I've been on the RSX forums (or at least viewed them), and I must admit, I'm irritated with all the kids that have put body-kits as thier utmost priority. Not to mention all the kids that seem to obtain all their parts (stereos, wheels, etc) by stealing them from someone else.

I'm trying to do the RSX tastefully, without overdoing it. I'm trying to do it as Acura would have done it, but didn't.

So far, I've installed a VERY nice stereo, but haven't overkilled it with gigantic speakers and amps.

I bought a nice set of 18 inch wheels/tires, with the hopes that they would "match" the car, not draw all the attention to only the wheels.

And Last night I installed an Acura factory A-Spec rear spoiler. Again... I think it looks much nicer than one of those gigantic aluminum rear wings.

QUESTION: My next project is to install 1.5 inch drop springs on all 4 corners. Enough to give it an aggressive stance, but not make it look like a low-rider. I've done some research on this, and from what I understand, replacing the springs is all I need to do. No alignments, no camber adjustments (unless you drop more than 2.5 inches). Is this true?

Also, this will be the first time I've done springs. Is it tough, or is it something I can just look at, and with a little time and patience, just do?

Any special tools I should get before I start?

Thanks for the help!!!!

Pic taken this morning:

Should be a rather easy mod. Just need some spring compressors, that's the only special tool needed. You will need to realign the car though...always a good idea to do that when you are going to have everything apart. A 1-1.5" drop would make that car look nice. I watched the Mugen RSX buildup on Sportscar revolution, they did a nice job on it, got all the power they lost from the big brake and wheels they put on it. Good luck.

Even before I finished your post I thought, "man, that needs to be lowered!"

You will want to replace the shocks as well. Stock shocks, with performance springs, will degrade quickly. Your best and safest bet is to purchase a complete set of shocks/springs. Yeah, it will cost more than just springs but it will last longer and perform better. In the VW world H&R does a great job. You may want to look into adjustable coil-overs as these will allow you to adjust your ride height should you determine 1.5" isn't enough OR if it's too much

Please, please please do not put those clear tail light lenses (Altezza-style) on the car! They are sooooo over-played and only look good on certain cars with certain paint. Also, they are normally quite dim on light output.

I hope you put good, sticky rubber on the tires and the wheels are appropriately plus-sized so you won't have speedometer/odometer errors.

BTW, the rims look good on the car.

After you lower the ride you MAY find your mudflaps scraping more often. Mine got to the point of driving me crazy whenever I had passengers that I removed mine. Them: "Hey, what was that scraping noise! That didn't sound good." Me: "For the last time, those were my MUDFLAPS. Nothing is damaged except my patience"


Site admin note:
THANK YOU for removing the options after a post SUBMIT! I like that it returns to the bottom of the thread with the post!

Air cooled nut,

Yes, coil-overs would be nice... but we're talking over $700 for a set, as opposed to $100 for a decent set of springs.

I will look into a performance set of shocks though. Never really researched that. No one ever told me I needed to do it, and I figured with only 27K miles, it wouldn't need them.

I'm looking now though.

Do you really think the mudflaps are going to cause a problem with only a 1.5 inch drop? I would think I'd have to go pretty low for the muflaps to really be an issue.

Yes, I went with an appropriately sized tire on the car. The total height of the wheel/tire combo is the exact same as stock. The tires are a 225/40 ZR18, Kumho Ecsta tires. They work quite well I think.

As for the headlights and tailights, I've looked into the JDM Type R lights (they are plain black, non-reflective). They look stock, but with a slightly aggressive look.... I don't like the "bling-bling" look of the Altezza lights either.

Either way, they are not on my list of priorities at all.

After I lower it, I'm looking into a short-ram intake, and a high-flow cat back exhaust. After that, a good tint job. After that, MAYBE a JDM Type-R front lip spoiler. After that, I'm done. Anything else I think would be tasteless, and actually detract from the car

When doing intake/exhaust mods be sure to check all sources. Make sure the intake comes from a cold air source, not just underhood, that'll be hot and have a negative effect (aside from the increased sound making you think it's faster). Exhaust, if you can afford it go with a 4-2-1 header, highflow cat and catback...no bottlenecks in that setup.

FWIW - I would kill to have a $700 coilover setup, for my Audi $1400 is about the cheapest good set of coilovers you can get I agree upgrading the shocks too is a must...don't want that ghetto pogo feel/look while driving down the street. Best of luck

No offense, but I think the wing needs to go. Cars always look better with out a raised spoiler(race cars are an exception) and I think that street front wheel drive cars should never any sort of rear spoiler, but hey its your car so do what you feel is best.

Also, why dont you spend the money on your 914. They can always take more upgrades.

Why not do some real performance mods? That warm air intake won't help much. I would buy a turbo kit (well I would put it together myself) and use Hondata k-series engine management. Some light weight 17s would be my choice.

Tein coil-overs
t3/t04r
tial wastegate
tial blowoff valve
pwr liquid to air IC
Fab the piping
lovefab or full-race exhaust mani
wabro 255 lph HP intank pump
720 cc injectors
2 step colder plugs
etc etc.
Tune it myself on hondata...

but would it pass smog?????

If it's like the older hondas you could trick them, reset the computer to make it look like the car is running in perfect tune. Only works if they hook your car up to check for emissions though...not sure how it works in CA.

Remember, you get what you pay for! Unless these are reputable springs and you are getting an unbelieveable deal... Seriously, save up for a complete package, it's worth it in the end.

The factory shocks are matched to the factory springs and it DOES make a difference when you start swapping things around.

The mudflaps may or may not cause you issues. I think the VW ones I had were longer. Just wait and see.



I have the same tires, love 'em. Especially in the Oregon wet <_<



Upgrading the intake/exhaust system will help. Remember, it's only as good as the smallest opening. The 4-2-1 exhaust header is a good suggestion (I'm getting a ceramic-coated one installed next week on my Jetta) along with the [larger diameter] cat-back exhaust. I went with a stainless steel MagnaFlow and it rocks! VW cats flow really well so mine doesn't need replacing to a performance unit. If I went forced induction then maybe so.

As to the suggestions about engine mod performance, if you don't want to dump a lot of money and time into the engine (forced induction) then after the intake/exhaust put in some lumpier cams (I got those going into my Jetta as well in a couple weeks) Oh, above all, the first engine mod should be an after-market chip (ECU upgrade). I don't know diddly about Asian cars but for VW's (and Audi') you can get CARB-approved chips to bump up performance...and you will notice the difference! My Jetta came to life (Neuspeed P-Chip for ODB-I, C.A.R.B.) as did my girlfriend's 1.8T Passat (with Tiptronic chip ) -- WOW! what a difference

Oh, and as I tell all of the dubbers on the VW Vortex, use nothing but pure synthetic oil for the engine and tranny (see owner's manual for the proper weight range for your climate). You will increase drive-train life, reduce friction, get a slight increase in gas mileage (as much as 3mpg) and horse-power (I gained 5hp in my Jetta). You can double to triple the oil change intervals because synthetic oil doesn't break down like conventional so it lasts longer -- for turbo'd cars, using synthetic is a no-brainer. More here!



Riiiiight...that's what we all say

Passing smog depends on which state. I am pretty sure there is a carb approved kit (I won't do the research for you). The hondata ecu is a modified stock one that is user tunable which means it retains the imobolizer and all obd sensors (so when they plug up at the smog station no one will be the wiser)

The car will not pollute more with a proper tune. Last I checked they don't sniff at WOT anyway. If you make your own kit, the most you have to worry about is visual. And in most states you pass anyway. BTW, I hope you get a CARB approved warm air intake that will cause you to fail too.

For the price of cams I could put together a "junkyard turbo kit" making ~250whp. If you want cheap power turbo is the only way to go. If you want to build it all motor I hope you have a huge bank account and will be happy never even coming to making the kind of power a turbo car makes.

BTW, you won't pass with cams either and you still need to tune the car with cams too. In the end you could have gotten a turbo and made some real power.

If you are set on all motor I would get a k24 bottom end from a crv and bolt the rsx type s head to it. Then you will have a 2.4 liter I-VTEC engine.

A "performance" chip lol. I wouldn't even touch those. Invest in something that you can tune yourself. That chip will prob be a generic timing advance and not setup for your setup. Every engine is different and requires its own tune. Chips are a waste of money IMO.

Most states that have emissions testing accept or require CARB approval on all engine upgrades. State smog weenies are now training the Highway patrols to look under the hoods on modified cars to see if there are adjustable fuel rails, cam timimg, yada yada yada....they issue a referee citation that sends them to the smog weenies that then certify the modifactions as being illegal.

You then can drive the car home, park it, fix and drive back.....any more mileage than what is expected gives you another "Hey Stoopid" ticket......

Unapproved mods on new cars are not a good idea.....

My Vortech blower on the Dodge has a CARB approval, and the check for the purchase was not signed until I got a smog check and it passed....

Holy crap...you are so incredibly wrong that I'm laughing out loud! Quality chips are set up for each specific engine and I know for a fact the GIAC can be tuned to changes made beyond stock (cams, turbo, nitrous, etc.) so I'm quite positive there are other manufacturers who do the same. A chip is almost a mandatory first investment in a modern car, at least for those who want all-motor.

I would agree that chips work very well on cars that have turbo's or superchargers. My 2002 A4 1.8 T jumped from 166 ft/lbs of torque to 246 ft/lbs of torque with GIAC chip. 170 HP to about 210 HP. 0-60 runs the car plants me in the seat. Chip made a huge difference with the little 1.8 turbo. That was the best $500 I have ever spent on a car.

Chips on normally aspirated cars usually offer much less impressive results from my exprience. I would bet improvements on RSX from a chip would be minimal, but I could be wrong.

I thought we were talking about the RSX? Yeah lets bring other cars into this

MOST chips for na cars are a generic timing advance. There are some with altered fuel maps.
They ARE ALL overpriced and not worth it IMO. There are some too that you can "tell" the manufacturer your setup. lol That is no better than a basemap.

EVERY engine (including ones of the same type are different) and REQUIRE a custom tune specific to it to achieve peak performance.

Someone mentioned factory turbo cars and chips for them. Though unrelated to this discussion I will touch on that too. You see big gains on chipped factory turbo cars because the chips up the boost. If you are the kind of guy that is happy not being able to extract peak power and don't know how to tune your own car, sure buy one. You will get a good amount of power with just the chip. This is most evident on the late model 911 turbos.

However in an rsx you won't even come close to justifying the cost. You need to ask yourself "what if I change my setup? What if I decide to spray? Will my chip manufacture reburn it for my changes? Will my nitrous setup like this aggressive timing?"

If you want a "chip" get the best for your car Hondata reflash. But if you are serious about power you will get the Programmable ECU and learn how to tune.

Air_Cooled_Nut laugh at me all you want, I can see how much EFI tuning experience you have. I on the other hand I have my own wideband and have tuned several setups including my own b16 setup on uberdata. I have socketed my ecus myself and reflashed their roms. I have built, installed and tuned megasquirtNedis. I have converted a distubutor car to edis. I guess you find that funny. It is okay I think it is funny how you "tune" your carbs until "it sounds right" lol what a joke.

I don't tune my carbs strictly by ear and never have so I don't know where you got that "info", plus I much prefer fuel injection over carbs anyway. Spout all the experience you think you have, I still say you're wrong Later, kiddo

we need a ricer fight smiley

I will stay out of this....done with imports...

Um....... yea.

It's been 2 days since I looked at this post, and it got WAY past anything I expected (or wanted).

The RSX is my family vehicle. I have an 8 year old daughter.

The 914 is my playtoy.

I have no intentions of racing either of them. I appreciate both cars just the way they are. If I weren't happy with the teener, I'd continue modifying it. But it runs great, doesn't break, and I'm happy with it. I'd like to see the RSX with a few nice mods, that will still keep it a daily driver, with good gas mileage, and no constant upkeep.

I bought the spoiler for the Acura because of the way it looks. It's the same spoiler they put on the new RSX A-spec cars. It looks nice, so I bought it. Not because I want to ensure I have enough downforce on the rear end, blazing down the road at 180 mph.

Turbos? Nitrous? Cams? I'm a SSgt (E-5) in the USAF, and a single parent.... maybe after I win the lottery--LOL

Thanks though, this is just more that I'm looking for right now

You can "say" what ever you want.
Have you ever pulled the rom off a chip?
Have you ever read the RAW HEX, looking at the fuel and timing tables?
Have you ever compared stock fuel and timing maps with an aftermarket chip? (and I don't mean the BS the manufacturer spouts, I mean data that is actually on the chip)
Have you ever chipped your own ecu?
Have you ever tuned a car with a standalone?
Do you even own a wideband or an eprom burner? Do you know what they are?
Why don't you go on honda-tech.com and search for my user name devnull. You might learn something.

Here is a little ghetto setup for my brothers car:
megasquirtNedis
It is a 1.8l 16v converted from CIS to standalone fuel injection. Cheap too.
Visit pgmfi to update your obsolete opinions.
Visit http://www.ecimulti.org/uberdata/ and learn something about ecu reprogramming and modifying.

I don't open my mouth unless I am sure I know what I am talking about and have experience on the subject. My goal is to learn and educate. Sorry for trying to help you out. You can stay ignorant for all I care.

BTW, there is no need to get childish "kiddo". I don't see why you felt the need to resort to name calling because you are wrong. I thought the point here was to learn and share information - maybe I missed something.