No no no no no. no civics. Could you really live with yourself, knowing that your microwave had more torque than your car? No. I thought as much.
how far do you want to go mate? how much do you want to spend?
if you want a decent quick fix, that will work, raise it up 10mm, just a fraction, and buy a set of Eibach ARB's, £260 for a full set.
the front ARB will stiffen things up a tad, and the larger hoops will ensure that it never rubs on the driveshaft again. use standard droplinks, forget all this bull about adjustable ones of varying lengths. Standard metal drop links with a decent bar is all you need.
The rear Bar will totally transform the car, it'll no longer be a sloppy understeering boat, but instead, will be nice and neutral, and actually get round a corner without feeling like you're killing it.
On my daily i run cheap ebay coilovers, and a set of eibach ARB's, and it handles just great. The cheap ebay coilovers don't get as much credit as they deserve really, they're not the best, obviously, but for an every day car, they do just fine.
So long as all your bushes are in good condition, you can't go wrong with the coilovers you've got and a set of decent ARB's, it's the ARB's that make such a different on the FWD chassis. Without them, frankly, they're all utter ****e to drive. ARB's are a revalation.
Also, don't settle for anything less than a 25mm rear bar, the eibach kit should be 22mm front and 25mm rear, this is perfect on an A3.
I've run this setup on both my A3's in the past, and done several trackdays and laps of the ring with it, and it's been brilliant for me.
if you want to spend some more money, and go all out, then ignore all the above!
On my track car, I've converted to a full LCR front end setup, and it's amazing.
I'm using:
LCR cast wishbones
LCR hub carriers
LCR steering rack and control arms
LCR top mounts
LCR Weitec Hicon GT coilovers
LCR (eibach) 22mm adjustable ARB
LCR drop links
and the difference is amazing!
LCR cast wishbones are longer than the A3 ones, and are a different shape pushing the bottom of the strut forwards, increasing castor and camber loads.
LCR hubs are longer in the lower section between the hub and the lower ball joint, this lowers the wishbone, in turn making it sit much more flat, correcting the roll centre. (look at your wishbones now when parked up, I bet they point up at stupid angles)
The LCR steering rack is a quick rack, with 2.7 turns lock to lock compared to 3.5 of the A3 rack. Much more responsive, and a bit heavier feel too, which is nice.
LCR track control arms mount to the LCR hubs on the underside of the steering arm, compared to A3 control arms/hubs which mount above the steering arm. this has the effect of keeping the control arms flatter when the car is lowered, reducing bump steer.
LCR top mounts are just loads stiffer than A3 ones, firming things up a treat.
The LCR coilovers, are just the same as an A3 coilover, but they have a Tab on the coilover body to allow you to run the LCR drop links and ARB.
the LCR arb, just like the TT/S3/R32 one goes under the driveshaft, so you never need to worry about it rubbing ever again. I've gone for a 22mm eibach adjustable one, in LCR/TT fitment.
then finally the droplinks to make it all work. these are about 12'' long, and go from the ARB under the driveshaft, up to the Tab on the coilover.
All this kit makes the car so much sharper to drive, turn in is way sharper, and there's actually loads of feedback through the steering for a change.
To compliment all that, I've also got a Neuspeed 32mm Race adjustable rear ARB too, although you can't buy the 32mm bars anymore. they still do a 28mm bar though, which is equally brilliant! much like the eibachs on the daily, the bigger rear ARB really changes the balance of the car. with the 32mm bar, it's really quite extreme. i now get NO understeer what so ever, the turn in is incredibly sharp, and the car is totally predictable, it is however, very tail happy, so you need to keep your wits about you when pressing on.
If you wernt in tartan land I'd suggest you pop over and I could take you out in each car, and see what you thought of them, but i guess that's not going to happen as you're a million miles away!
