Handling

[jville95]

More help here from the IA squad; on my 95 2 door accord, i got it swapped with an h22a. Now I know this motor is on the weight side of the aspect so now my issue is HANDLING!! I have tokico adj. all the way around, suspension techniques lowering springs and an upper tie bar. Whenever I switch lanes at high speeds my car doesn't handle as well as it would if it were "slammed." I know I can get a lower tie bar but after that what else can I do to improve this situation?? (p.s. - Im really not trying to slam this car either)

[Jecht]

Slamming a car usually affects the handling negatively, so its good that you don't want to slam it.

I would recommend getting some different springs with a higher spring rate and turning up the dampening on the Tokicos. I can't even find the spring rate of your springs on Suspension Technique's own website, so it is probably a good idea to upgrade to something better. A decent set of front/rear sway bars might help as well.

I can't really help much more other than that without knowing exactly what is going on. How does it handle at the limit? What does it do at high speeds that you don't like? How would you like it to handle?

[jville95]

How does it handle at the limit? What does it do at high speeds that you don't like? How would you like it to handle?

At the limit, it is very "wavy" or in other words, it has the tendency to feel loose at the wheel. I mean, if I were to switch lanes at 115mph, very quickly, it feels like its gonna power-slide or something. I want it to handle more tighter than what it is now. If im lookin to add more WHP then its gonna end up gettin ugly and quick! Im more of a highway speedster so when im swervin in and outta traffic at 120+, i don't want people to look at me like im freakin crazy when its the car that is too loose due to an unbalanced suspension ya know?

So I guess even with your info, im looking at sway bars and possibly ditching the Susp. Techs & tociko adj and gettin a full kit like TEIN maybe??

[Jecht]

At the limit, it is very "wavy" or in other words, it has the tendency to feel loose at the wheel. I mean, if I were to switch lanes at 115mph, very quickly, it feels like its gonna power-slide or something. I want it to handle more tighter than what it is now. If im lookin to add more WHP then its gonna end up gettin ugly and quick! Im more of a highway speedster so when im swervin in and outta traffic at 120+, i don't want people to look at me like im freakin crazy when its the car that is too loose due to an unbalanced suspension ya know?

So I guess even with your info, im looking at sway bars and possibly ditching the Susp. Techs & tociko adj and gettin a full kit like TEIN maybe??

No, you don't need to ditch your ENTIRE setup, just the Suspension Techniques springs. Tokico Illumina adjustables are nice shocks, all you really need are stiffer springs.

I found the spring rate of your Suspension Techniques springs. They are 250lb/in front and 180lb/in rear. That isn't very stiff - it means the car will be more comfortable to drive over bumps and all, but it won't feel as tight like you want it. Since I don't know much about what would be a good spring rate for your car, you need to go find a list of springs and their respective spring rates for your car on an Accord enthusiast site of some sort.

Research different springs and find out what their rates are, and ask others what they think of them. Higher numbers will mean that the springs are stiffer.

One last thing you could do is increase the dampening on the Tokico shocks. You probably know how to adjust them from the little knob, just turn them up to a higher setting. This might help make it a little better, even without upgrading to a different spring.


I really wish I could find a good guide for you to read about changing the way a car handles by changing the suspension, but I can't find anything right now.

[jville95]

well that's cool. I really appreciate all your help dude! I wil lkeep the struts and maybe do like you said and just get more info on some different springs w/ a higher spring rate. I went with Susp techs b/c they were a little cheaper at the time but as the saying goes, "you gotta pay to play" lol!!

I do have the rear adjusted to setting 5 and the front is on 4 or it may be 5 as well. But I will look into changing the springs. Thanks guy!