How To Modify And Tune Your First Car - Article

[aklackner]

Saw this article the other day an it seemed like a great answer to the "what should I do" questions we've all seen pretty often, so I thought I'd share:
https://carbuzz.com/features/how-to-mod ... -first-car

My general takeaways:

1. Do maintenance and bushings
2. Drive a lot and get to know the car
3. Quality rubber
4. Brake pads
5. Basic suspension
6. Custom alignment
7. Tune ARBs
8. Adjustable suspension

[aw614]

The key to modifying and tuning a car is to drive it stock for a while first so you know exactly how it grips and handles. Then you can change just one thing at a time and feel the difference to make sure its what you are looking for. Vehicle dynamics is a hefty subject that people spend a lifetime studying, so be patient and don’t be afraid to seek out professionals to do suspension and alignment work.

Biggest mistake I see people do all the time, hell I was talking to a guy at a local event and he went all out on his brand new 2019 car after only a few events to improve the feel even though it was a more than capable modern fwd hot hatch

I kept thinking to myself, these are the parts I'd put into my other non integra psudo DD make it where I know it would perform competitively locally.. Even then some of those parts are overkill for me as it is. He significantly raised the limits of the car compared to stock form. It would have been a great car to start off with and grow into doing one class legal mod at the time, now he's stuck in a crazy local modified class that is ultra competitive

[aklackner]

He significantly raised the limits of the car compared to stock form. It would have been a great car to start off with and grow into doing one class legal mod at the time, now he's stuck in a crazy local modified class that is ultra competitive

I have to say if I was starting from scratch with a car (and not old) I'd have to (re)think about how to approach track prep. It's very easy to get caught up in best of breed (spending habit) thinking and over build the (in my case an inexperienced, better reader than driver) driver and make classification on the track problematic.

Fortunately (I'm old and) I can accept I'll never be competitive so all my project really amounts to is somewhere between a total waste of time and a show car. Cool guy ish LOL

[coolhandluke]

There are good lessons for those getting started, say, with a new base like a FK8.

I learned long ago from those wiser than me, to look at the car as a "package." IE, don't lego-build your car, one block at a time, building a mismatched setup. Instead, coordinate components for compound gains.

Everyone has a different style, approach, budget etc., but that approach crosses all verticals. Plans change too.

[Gotin]

The greatest feedback I have experienced with the ITR was removing the OTS used coilovers for a set of low mileage stock JDM spring/strut. This, paired with new OEM rubber bushings, for me is the perfect starting point to learn how to drive this car correctly. Further agreeing with the article, having the ecu tune does change the feel of the car for the better.

On the other hand...

I have also replaced perfectly functioning bolt-on parts for themed parts (mugen), just because. There is a fine line between what we want and what we need to really get the best experience out of these cars.

[coolhandluke]

Replacing OEM bushings on these ~19-22yo cars is an excellent step. I consider it maintenance. Shortly after I purchased 97 #00171 was I replaced all the rubber bushings. This was after the backend was wonky on-track. That created a baseline to for further improvements.