two supports across the stock sliders to mount the square on. I also figured that the seats would sit closer the the stock position this way. I'll post some pics when I get done with them.


The spring rates on the coilovers are 350 front and 250 rear.

[Zufer]

just make seat brackets out of angle iron.. cause about $2. And have you tried switching the 250's to the front and the 350's to the rear... it bet it would handle a lot better