We had a dinner social in DFW tonight to try to get our club back in working order. After eating we of course checked out the new Spa Yellow and the mods on a couple of the cars. I had the fortune to drive both cars (thanks guys!) Here's my impressions:

Dale's car. Pretty much stock except for Spoon exhaust and headers. It actually lost some hp on the dyno. With Dale in the passenger seat I took it out for a drive that included an empty traffic circle - it's a perfect skid pad. The Spoon exhaust sounds wonderful outside the car. It has similar sound qualities to a true racing pipe, but not as loud of course. Inside, it has a very loud resonance from about 3500 to 4500rpm. Maybe it's my skull rattling, but I had a lot of trouble hearing Dale speak. At full throttle over 6000rpm, I hear some difference but not as much as I expected. I was disappointed and wouldn't be able to handle this exhaust on my car. Granted I had a passenger, but I didn't feel it was any faster than my stock car.

Chris's car. Chris has a strut tower brace, the x-brace, HKS exhaust, Mugen sway bar, and -2 degrees camber in the read and -1.5 in the front. The HKS is much closer to stock. It has a nice rumble in the lower rpm ranges, but not much difference in the upper. (All these drives were with the top up, btw, since it was quite cold.) The amazing thing about Chris's car is how it handled. I was able to go a good bit faster on the skid pad than in Dale's car before I got any push. Oversteer wasn't a problem in either car. The two words that come to mind about Chris's car are "sharp" and "precise." The steering didn't feel any different in my hands, it just did a better job of doing what I wanted it to. I was very impressed. The x-brace and sway bar are definitely going on my list of things to buy. Again, the butt-meter didn't detect any increased acceleration.

Mark's car. First, a little background about my car. Back in early summer I went to Texas World Speedway for a track event with the Porsche Club. I had a big off (turn 7 aka D on the back portion, for those who know the track) that knocked the wheels out of alignment. Fortunately it had rained the night before so the ground was soft and wet, otherwise I don't doubt I would have broken the suspension. The guy behind me said I got airborne a good bit. I had the alignment fixed, but ever since the car just hasn't felt right. I could be imagining things, or maybe something has come loose, or maybe it's the brand new non-OEM S02's I have front and rear, but the car seems twitchy. It feels like it darts to the side every once in a while, a little more steering correction is required in general, and the read tends to grab and let go a little more abruptly. I really need to take it in and have somebody who knows what they're doing to really take a look at the suspension. Going around the skid pad, I had a much larger sense that the rear was wanting to come around. Performance and sound wise, I'm quite happy with the stock exhaust system.

ps - Dale mentioned that we could buy a thin sheet of insulating ceramic that could be cut to go between the brake pads and calipers. This wouldn't help keep the pads and rotors cooler, of course, but could really help with keeping brake fluid from boiling. Does anybody know of a place to buy such? I did a quick search and couldn't come up with anything.

 

Hi Elistan

Really interesting post. I love the idea of swapping drives in stooks. I have the RM STB, front lower spoon x brace and just had the rear spoon brace installed. I agree, steering and handling are beautifully sharp. I've held off on changing the exhaust and headers, and after reading your post, I'm glad I have. Good luck on getting your suspension sorted out.

BTW, which suspension parts did you have replaced?

2x6spds

 

Come by my place sometime and we can take a test drive when I have my mods done.

 

Cdelena, you've ruined us. We were all completely dissatisfied with our "civic sound" after your HKS demo rides. Every time someone else started their stock S2K we missed the low tone and growl of the HKS. Those guys should sponsor you! Now we all want a new exhaust under the tree for Christmas
I didn't experience the suspension mods on the skidpad, sounds like fun. It's a shame we didn't do a group photo by the Ballpark. The parking lot over there was bright as day!

 

Don

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by cdelena:
[B] Don

 

how much do the bars cost that you guys recommend putting on (sway, cross brace, etc.)? Are these expensive to install?

 

It sounds cool but at some rpm ranges part throttle provides a low drone that is louder than I like so let it irritate me. Maybe I

 

Dale said something about a bolt on mussel for his spoon exhuast for when his wife rides with him. maybe theres an HKS silencer you could through on for daily driving.

 

I was riding shotgun w/ Elistan on the skid pad in cdelena's stook. i must say i was very impressed.. i think he was pushing over 40 and it wasn't budging. felt like we were being slung around on a rail.. it was starting to kick out a little but a definate noticable difference over stock.

i plan on geting the x-brace and top sway bar now.. as long as i can get some help installing them. its on the top of the mods to get list. followed by HKS it did make the stock exhuast sound (civic'ish) still debating that one.. gotta get the car first.