help AF Civic Tech!

Okay AF Civic Tech, i've read all of your posts about how you can set up your suspension, and they've been very helpful to me. But I still need your opinion on on what i should do in my lowering case.

I've very recently aquired a deal on a '92 civic hatchback, but im not going to have much money to spend on it. My first 700 or so is going to a full catback exhaust, then next i wanna buy Enkei 17 inch 10 spoke rims and put them on my ride and then lower it.

The thing is I don't want to put the rims on, and then lower it only 1.5 inches, cause then it'll just be riding the stock height. What I would like is for it to be lowered about two inches lower than the stock height WITH the rims on the car.

Another problem is i don't have wads of cash (like most of you guys do, jk) and i'd like to spend as little as possible without messing up my car or having bad performance. I'd like it to look nice, but also be raceable if you later on. Another prob. is that i live in Michigan, so if at all possible i'd like ot be able to raise it up in the winter so it doesn't become a snow plow.

So what'd be you choice of cilover + camber kit or Shocks + kit if you were in my situation? Thanks alot for your time and i greatly appreciate your opinion on this. -Skip

Personally you will see bigger gains getting a shock and spring combo instead of a catback exhaust and wheels. Plus 17s are WAY TOO LARGE for a torqueless Civic. I would stick with 15s or 16s. Plus tires are lighter, cheaper, and easier to find performance tires in smaller wheel sizes. Plus if you plan on dropping you will have less rubbing problems with smaller wheels/tires.

Personally I would go with the Koni Yellow and custom rate Ground Controls (approx $900 shipped from Ground Control) something like 300f/350r, which is pretty tame. I'm running 350f/400r and it's on the border of stiff. And if you never rode or drove a dropped car this spring rate should be great for starters. First time I dropped my car I thought it was so harsh I couldn't live with it. but eventually got used to it :)

The tough thing about coilovers is getting the car to sit properly which takes some trial and error. Always measure each corner before you drop it that way you can balance out the car better.

i was wondering if there was anything that i could get like in the 500 dollar range?

Originally posted by tynebeach
i was wondering if there was anything that i could get like in the 500 dollar range?

Hrm not much. Intake, exhaust, headers. Maybe better tires?

no i mean suspension wise. Maybe I could just get lowering springs and shocks, and then put in the stock springs on the shocks in the winter. Would that work cause if i could do that I woldn't have to buy things quite that expensive.

Originally posted by tynebeach
no i mean suspension wise. Maybe I could just get lowering springs and shocks, and then put in the stock springs on the shocks in the winter. Would that work cause if i could do that I woldn't have to buy things quite that expensive.

Unless you find a great deal on Ebay $500 for springs and shocks is not do-able.

I found some Tokico non-adjustable shocks for 280 and then some Skunk 2 coilovers for only 300. Would that setup work?

Or I could get a pair of lowering springs for 200 and use them with those shocks for a while, and then to raise my ride i could put the stock springs on in the winter, would this option work also?

Thanks for all your comments man, they're really helping me out.:)

Originally posted by tynebeach
I found some Tokico non-adjustable shocks for 280 and then some Skunk 2 coilovers for only 300. Would that setup work?

Or I could get a pair of lowering springs for 200 and use them with those shocks for a while, and then to raise my ride i could put the stock springs on in the winter, would this option work also?

Thanks for all your comments man, they're really helping me out.:)

What are the spring rates of the Skunk2s? I don't know if the Tokico non-adjustables can handle very high spring rates. And I Know from experience the Skunk2s were pretty stiff.

well, how can u tell what the spring rates are? (sorry, i know i dont know crap about this):)

Originally posted by tynebeach
well, how can u tell what the spring rates are? (sorry, i know i dont know crap about this):)

Either a camber gauge or take it to an alignment shop.