So a buddy is going to be running his Accent in autox this year, well at least once we get it put back together after his kid ran it into the back of someone. It's bone stock right now, an SE hatchback with the B&M shifter. He's planning to DD it, so this isn't going to be a dedicated build, or even anything close, but I know nothing of these cars, so I figured I'd see what the hive had to say about squeezing an extra tenth or two out of a mostly stock car.
Rear sway bar. 15x7.5 wheels and 205/50 whatever hot 200tw you like. Enjoy.
if you just do more you can do coilovers but they get a little harsh for dd use. Lowering springs like H&R's and Kyiv strut/shocks make a goo combo that rides well and handles well too. It's a light, short car. It'll turn and it has decent power for its size.
1/8" toe out will help initial turn in and feel. Crash bolts to get as much camber as you can will help tire life.
In reply to bobzilla :
Does it have a stock rear bar and just needs a bigger one, or is it just a matter of installing one in the first place? If they're not a stock item, where does one find such a thing? How bad is the install?
I had already thought about the alignment, but I hadn't considered crash bolts. I'll have to talk to him about that.
It's a rear beam so it sorta is/has one but adding one helps stiffen the rear and get the car to rotate a little more freely. Iirc ultra racing still Offers a 17mm bar. Worst case to install is drilling 4 holes in the spring pocket (had to do that on my first gen forte). Pull the bottom 19mm nut off the bottom of the shock on each side allows you to pull the rear springs out to give you all the room you need.
I will have some wheels coming up for sale this year as I'm making the leap to 16's. 35 oddest with the 7.5" wheel should put it flush with the fenders. Fills out the wheel wells a bit better.
In reply to bobzilla :
I will pass along the info and the possible opportunity for the wheels. Everything you've mentioned sounds like the sort of stuff he might be interested in. The timeframe will depend on how much it costs to get it put back together (it needs a hood, bumper, condenser, radiator, and a bunch of other stuff).
Keeping the stock springs will allow the car to stay in street class. Instead of buying coil overs, which would put it in a lot more competitive and expensive class (due to the greater amount of modifications allowed), keep the stock springs and buy some good shocks. Koni sports if they have an application for that car is the go-to.
Disconnecting one end of the front sway bar is an option, if he hasn't put a rear bar in it. Street class rules allow removal or replacement of one sway bar.
Good 200 treadwear tires make the most difference, as always. I also recommend some good brake pads, just doing the fronts alone may be sufficient. I have Carbotech AX6 pads on the front of my civic, and love them. The ralliart wagon is limited in available choices, it's got Stoptech sport pads on the front, and they're far better than parts store pads.
In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :
I can tell you the car will not be competitive in any class. Period. There are diddly squat for shock/strut options available for this platform. I believe there's only 2-3 options for coilovers iirc. It's going to slot into HS for street, STS for street touring and way out there for more. Engine can't make enough power for mod and prod classes. Cars too heavy for STS and there are too many better platforms competing in HS.
this would be a car you build to your tastes and go have fun with it. Not trying to squash anyone's dreams here just being honest. Then again no one but me starts with a Korean car to try and be competitive at anything because most people are smarter than me.
now, if your friend has any interest in time trial type stuff this car is a perfect fit for Sundae Cup at any gridlife event. To the point I was initially looking for one cheap enough I could make a racecar only. Gearing and power wise it's perfect for it and to top it off it'd be the first crooked h in sundae cup.
For clarity, there is zero thought of being competitive. This is purely an exercise in entertainment, plus a little side project of getting the car up and running, and maybe a little better by the end of the season. For the near-term at least, it's not going to get built beyond slight tweaks, as it stills needs to be streetable - he wants to daily it, at least for a while.
I looked at Ultra Racing, and it seems they no longer offer a rear sway bar, so either he'll have to try to find a used one, try it with the front disconnected, or rig something up (it's a beam axle - how hard can it be?). I think the first steps for right now are going to be toe and crash bolts for camber.
On a related note, are there any similarly cheap and easy things to do on the power side of things? The car was tuned up and the timing belt done shortly before his kid wrecked it, so the basics have been done already.
In reply to 02Pilot :
Don't let that discourage you. I've been pretty successful in local events in H Street driving non competitive cars. My civic is not an SI, but it's pretty good on a tight course. Recently however, I took it to south Motorsports Park, a large venue with fast courses, where two good drivers in an 8th generation SI wiped the floor with me.
I also have a collection of trophies from driving my ralliart wagon, with zero mods except a disconnected front sway bar, and I've never had 200 TW tires on the car.
In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :
Oh, it doesn't discourage me. I've really got very little skin in the game; I'm just helping with the build.
I ran my 2002 in autox for eight years, and because of the way it was set up, it got classed in EP. I built it as a street car, and while it was great fun, it was never competitive in class. When I attended the BMW event at the factory back in 2002, they ran a 2002-only, but otherwise unclassed, autox - there, I got FTD.
In reply to 02Pilot :
Power wise not much. This era hyundai used cam timing to meet ulev emissions. Rather than add a finicky problem prone egr system they use a lip of of cam overlap to meet emissions. It's brilliant really. One less system to go bad etc. the down side is the normal mods (intake, header and exhaust) you don't gain a whole lot. Maybe 5-10hp and you end up with a loud buzzy car.
You can pull the resonator and open the inlet hole a little and have a little noise under throttle but it doesn't do a whole lot.
Quaiffe sells a helical limited slip, for about $2000CDN - almost half what I paid for my entire Accent. The car desperately needs one, but I can't justify dropping that kind of coin on, really, any cheap commuter. There is an ebay seller out of Russia that has a really coarse-machined helical diff for a lot less, but it appears to have a 5+ year wait on orders, and I'm not confidence inspired by the pictures.
I fabricated a rear sway bar (Look for SkinnyG's "Angry Accent" in Projects), which has made the car wonderfully fun on the street.
It's a wonderfully fun little commuter. Painfully slow though.
In reply to bobzilla :
Fair enough. We're not chasing anything, really, so knowing there's little to be gained just makes it easier to leave it alone.
In reply to SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) :
Oh, that's a dangerous thread. Lacking a bender like that, I imagine making a sway bar would be a much less professional-looking operation.
Want to sell the old 3/4" bar?
You could make arms from angle iron, then drill an X" hole for a through-mount of X" bar (probably about 40" long?), and weld. If you can weld.
Alternatively, a piece of 3/16" or 1/4" plate steel wide enough to clear the axle "U" width, and attach with muffler clamps should do. Drill a series of holes so you can clamp the bar farther and farther to the ends to adjust for more "bar"
In reply to SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) :
I've been meaning to ask if your car was a "Blue"? Those were the fuel efficient model with really long gears. Made a slow car slower.
In reply to SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) :
Now that you mention it, I've seen bars built the way you describe. I can weld. Well, I own a welder and I know how to turn it on - does that count? That's probably the method we'll try first.
In reply to 02Pilot :
Do you own a grinder? If so you're a great welder.
When doing the upgrades, might want to do all the bushings at the same time. Wider and sticker tires will wear out the bushings even faster and if they've never been done, they're probably close to end of life, anyway. Not sure if you can find poly's for it, but I bet some window weld goo might still stiffen it up and make the handling crisper.
-Rob
In reply to bobzilla :
I have a grinder and I'm not afraid to use it. I probably should be, but I'm not.
In reply to rob_lewis :
That's a good thought. We haven't really looked at the suspension yet, but I'll check it out once we have it back together.
For the morbidly curious, this is the state of the car today after we installed most of the necessary bits. Sadly, the local yards didn't have a car in the same color to harvest panels from, but this is good enough for now. Still waiting on a few small things, but it runs and drives just fine.
I like it.
I like it but I have to be "that guy". That's not an SE. SE had 16" aluinum wheels, body colored mirrors, different shocks/struts.
In reply to bobzilla :
Ah, got it. The car does have the fancy gas filler cap and, we believe, the B&M shifter. Were these available as options on the base model?
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