You're My Boy, Blue

[.RJ]

My E90 is awful in cold. New OE fluid, too. This is why I havent installed the short shifter I have sitting around.

[ScottyB]

You've already done trans fluid?

yeah, literally drove the car home from the dealer and changed the oil/trans fluid the same day.  OEM honda MTF.

i've been keeping it outside lately while i work on the camper and its been at around freezing temps at night and it stays in the shade most of the day so it never really warms up just sitting right now. above 50 degrees its no big deal.

[*insertusernamehere*]

The Fit is also terrible in the cold. It's more like a bag of rocks than pudding though. Doesn't like to engage first at all.

Sent from my FRD-L04 using Tapatalk

[Sijray21]

I'm looking forward to seeing more mods with the Si!

Loving the progress so far and that really sucks about the engine oil filter and drain locations, wtf?

[ScottyB]

spent yesterday drinking beer with a buddy and doing some wrench therapy on the Si.  twas a good day.

Koni STR.T and Tein H-Tech springs are on along with a single SPC camber bolt on each front knuckle.  it'll be aligned tomorrow for the most front camber i can get and 0 toe all around.  approx. 3/4" drop all around:


compared to stock height


my original goal for any aftermarket suspension when i got this car was to keep it within the realm of "OEM+", which is to say almost stock in appearance and drivability in daily use but a definite performance increase when pushed.  Honda offered a factory suspension kit when these cars were originally sold, through their HFP product line (Honda Factory Performance) which included other things like a sport muffler, body kit, etc.  i really wanted a set of those HFP springs.  the HFP kit is no longer sold, and hard to find, so this is my best aftermarket replication of the spring rates i wanted but with even better, modern Koni struts that will handle bumps great but also control the spring rate with ease.

stock spring rates: 200F / 230R
HFP spring rates: 215F / 270R
Tein H-Tech spring rates: 218F / 252R

so this is almost a replication of the HFP rates, and i can easily get more rear rotation with a bar to make up for the lack of rear rate if i really wanted to, but i think that won't be for a while as i keep learning the car.

installation was straightforward but lots of frustrating hang-ups.  the rear springs were tough to get in and out and the front struts ears were really tight on the hub so it was a lot of cursing and pry bar-ing to get the bolt holes lined up so i could get the camber bolts on.  and of course because the windshield is so cab-forward you have to remove the wipers and cowl trim to get at the front strut tops...probably the only car in the world you have to pull the wipers to change a strut. it took about 6 hours total.

mmmm, gold is prettyyyy




as you can see the progressive coils bind almost immediately at ride height so you're on the primary coils most of the time.  

a short test drive today and it feels great.  you can absolutely feel how much less the rear end wallows, which was to be expected from stock equipment at 92k miles.  large dips and bumps are handled with so much less drama than the stock suspension.  its weird...it feels supple under normal driving but any quick maneuvers and it hunkers down.  the STR.T valving lives up to the hype. i've been told they are about the same feel as a Koni Yellow on full soft.

can't wait to get the wheels straightened out and start seeing what this setup can do.

[.RJ]

Looking good! Dig the drop. Still dig that blue.

[Sijray21]

That height looks great! Looks really good. Makes me miss my Si and makes me want to get a suspension on my gti...

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What did you do with the old suspension? ;-)

[ScottyB]

^^ lol. that picture is never allowed to die.

the old struts got a swift slam dunk into the trash can but nothing that lives up to that epic hurl

[JPolen01]

Looking good!! Really love the 4 door Si.

[Goodspeed]

Such a nice, even drop with the perfect amount of wheel gap - good on Tein for nailing that application. Looks great! I loved the STR.T's on IS300 1.0, I'm sure they'll do you right for a long service life of bombing backroads and on-ramps.

[ScottyB]

thanks guys. still really happy with it as well if you can't tell.

Such a nice, even drop with the perfect amount of wheel gap - good on Tein for nailing that application.  Looks great!  I loved the STR.T's on IS300 1.0, I'm sure they'll do you right for a long service life of bombing backroads and on-ramps.

i think they did a great job too. i was less concerned about the drop than the spring rates but this was a really nice bonus. its as low as i want to be...i already can't get a jack under the front apron anymore, it has to drive up on 2x4's first. the l0W lYFe struggle is real, yo

i think the konis will be the key to making the whole setup work. i need more miles to feel it out but if its anything like i've been told, i could have even kept my stock springs and it still would have made a nice difference in handling.

[Jake]

Looks good! What spring rates did you end up with?

[V1GiLaNtE]

Looks good! What spring rates did you end up with?

stock spring rates: 200F / 230R
HFP spring rates: 215F / 270R
Tein H-Tech spring rates: 218F / 252R

[Jake]

Thanks, I can't read that early in the morning

Should be a nice upgrade and still ride well!

[Steve85]

That looks great and exactly the type of performance / livability I'm gunning for. 

It's funny looking at the spring rates between the OEM and the performance OEM. Pretty clear where the Honda engineers compromised more performance oriented behavior to be average joe street friendly.

[Beej]

Yeah man, that's like a perfect OEM+ drop.  Looks great!

Any concerns with having less travel if you take puppy rallying?

[ScottyB]

Any concerns with having less travel if you take puppy rallying?

not gonna lie - a little, even though i'm only about 3/4" lower.  it's REALLY course dependant though....some groups run on really smooth grass/gravel, other lots are pretty bumpy.  i'll need to play it by ear and run cautious my first time out at any site.  generally most groups do their best to keep the courses smooth and level because if you start breaking everyone's cars with gnarly jumps and terrain, the rallycross program will be dead before you even get halfway through the season.

low cars can work just fine though, and i'm not gonna let it stop me from continuing to try. 




if i hit bottom i'll consider putting the stock springs back on.  it's just hard reconciling how much i enjoy the car now, where i use it 99.9% of the time, to consider raising the car back up for a freak chance it'll bottom out in a dirt lot where i might drive a couple times a year for 5 minutes total.  that's the fun of using your daily for this stuff i guess?

[WRXtranceformed]

That ride height is PERFECT. Well played sir!

[ScottyB]

That ride height is PERFECT.  Well played sir!

That looks great and exactly the type of performance / livability I'm gunning for. 

It's funny looking at the spring rates between the OEM and the performance OEM. Pretty clear where the Honda engineers compromised more performance oriented behavior to be average joe street friendly.

thanks guys. i am not normally a Tein fan but these hit the mark for this platform.

i agree its fascinating to see the rates. they really want that back end to rotate! i've been really surprised at how much i can feel a difference of just 20 or 30 extra lbs/in in the spring rate. i always thought it would take 50 lbs/in or more to really feel but not the case. obviously spring rate doesn't directly equate to "wheel rate" but still.

[ScottyB]

alignment came out well, i'm glad i didn't go with double camber bolts up front and just one.  i think its dialed where it needs to be for an aggressive road/occasional track setup that doesn't kill the tires daily driving. this car gets more camber with just a bolt than i was able to get with a bolt AND offset top mounts in the 2.5RS. feels good man.

camber front left: -1.7
caster front left: 7.4

camber front right: -1.8
caster front right: 7.3

toe front: 0

camber rear left: -1.4
camber rear right: -1.9
toe rear: 0

i'm not thrilled about the right rear being .5 degree off but i doubt i'll notice.  if/when the day comes that i get some adjustable camber arms for the rear i'll even it out and calm my OCD jimmies for good.