stuff needed to complete conversion.
After running with the stock 13mm 1999 Si rear swaybar for
2 years, I decided to upgrade to a MUGEN 22mm rear swaybar.
Some people said it is over kill to run such set-up since
the Civic EX has a 22mm front swaybar and it might induce
too much oversteer.
I've driven that track many times and I was anxious whether
I will spin on every turn or run a faster time. Surprisingly,
it wasn't as bad as I have thought. It gave me the confidence
to go full throttle immediately after braking for turn 9 and
stayed neutral diving in to the apex and understeered slightly
on the way out. I can now exit turn 9 about 3-5mph faster and
that might contribute to the .7 seconds decrease in lap time.
I also noticed a slight instability when braking straight for
turn 1 and turn 3 after installing the bars.
The second test was done at Streets of Willow. It was a very
tight course almost like an auto-cross. This gave me the chance
to toss the car hard in to the corners. The car felt very
neutral to the point of you can almost throttle steer the car.
I made a few mistakes like running too much tire pressure,
turned in too late and have to lift, and dive in to the corner
too hard. But the car reacted so predictably and just 4 wheel
drifted and scrubded off speed with no drama. The only complaint
I have with these bars is they like to glide from one side to
the other and so far no plastic clamps can seem to hold them.
The modifications done to the engine are
The Spoon Dampers lowered the car 2 inches in front and 1.5
inches at the back. The ride became very firm, on the
streets I can feel every bump and irregularities of the
road. While at speed the car feels very solid and always
connected on the ground. The car litteraly follows the contour
of the road and it's really confidence inspiring but it does
get old after a while.
The shop that did my shock dyno was astound with the
super high bound on for front dampers. They commented
that it is so hard that it is not letting the springs
do it's job by absorbing the bump on the road, instead
it is transmitting the shock to the car thus making it
very unstable on bumpy tracks. This was very apparent
at Streets of Willow. The car was little unstable charging
throught the apexes of the back chicane and the tires
skips under hard braking over rippled asphalt.
The Spoon Master Cylinder brace made only a small
difference in braking feel and I would suggest it
as a final modification in your braking system.
10 pounds of rubber insulation behind the dash and
22 pounds of bumper reinforcement.
The increase in road noise was not evident during
normal street driving and barely noticable on the
freeways. Engine mechanical noise was more audible
inside the cabin but not irritating. The car is totaly
livable since I drive and race with all the interior
intact.
I got a chance to have some passengers ride along
with me on my last track event at Streets of Willow
and I was able to time myself with the diffrent
weight passengers. Here are the results.
With the 270lbs passenger, my brakes was toasted
in 4 laps and the front tires overheated in 5 laps.
The lighter passenger didn't have any prominent effect
on the car's handling and braking but it did posted
a slightly slower lap time. Which further prove that
lighter is faster!!!
After rolling around like a ball on my stock seat for
almost 3 years, I decided it's time to get some real
seats. It took me a while to get used to sitting on the
seats. First thing I noticed is that I don't feel the
cornering force anymore thus wind up entering the corner
faster than I used to. But once I got accustomed to it
I can feel every slip and grip of the car which I never
felt before and this allowed me to push the car at the
limit all the time. And since my body is now strapped
I can concentrate more on steering and braking rather
than getting distacted trying to hold myself on the seat.
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