[QUOTE=GAmedic;2301265]As for the RTA bushings, I am ordering the Energy Suspension pieces. I looked into them and since it will see occasional track use I wont need them.
[/QUOTE]
Careful with those. I’d do a bit more reading on those before your purchase. IMO, hard rubber (Mugen or Hardrace) or OEM is the way to go for a street car.
I am beginning to think this Energy Suspension kit was a waste. I am leaning more towards all factory bushings.
My buddy has the full ES kit (but Mugen RTAs) and he has zero complaints. No harsh squeaks or noises and the ride is stiff yet comfortable.
He has seen numerous track days and still has no ill words about them.
[QUOTE=unified112;2301348]My buddy has the full ES kit (but Mugen RTAs) and he has zero complaints. No harsh squeaks or noises and the ride is stiff yet comfortable.
He has seen numerous track days and still has no ill words about them.[/QUOTE]
I have the ES kit already so I will probably use it. The hardrace bushings are priced good so I will be ordering them.
LOL, not a complete waste. At least the LCA, etc bushings are good to use. My qualms are associated with the RTA bushings
[QUOTE=unified112;2301348]My buddy has the full ES kit (but Mugen RTAs) and he has zero complaints. No harsh squeaks or noises and the ride is stiff yet comfortable.
He has seen numerous track days and still has no ill words about them.[/QUOTE]
See he was smart and went with the Mugen RTA bushings, lol
Did the kit come with RTA bushings? (Never bought one before). Wish they had a Hardrace kit when I replaced mine with all OEM years back. That was definitely a nice chunk of change, but worth it for sure. But I used the Noltec (now Whiteline) polyester RTA bushings.
The kit didn’t come with the RTA bushings nor did it come with front sway bar bushings. I ordered the sway bar bushings separate and haven’t ordered the RTA bushings yet. I am going to order the Hardrace bushings soon. I am focusing more on ordering all the replacement parts needed since I had to scrap 90% of my rear suspension. I can always pull all the parts from my daily when I go to start my swap but having two rolling vehicles benefits me more. Since I am running a rear ASR brace with sway bar combo, I have to use factory rear lower control arms.
My biggest thing is with the knowledge of Innovative poly mounts being known to fail, I am considering all new OEM bushings. Of the whole ES master kit, I won’t be using half of it anyways. Some of the bushings that came with the kit is useless to me.
I too have no issues with the ES kit, I’m only concerned about the RTA bushings and partially the front UCA. I’ve heard good and bad about the ES RTA bushings and basically all of what I’ve heard has been theoretical and no hard evidence in either direction. But to me it didn’t seem worth the risk. The ES kit is a fantastic bargain and I think it should be a mandatory modification for anyone with a car that still has the original bushings and doesn’t have the money to replace them with OEM. I had the ES bushings for nearly 10yrs and have zero complaints about them. I have heard of them getting dry rot and that sorta thing but that wasn’t my experience. Could be weather dependent? Also the only ones I’ve seen that were damaged and/or rotted were red, I’ve never seen that with the black ones. I have hunch that either the black is a different compound which is more durable, or they were seeing longevity issues and changed both red and black compounds and that the only reason you only see red ones that are damaged is because originally they only made the red ones. I don’t know for sure though. What I do know is here’s what mine looked like when they were pulled out after around 7-10yrs and 100-150k miles. Maybe a little dry but no deformation and no damage that wasn’t caused by prying the out. I swapped them out in favor of a combination of Hardrace, OEM, and PCI.
I’d very confidently recommend ES bushings for all of your lower control arms, sway bars, and front crossmember. For the front UCA I’d go with OEM or Hardrace. For the rear LCA I’d get a camber kit. For the RTA’s I’d go OEM, Hardrace, or Mugen. That combo will hands down be your best compromise between price and quality. You could go for OEM or Hardrace for your LCA’s as well but I’d be willing to bet you couldn’t feel the difference.
And in regard to the ASR brace comment about oem LCA’s… where’d you hear that you can’t run aftermarket LCA’s? I have seen a multitude of people run aftermarket LCA’s with the ASR, including two really good friends of mine. With that said, if you’re going to get aftermarket rear LCA’s, beware that many of them are super shitty. Do your research and get the best of the best. I know a few of the brands were having the bushings completely trashed after only a year or two. Also, if you get them and ever have to tow your car you’ll need to direct the truck driver NOT to hook anything to the LCA’s. I’ve seen tow truck drivers bend people’s LCA’s without even realizing it. The aluminum ones are not designed to take a load in that direction.
One of the instruction papers that came with the brace said for use with factory LCAs so I was going on that. Looking at the paper now, it says “design for stock lower arm”
If I did buy aftermarket LCAs I would only buy Skunk2 or maybe Function7.
These are the ones I will be using. I replaced the front UCA bushings from the kit, replaced the Skunk2 ball joints and using the Buddy Club lowers.
I’m not a huge fan of the ES front UCA bushings. I never had them on my car but a car I bought from a friend had them. Not sure how old they were when I removed them (definitely not as old as the ones from my other car) but they were more deformed than any other ES bushing I’d seen from either of the two cars.
If you decide to get S2 LCAs, buy them from a reputable source. There are soooooo many fakes out there you’ll be kicking yourself when the bushings are toast in a year. F7s are a great option as well though.
I really like the new ASR LCA’s. The F7’s just look odd to me, they do seem to be quality though.
I am evaluating all options right now. As soon as I buy my DA sedan this car is becoming a track only car so whatever benefits me then is the route I am going.
Not much of an update other than the track build is put on the back burner until I straighten out some personal things. I did score a set of 16" 5Zigen FN01R-Cs for track use. Traded a set of blades straight for them. This is my daily AGP. My track AGP is in the garage.
Traded our Suburban and picked up this clean '96 Black Currant Pearl DB7 with automatic transmission for my wife. The suspension was shot to hell when we got it so I threw my Tein SuperStreet coilovers on it along with my SSR Formula Mesh wheels. Gotta get an alignment this weekend.
Incase anyone ever asks or is wondering, my Tein coilovers designed for my DA bolted right up but the rear coilover is a couple of inches taller than factory DC pieces. This was a spur of the moment decision last night and is only temporary.
Here is a shot of all three Integras in my family
^^ need more integras lol. nice looking tegs man.
Yeah man. I need my DA sedan but an EVO will do just fine.
jealous at the EVO8 and EVO9 you guys have in the US.
Dont you guys have the Skyline up there?
^^ are you talking about the new R35? yes we do have that. we also can import cars thats 15 years or older, so we do have the R32 and R33. but no EVO 8 or 9,but sometime an EVO 3 or 4 will pop up.
See, that’s a good difference there! Our import laws are for 25yrs and older for them to be legal.
Funny the differences in separate markets.