Well my son has caught the bug for modifying his car...

[Boost925]

I am actually happy about my son taking an interest in his car and modding it to make it his. Current mods are Mishimoto Performance air Intake, MAPerformance Downpipe back Race exhaust. Other mods are all interior red accents. Next he wants to concentrate on suspension. I am going to let him autocross from time to time and maybe do some track days at Laguna Seca and Sonoma raceway etc. After some research I think we are going to start with Eibach Sportline lowering springs, front and rear camber kit, sway bars, strut bars. We considered doing coil overs. we were looking at HKS and Fortune Auto 500 series. We were leaning towards the FA 500s. But after reading on this site for a little while it sounds like keeping the stock electronic dampers with lowering springs are better start. the cost for all is around $1300.00. Later if he decides he wants more "race like" handling he can get the coilovers. He would only be out 261.00 for the springs as everything else will be compatible. The bang for the buck I think is well worth it. If he gets coilovers, he needs error code cancelling, he still needs camber kit on rear and possibly on front as well. The cost for these items is between $1800.00 and $2800.00 depending on which coilovers. He would not have the sway bars or the strut bars. this would be an additional $750.00.

I would be curious to get some feedback on this decision just for fun discussion reasons. After the suspension up grade will be wheels and tires. Gonna wait till he needs new tires to do that. He loves the Marquee M3259 wheels. Ithink they will look great on the car. We intend to go to 19X8.5 and run 245/35 19 tires or possibly 235/35 19. other possibility would 245/30 19 if I can find that size. after research it looks like stock diameter is 25.4 inches. the 245/35 is 25.78 inches. I like the idea of a little lower profile the 245/30 would offer again if I can find that size.

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[Nick6]

I am actually happy about my son taking an interest in his car and modding it to make it his. Current mods are Mishimoto Performance air Intake, MAPerformance Downpipe back Race exhaust. Other mods are all interior red accents. Next he wants to concentrate on suspension. I am going to let him autocross from time to time and maybe do some track days at Laguna Seca and Sonoma raceway etc. After some research I think we are going to start with Eibach Sportline lowering springs, front and rear camber kit, sway bars, strut bars. We considered doing coil overs. we were looking at HKS and Fortune Auto 500 series. We were leaning towards the FA 500s. But after reading on this site for a little while it sounds like keeping the stock electronic dampers with lowering springs are better start. the cost for all is around $1300.00. Later if he decides he wants more "race like" handling he can get the coilovers. He would only be out 261.00 for the springs as everything else will be compatible. The bang for the buck I think is well worth it. If he gets coilovers, he needs error code cancelling, he still needs camber kit on rear and possibly on front as well. The cost for these items is between $1800.00 and $2800.00 depending on which coilovers. He would not have the sway bars or the strut bars. this would be an additional $750.00.

I would be curious to get some feedback on this decision just for fun discussion reasons. After the suspension up grade will be wheels and tires. Gonna wait till he needs new tires to do that. He loves the Marquee M3259 wheels. Ithink they will look great on the car. We intend to go to 19X8.5 and run 245/35 19 tires or possibly 235/35 19. other possibility would 245/30 19 if I can find that size. after research it looks like stock diameter is 25.4 inches. the 245/35 is 25.78 inches. I like the idea of a little lower profile the 245/30 would offer again if I can find that size.

Your best bet is to start tracking then focus on upgrading suspension. Definitely start off with upgraded brakes (pads and fluids) and figure out what the car needs from there.

 

[Boost925]

Your best bet is to start tracking then focus on upgrading suspension. Definitely start off with upgraded brakes (pads and fluids) and figure out what the car needs from there.

Thank for the advice and I totally understand that. He is only 15...turns 16 next month. Gets his license a couple weeks after his birthday at the end of March. Which means along with some performance gains he wants the aesthetic value of lowering the car. Breaks will get upgraded when the break pads need to be replaced or if the AutoCross becomes more than a once in a while thing. He spends his own money on the car. I bought it for him he has to pay for everything else.

 

[Unity Performance]

Hey Mike, good to see you and your son sharing the hobby!

We've built our two Si's to be streetable mild track cars, and we can share a few tips

• Try 1 AutoX and/or Track day in the car's current state so you have a baseline for how it performs. Seat time is the #1 mod, always!
• Since you are tracking it, Eibach Pro-Kit will be a better choice because there will be less chances of the strut maxing out its compression range and bottom out over bumps, especially at the Front. Sportlines we advise for more street use. Other track-friendly Springs include Whiteline, and Swift
• Going with 19's on the Sportlines will also cause quite a bit of rub when paired with the Sportlines, and you're adding a lot of weight which is the enemy of performance. Go for 18's, even consider 17's if you're going to take the performance side of things super seriously
• You need good tires...Michelin PS4S, and Continental ExtremeContact Sport are two favorites that we've tested. A budget tire with good grip is Firestone Indy500
• Brakes...better pads and fluid will really benefit braking and your confidence. EBC Reds are a great street pad with light tracking capability, EBC Yellow and Hawk 5.0 are streetable pads that can handle light-mild track duty. Track or no track, Motul RBF600 is a great brake fluid!
• Sway Bars and Chassis Bracing...start with Rear Sway Bar, and a great alignment with the front guide pins pulled for -0.8 camber, and rear between -1.5 to -1.7. Toe should be 0. In terms of chassis bracing, Ultra Racing is our brand of choice because they may a one-piece strut bar, which is the most effective design.

There is so much more but my intent is to not push parts on people, but rather to educate. You can browse our website, https://unity-performance.com/; I've built the store selection from my own experiences with modifying my Si, and working with the local and online community to help us test parts before I add them to the website as trusted by Unity Performance.

If you have any particular questions, feel free to respond below or PM me

Humza

 

[Boost925]

Hey Mike, good to see you and your son sharing the hobby!

We've built our two Si's to be streetable mild track cars, and we can share a few tips

• Try 1 AutoX and/or Track day in the car's current state so you have a baseline for how it performs. Seat time is the #1 mod, always!
• Since you are tracking it, Eibach Pro-Kit will be a better choice because there will be less chances of the strut maxing out its compression range and bottom out over bumps, especially at the Front. Sportlines we advise for more street use. Other track-friendly Springs include Whiteline, and Swift
• Going with 19's on the Sportlines will also cause quite a bit of rub when paired with the Sportlines, and you're adding a lot of weight which is the enemy of performance. Go for 18's, even consider 17's if you're going to take the performance side of things super seriously
• You need good tires...Michelin PS4S, and Continental ExtremeContact Sport are two favorites that we've tested. A budget tire with good grip is Firestone Indy500
• Brakes...better pads and fluid will really benefit braking and your confidence. EBC Reds are a great street pad with light tracking capability, EBC Yellow and Hawk 5.0 are streetable pads that can handle light-mild track duty. Track or no track, Motul RBF600 is a great brake fluid!
• Sway Bars and Chassis Bracing...start with Rear Sway Bar, and a great alignment with the front guide pins pulled for -0.8 camber, and rear between -1.5 to -1.7. Toe should be 0. In terms of chassis bracing, Ultra Racing is our brand of choice because they may a one-piece strut bar, which is the most effective design.

There is so much more but my intent is to not push parts on people, but rather to educate. You can browse our website, https://unity-performance.com/; I've built the store selection from my own experiences with modifying my Si, and working with the local and online community to help us test parts before I add them to the website as trusted by Unity Performance.

If you have any particular questions, feel free to respond below or PM me

Humza

WOW! this is great information. Tank you so much! I will check out your website for sure! I am sure I will have more questions. Especially regarding the springs/wheels. I did not think about the weight gain from 19s vs the 18s. but as far as rubbing...is it eh extra 1/2 inch of width because the over all diameter will be basically the same. I thought finding 245/30 would reduce tire wall a little bit making it a bit stiffer which I thought would improve handling. sounds like I may be backwards on these thoughts. anyway I look forward to more conversations. The goal for he and I is to learn together. He has a look he wants but I want to make sure he also keeps performance in mind. Looks over performance is a bad thing but there is definitely a happy medium somewhere in there. well leaning towards performance but also getting the look he wants. I will definitely swap out the break fluid as you suggested. by the way on the springs I was assumong the sportlines would lower the car more since they require the camber kit. do you know the difference in ride height between the sportline and the pro kit?

 

[cory13]

The pro-kit will lower the front of the car by .9 inches and the rear will be lowered by 1.1.
The sportline lowers the front by 1.7 inches and the rear will be lowered by 1.8. Hope that helps and have fun with your son!

 

[COOL COUPE]

Front wheel drive is not generally what you want. I would strongly suggest putting your son into say a Toyota 86 tosseble rear wheel drive. I love my honda but let's be honest. It's 1.5 ltr and loaded with comprised well everything. I am old fashioned granted just don't focus only on Civic.

 

[Boost925]

Front wheel drive is not generally what you want. I would strongly suggest putting your son into say a Toyota 86 tosseble rear wheel drive. I love my honda but let's be honest. It's 1.5 ltr and loaded with comprised well everything. I am old fashioned granted just don't focus only on Civic.

Thank you for the suggestion but the car is already purchased and it will be his daily driver. Tracking the car is strickly secondary and just for fun not taking it too seriously. If he decides to autocross or get into any kind of racing we will get the best vehicle for it. This is just hobby for now.

 

[KingOfBrussels]

@Boost925 Some of the stuff you're looking at is more focused on appearance than a good autocross setup. Not that he's doing a dedicated autocross car but there's a way to hook up the Si that will make it cooler while still in line with his goals.

For springs, the Sportlines are just too much lowering on the stock shocks for good results. Lowering the car that much on the stock shocks eats up a lot of the available suspension travel, which makes for a stiff ride and sometimes unpredictable handling.

The options with less lowering are Eibach Pro-Kit, Whiteline, and Swift Spec-R. The Whiteline are the least drop at around 0.8" and the others are around 1.1". Of those two the Pro-Kit are more comfortable and the Swift are plenty tolerable of a ride and a little more performance focused.

For wheels I'd encourage you to stick with 18s. 19s leave you with very thin sidewalls on the tires. You can go with a wider 18" wheel like 18x9 +40 or 18x9.5 +45 and run wider tires than stock for more grip, anywhere from 245/35-18 to 265/35-18 depending on the width and offset of the wheels.

 

[Unity Performance]

WOW! this is great information. Tank you so much! I will check out your website for sure! I am sure I will have more questions. Especially regarding the springs/wheels. I did not think about the weight gain from 19s vs the 18s. but as far as rubbing...is it eh extra 1/2 inch of width because the over all diameter will be basically the same. I thought finding 245/30 would reduce tire wall a little bit making it a bit stiffer which I thought would improve handling. sounds like I may be backwards on these thoughts. anyway I look forward to more conversations. The goal for he and I is to learn together. He has a look he wants but I want to make sure he also keeps performance in mind. Looks over performance is a bad thing but there is definitely a happy medium somewhere in there. well leaning towards performance but also getting the look he wants. I will definitely swap out the break fluid as you suggested. by the way on the springs I was assumong the sportlines would lower the car more since they require the camber kit. do you know the difference in ride height between the sportline and the pro kit?

Happy to help! For an acceptable ride quality, don't go lower than a 35 sidewall - Type R folks know this well with the amount of wheels they bend, and end up coming down to 18's most of the time.

Sportlines do lower the car more at around 1.8" Front and Rear, and yes the Camber Kit is almost necessary for them. Pro-Kit when settled is around 1" all around, and you can get away without needing the camber kit.

 

[Boost925]

@Boost925 Some of the stuff you're looking at is more focused on appearance than a good autocross setup. Not that he's doing a dedicated autocross car but there's a way to hook up the Si that will make it cooler while still in line with his goals.

For springs, the Sportlines are just too much lowering on the stock shocks for good results. Lowering the car that much on the stock shocks eats up a lot of the available suspension travel, which makes for a stiff ride and sometimes unpredictable handling.

The options with less lowering are Eibach Pro-Kit, Whiteline, and Swift Spec-R. The Whiteline are the least drop at around 0.8" and the others are around 1.1". Of those two the Pro-Kit are more comfortable and the Swift are plenty tolerable of a ride and a little more performance focused.

For wheels I'd encourage you to stick with 18s. 19s leave you with very thin sidewalls on the tires. You can go with a wider 18" wheel like 18x9 +40 or 18x9.5 +45 and run wider tires than stock for more grip, anywhere from 245/35-18 to 265/35-18 depending on the width and offset of the wheels.

Thank you again for the info. From what I am reading on here I think we will stick with 18s. We will look into maybe going wider. We will stick with the stock wheels for now and upgrade the suspension with the pro-kit springs as suggested.. I think an inch lower is plenty. plus not needing the camber kit for now is kinda nice. We can do that later if we decide make adjustments. So I think the next set of purchases will be Pro-Kit springs, sway bars and stiffeners. We will forgo the camber kit for now. Wheels will be down the road a bit. We will do the break fluid and break pads soon as well.

 

[Boost925]

@Boost925 Some of the stuff you're looking at is more focused on appearance than a good autocross setup. Not that he's doing a dedicated autocross car but there's a way to hook up the Si that will make it cooler while still in line with his goals.

For springs, the Sportlines are just too much lowering on the stock shocks for good results. Lowering the car that much on the stock shocks eats up a lot of the available suspension travel, which makes for a stiff ride and sometimes unpredictable handling.

The options with less lowering are Eibach Pro-Kit, Whiteline, and Swift Spec-R. The Whiteline are the least drop at around 0.8" and the others are around 1.1". Of those two the Pro-Kit are more comfortable and the Swift are plenty tolerable of a ride and a little more performance focused.

For wheels I'd encourage you to stick with 18s. 19s leave you with very thin sidewalls on the tires. You can go with a wider 18" wheel like 18x9 +40 or 18x9.5 +45 and run wider tires than stock for more grip, anywhere from 245/35-18 to 265/35-18 depending on the width and offset of the wheels.

Even though we will be doing suspension first....At least for now...My son keeps changing his mind on suspension or wheels next. I am at least researching wheel options. I like the idea of going wider and staying with 18" diameter. There is not a lot of options that I am finding with the Offsets that you mention. I would be curious of you know of any that you could suggest.

 

[KingOfBrussels]

Even though we will be doing suspension first....At least for now...My son keeps changing his mind on suspension or wheels next. I am at least researching wheel options. I like the idea of going wider and staying with 18" diameter. There is not a lot of options that I am finding with the Offsets that you mention. I would be curious of you know of any that you could suggest.

Mostly the expensive JDM wheel brands offer that 18x9.5 +45 size. Motegi has a few options for $700-800/set. Here are some ideas.

https://www.fitmentindustries.com/store/wheels?sort=plh&dia=18&width=9.5&offset=50&bolt=5x4.5,5x114.3/

Some of the wheels that come up when you click that link are +40 instead of +45 offset. The +45 helps avoid rubbing on the fenders if lowered and running an especially wide size like 255/35-18 or 265/35-18. +40 is borderline poking out past the fenders.

 

[Unity Performance]

@Boost925 Some of the stuff you're looking at is more focused on appearance than a good autocross setup. Not that he's doing a dedicated autocross car but there's a way to hook up the Si that will make it cooler while still in line with his goals.

For springs, the Sportlines are just too much lowering on the stock shocks for good results. Lowering the car that much on the stock shocks eats up a lot of the available suspension travel, which makes for a stiff ride and sometimes unpredictable handling.

The options with less lowering are Eibach Pro-Kit, Whiteline, and Swift Spec-R. The Whiteline are the least drop at around 0.8" and the others are around 1.1". Of those two the Pro-Kit are more comfortable and the Swift are plenty tolerable of a ride and a little more performance focused.

For wheels I'd encourage you to stick with 18s. 19s leave you with very thin sidewalls on the tires. You can go with a wider 18" wheel like 18x9 +40 or 18x9.5 +45 and run wider tires than stock for more grip, anywhere from 245/35-18 to 265/35-18 depending on the width and offset of the wheels.

Agree with all that you have said Here's my guide for Flush fitments with minimal rub, that closely resemble your suggestions:

18x8 +30 with 235/40R18
18x8.5 +35 with 245/35R18
18x9 +40 with 255/35R18
18x9.5 +45 with 255/35R18 or 265/35R18

 

[Boost925]

Mostly the expensive JDM wheel brands offer that 18x9.5 +45 size. Motegi has a few options for $700-800/set. Here are some ideas.

https://www.fitmentindustries.com/store/wheels?sort=plh&dia=18&width=9.5&offset=50&bolt=5x4.5,5x114.3/

Some of the wheels that come up when you click that link are +40 instead of +45 offset. The +45 helps avoid rubbing on the fenders if lowered and running an especially wide size like 255/35-18 or 265/35-18. +40 is borderline poking out past the fenders.

Thank you very much! This totally helps!

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