Best handling performance setup

[blaxemj]

So I've been searching around the suspension forums looking for the best suspension setup for handling, in terms of everything (shocks, springs, coilovers, sway bars, sturt bars, tie bars, bushings, and ideal camber). As a daily driver, canyon runs, and occasional track days.

http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=470
Here it says that a strut/shock and spring combonation is the best choice for performance.
Is this true, or would full coilovers be better?

http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=70367
This is an awesome thread .
Here they add tokico illuminas, progress sport springs, progress rear sway bar, polyureathane bushings, 17X8 wheels and 215/40R17 tires for what they claimed to be pretty optimal handling performance.
How about adding the front Suspension Techniques sway bar, would this make handling better or worse?
Which would you guys rate as better performance springs: H&R, nuespeed, progress, or any others?
17X8 seemed a little big for me. Would 16X8 be as effective, better or worse?

http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=172914
Here a couple members seem to agree that the ideal drop and camber for performance would be about 2.0-2.5" inch drop and about -2.0 camber.
Any feedback on this?

How about upper strut bars? How effective are they? And traction bars?
And the "useless" stuff like rear lower tie bars, c-pillar and b-pillar bars.

I have had the pleasure of owning two CBs (hopefully more later )

The first one was a 1991 LX sedan (before discovering this glorious forum lol), with the only suspension modifications being a generic front upper strut bar, anchor type front camber kit, with tokico blues and nuespeed springs (not sure what type, they were green) and stock 12-spoke
(I believe) wheels and stock size tires (195/60 15 I think). Then I got in a side collision and changed my suspension to kyb gr2s and tein s-techs. The car handled surprisingly well with both setups, even with the s-techs being so soft. Loved those springs.

The CB I currently own is a 1992 EX coupe. It is currently installed with nuespeed front upper tie bar, SPC front balljoint camber kit, DC rear upper strut bar, AC autotechnics rear lower tie bar, generic c-pillar bar, front suspension techniques sway bar, rear progress sway bar and tokico suspension kit all around (tokico blues with red springs, about a 1.25-1.5" drop) and stock six-spoke coupe alloy wheels and stock size falken tires. It handles very well, the only complaint I have is on hard turns I feel the car raises excessively (passenger side when making a left turn, driver side when making a right turn). There is no roll, once the car settles it settles, lol, love those sway bars. I was thinking maybe the strut/spring combo is too soft. Any additions or deletes you guys think may help? All I had in mind was an upgraded shock/spring combo or coilover, and upgrade replaces all or most of my bushings/boot/inserts with poly ones and better wheels.

Sorry for all the reading. Hopefully this helps some people, and brings the performance and technical know-how I know some of the members here have. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Sarthos]

cb7 or cb9?

Your car could use better tires. and an esp traction bar.

The aftermarket front sway bar causes the car to understeer I believe. You might benefit with an EX or Vigor front sway.

[blaxemj]

For a CB7 (coupe/sedan). How does the traction bar help on handling? Also, would solid poly motor mounts help handling performance in any way?

[Slow]

High quality tires will probably be your best handling bang for your buck. Problem is what makes tires good for the track, tends to make them bad for real life driving. So if you can swing it, get 2 sets of tires one for summer and track, and the other for the rest of the time.

As far as lowering is concerned I would go as low as you can tolerate, the geometry on these cars is still good when dropped way down. Just make sure you get extended top hats, so you still have some shock travel.

Camber is a compromise, you get connering but lose braking. I think -2 is a good number especially if you are going to 17" wheels. If you were going with 15s I would possible consider more. The obvious down side is increased tire wear on that inner edge during regular driving.

I think 215/40R17 is probably the best size tire for track perfomance, but might consider something like 205/50R15 if your mostly did Auto-X

[blaxemj]

Thanks for the input Slow . Keep it coming. Would sixteen inch wheels offer better traction than seventeen inch wheels? Or worse?

[Slow]

The diameter of the wheel won't really affect your traction. It plays a bigger part with sidewall roll. The downside if you have more rotating mass, which will slow acceleration.

Like everything else wheel diameter is a compromise. We use our car for endurance road racing, and to make sure it is ready for those events we auto cross it to insure the mods we made from the previous race work like we expect. So we had run 205/50r15. These were great for autocross, but on the tracks there was too much sidewall roll. So we ended up putting alot of camber into the car, like negative 4-6 degrees. That lead to poor braking perfomance. So we are moving to 215/40r17. The 215 will be slightly wider and feature shorter sidewalls. Idealy we can run less negative camber, while mantaning a large contact patch in both the corners and on the straights.

16s will be fine if that is what you have. I just did a quick check and for the type of tires we run (Dunlop Direzza Star Specs) the best 16" size available is 205/50/r16. So you will end up with a taller tire than the 15s or 17s I list above.

[Cb_JoeyG]

Get good tires. Combine it with a nice rear sway (progress or ST). Poly bushing are definatly a must (E.S master kit). A decient shock/spring setup or coilovers like FnF are a great upgrade. And if your trying to make your car handle well please invest in some quality balljoints! I have SPC front and rear camber kits and i wouldnt trust nothing less with the way i take corners

You can have all the suspension stuff you can chuck at your car but it will mean nothing without a good set of tires! i have 205/50r15 on my lude sawblades and i love them.. nice and wide for the wheel size and grip very well with how many suspension mods i have. IMO the trac-bar by ESP is a bit overkill unless you really need that solid link at the lateral arms because of High horsepower!

Good luck tho. You've basically got the right threads in front of you.. its just your choice on the brands you wanna go with!

[blaxemj]

Awesome. I really appreciate it guys. There is always more to learn.

[blaxemj]

I never really realized how important tires are. Never had the pleasure of experiencing the pleasure of good performance tires yet.

What would you guys consider a better choice?
Koni yellows w/ nuespeed race springs
Koni yellows w/ H&R race springs
Koni yellows w/ skunk 2 springs
koni yellows w/ ground controls coilover sleeves
Function forms type 1

[mtnbikaah]

I'd say koni yellows with ground control sleeves.

[blaxemj]

What do you guys think of these:
http://www.ultraracing.com.my/Catalo...0(1990)&page=1

Anyone with experience with these?

Thanks to AOM Champcoupe

[Tnwagn]

Koni Yellows w/Nuespeed Race is probably going to be your best off the shelf option there. The Civic/Integra community lives and dies by the Koni/GC combo but I have heard little to-do about it from the CB7 community. Also, I think a bunch of people that like that setup so much do so because they can slam the car with it, not exactly for the handling it can provide when properly configured.

http://cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthread.php?p=1926867

/suspension theory

[Tnwagn]

What do you guys think of these:
http://www.ultraracing.com.my/Catalo...0(1990)&page=1

Thanks to AOM Champcoupe

Some of their bars are similar to the ESP offerings, which have been proven to provide a big gain. Some, such as the subframe brace, I highly doubt have any positive impact on the handling of the vehicle.

Focus on tires, bushings, and the shock/spring setup first, then look elsewhere.

[Jack93prj]

I love my Knois and GC. I am not super slammed. Tight one finger all the way around at -2.0deg camber in the front and -1.0 in the back. Does anyone else have a problem with a extremely slow steering rack like when going through a slalom my hands are too fast for the rack and there is ALOT of resistance till I kinda slow down and let the rack catch up. Has anyone else ever had that problem

[blaxemj]

Yeah, I think the Koni yellows and ground controls are more for looks and comfort, since they use eibach springs. I may be wrong. Will the nuespeed race springs be better with the Konis than the H&R ones since they are made by the same company (I think)? I always thought H&R to be better quality.

I'm going to try and focus on rebuilding my suspension with polyurethane parts. Any input on which is better, prothane or energy suspension? Thanks