Sports Suspension/Exhaust

[D-Mac]

When I bought my car it had things listed such as...

Sports Suspension/Air Intake/Exhaust and other things like it being lowered...

At the time I wasn't really interested in the mods as I really just wanted a good looking car, but now that i'm learning more about it i'm getting more interested. I know that the air intake is just the pod filter, but whats this 'sports suspension'? How can I find out? Where do I look and so on? Also the exhaust, anything special I can find out from it by looking at it?


Cheers...

[mugeneration]

suspension is what cushions your ride from the bumps in the road. Sports suspension usually means one of two things. That the new suspension is just makes the car lower, or theyve changed the rigidity of the suspension (made it either softer or harder). Theres a sticky in this very forum which explains all these kinds of things to you.

You cant really see your suspension unless your car is up on a jack or something, as theyre sorta underneath the car behind the wheels. They could have put new springs in, or coilovers or both. In both cases, as simbadda54 says below, look for the colouring as on stock gsi's the stock springs and coilovers are black (correct me if im wrong).

As for the exhaust, itll be much easier to see if your car is up on a jack or something as well. Some people say a rear muffler constitutes a sports exhaust so be careful. Have a look at the piping on the exhaust and look at how thick it is in diameter. Depending on your car a sports exhaust system should be around 2 and a half inches (in general). Also, open your bonnet and have a look on the side of your engine (on different cars they can be in different locations, depending on the orientation of the engine). You should be able to see some pipes coming out which eventually join into one, then go onto your exhaust pipe. These are your 'headers'. If these are old and rusted, chances are theyre stock. There may also be a metal plate (heat shield) on top of these pipes, so it may be hard to see. Upgraded headers provide better air flow, and there are various types of these as well. A good referemce is this sticky:
http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41413


hope that helps

[simbadda54]

look for coloured spring

[D-Mac]

suspension is what cushions your ride from the bumps in the road. Sports suspension usually means one of two things. That the new suspension is just makes the car lower, or theyve changed the rigidity of the suspension (made it either softer or harder). Theres a sticky in this very forum which explains all these kinds of things to you.

You cant really see your suspension unless your car is up on a jack or something, as theyre sorta underneath the car behind the wheels. They could have put new springs in, or coilovers or both. In both cases, as simbadda54 says below, look for the colouring as on stock gsi's the stock springs and coilovers are black (correct me if im wrong).

As for the exhaust, itll be much easier to see if your car is up on a jack or something as well. Some people say a rear muffler constitutes a sports exhaust so be careful. Have a look at the piping on the exhaust and look at how thick it is in diameter. Depending on your car a sports exhaust system should be around 2 and a half inches (in general). Also, open your bonnet and have a look on the side of your engine (on different cars they can be in different locations, depending on the orientation of the engine). You should be able to see some pipes coming out which eventually join into one, then go onto your exhaust pipe. These are your 'headers'. If these are old and rusted, chances are theyre stock. There may also be a metal plate (heat shield) on top of these pipes, so it may be hard to see. Upgraded headers provide better air flow, and there are various types of these as well. A good referemce is this sticky:
http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41413


hope that helps

Thanks, i'll have a look, however if I put a picture of whats under my bonnet would you be able to tell? To be honest I don't really know what headers and that are either lol...

[mugeneration]

Thats a picture of a honda engine. You can see the silver things at the front, theyre the headers. There may be a metal plate over the top of them (the heat shield)

http://www.streetsports.com/photo/vehicle/honda-acura/civicfullybuilt/images/JUN%20header.jpg

Im not sure whether or not they put the heat shield back on when you upgrade them or not, but if you havnt got a heat shield on there then they have probably upgraded them as well. Here's a picture of an example of what a header itself looks like (remember there are different kinds). The end with the four holes is the end which goes to your engine, the single end is the one that goes to your exhaust pipe. To get a little bit more technical (so dont worry if you dont understand) These are whats called 4-1 headers, as the four pipes join to one large pipe at the same spot. Its also possible to get 4-2-1 headers, where 2 pipes join before joining the others into the big pipe. Being a 4 cylinder car, you wont have 2 of these (as shown in the picture below), only one. The picture below shows some headers off of a v8.

http://www.melroset-tops.com/Headers02.jpg

[integral90]

You see, the word 'Sports' in modifications of cars isn't a definite Yes or No. To most people a 'Sports whatever' is simply something they have modified. So your sports exhaust could be as simple as a muffler, and your sport suspension as simple as cut coils.

If you're really as clueless as you say you are about these things, take it to some shops and get them to check for you, or get in the right places and take some pics for us and we will be able to tell you what's been done.

[quangsta]

assuming ur a stock gsi

in stock form
u should be riding at about 160mm -+10mm (measure from ground to car)
or
about 50mm -+10mm (tyres to wheel arch)

looking for aftermarket gear
turn ur front wheel full lock either way and look behind the wheel...or take or ur wheel and look for something like below
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y77/quanglez/c7dfa1ed.jpg
pic of aftermarket springs on stock shocks


http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y77/quanglez/normal_front9b.jpg
pics of koni shocks vs stock shocks

edit: hope trav doesnt mind me using his pics :wave: and u can thank him for supplying them if he doesnt mind :p

[D-Mac]

Yeah I might have to have it checked out at a shop, either way here's a pic of my engine, dunno if it helps or not...

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i79/D-Mac22/My%201994%20Honda%20Integra%20GSI/Original%20Photos/Performance/Centre.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i79/D-Mac22/My%201994%20Honda%20Integra%20GSI/Original%20Photos/Performance/Right.jpg

[Zdster]

The first picture is not working for me, however it does seem as though there is a 'sports' air intake (ie a pod filter). The headers do not look as though they have been fiddled with. Take a picture of the rear of the car as it might just have a different muffler/exhaust tip (and that might be a 'sports' exhaust).

As mugeneration stated, check out the sticky at the top to start with and then come back with some more questions.


P.S. Plus PQ points to everyone who was helpful ;).

[mugeneration]

Also an 'under car' pic would be good. Just get down behind your car and lie on the ground and take a photo of the bottom of your car, trying to get as much detail about the exhaust pipe and muffler in as possible.

[kerim]

with the suspension, the car might even be lowered but when you look at the springs they will look like the original springs, however there might be a good chance of them also being reset/compressed, as some people just do that instead of changing the actual springs to say King Springs,
hope this helps out with your mission

thanks
kerim

[T-onedc2]

D-Mac if like I'd be prepared to meet you somewhere sometime and have a look at it all for you, I'm in the Northern suburbs though.

[D-Mac]

Hey, here's pics of the exhaust...
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i79/D-Mac22/My%201994%20Honda%20Integra%20GSI/Original%20Photos/Performance/KIF_1460.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i79/D-Mac22/My%201994%20Honda%20Integra%20GSI/Original%20Photos/Performance/KIF_1461.jpg

I also re upped pics of the engine and finally as for it be lowered, the previous owner said it was on King Springs, but then again can't be 100% Sure...

[kerim]

if the springs are yellow there is a 95-100% chance that they are king springs

[D-Mac]

D-Mac if like I'd be prepared to meet you somewhere sometime and have a look at it all for you, I'm in the Northern suburbs though.

Oh yeah that'd be cool, but I can't get there lmao, maybe in a couple months and I still don't know :o

[tRipitaka]

that exhaust looks stock..
or even if it isn't, it's just the tip that has been changed.

[T-onedc2]

That rear muffler is stock man, got any pics of the whole car and we can see if it's been lowered?

[mugeneration]

that exhaust looks stock..
or even if it isn't, it's just the tip that has been changed.

Agreed. But thats not to say the piping hasnt been done. Try get a pic of that for us if you can. From memory i think i still have my stock muffler, but i got a hotdog and bigger piping done. Too scared to do headers coz i love the exhaust note how it is!

[tRipitaka]

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a203/Clutchmedia/My%20Integra/AngleLow.jpg

looks like stock height to me..
either stock suspension, or new springs/shock combination at the same height as stock

[T-onedc2]

Nah that's definitely lower than stock by a good inch or so. Remember 17's with stock suspension make it look like a 4WD.

[D-Mac]

Yeah thats just a muffler tip on there that my Dad put on, according to the seller he said there was just a sports exhaust except just a stock muffler because he didn't want it to make too much sound in the neighbourhood he was in.

[quangsta]

looking at the pics....definately stock muffler possibly just a chromed tip....definately stock header there im assuming b-pipe (mid pipe) would be stock too....and you have some sort of lowering springs by my guess but could be anything but like t-onedc2 said aint stock...

[D-Mac]

looking at the pics....definately stock muffler possibly just a chromed tip....definately stock header there im assuming b-pipe (mid pipe) would be stock too....and you have some sort of lowering springs by my guess but could be anything but like t-onedc2 said aint stock...

Yeah there's just a stock muffler on there, I know that and theres a chrome tip on there that my dad put on. However when I bought it he said that the exhaust was modded but had a stock muffler...

[roar]

well, try to get your body under the car and take some pictures of the exhaust piping....

[dan_lee]

well, try to get your body under the car and take some pictures of the exhaust piping....

wouldn't recommend getting under the car if u only have a standard jack tho. try and find something more secure.