2006 Acura CSX Premium - Looking for Upgrade/Mod Help/Suggestions
 

Hi, brand new to the forum and I just bought my first CSX today and I've been lurking for a while and so here I am, asking you guys for some help/suggestions on what you'd do if you had a completely stock 2006 CSX and a budget of say, $2500 to do whatever you wanted to it...

thanks in advance..

:edit:

Sadly my CSX died. looking for a new CSX but I don't think I'll get one for the Song I got my last one for. But I'm looking in the low $12k's for one.

Don't do any short ram intakes, this particular motor isn't friendly with them.

I would do coil overs, camber kits, decently wide rims, and rolling the fenders.

do what i did to my civic....

coils
oem lip kit
nice big wheels

keep it clean

thanks guys, any specific rec's for the coils?

i have skunk2 pro-s2, its alil stiff but i was looking to dump my car for cheap, go to G5 and get yourself some H&R i had them on my other car and they ride nice.

Check out csxdriver.ca you can get more ideas on there.
I'd suggest lip kit/ front grill / new rims / and have it lowered.

I have a 11 csx with minimal mods - hfp suspension kit / vinyl roof and fogs / debadged / throttle controller / voltage stabilizer / k&n drop in filter

I'm not familiar with G5 and my google-fu is not that great, do you have a link? Actually any links you have would be great, appreciate the help!





How do you like the HFP kit? oh, and where do you get your work done on it, or do you do it yourself? thanks, I like the vinyl roof idea, how do you go about debadging is it easy to do yourself?

thanks, appreciate it, this site looks awesome!

Try taking a look at Tein Basics, ride is pretty smooth, not stiff and bouncy.

Debadging is easy, all you need is some floss and you're good to go. Just slide the floss in between the car and the emblem, and then either get some goo gone for the residue left behind or just rub it off with your fingers if you can.

For coils I would say try to stay away from skunk 2 pro s2 if you don't like harsh rides, they ride like shit and have a common squeaking problem. I've heard that KW coils ride pretty comfortably and aren't too expensive, might wanna check those out

i say hold on to ur $$$ figure out what u wanna do with that car (e.g. track,dd,show etc)thats just my advice but @ the end its ur call.

and what ever u do dont put a big gay spoiler on it, keep it clean

^ this. lol

I had a 08 CSX up until just recently... it was a lease so I left it completely stock. That and it didn't really have the performance I wanted. Why I got it is a long story that I'll skip. I now have a 08 Civic SI sedan so I'm still up to date on the Civic performance stuff.

For starters... one of the first things you're going to want to get is a rear sway bar. You can either get the one from the Civic SI sedan... or you can get one from any number of companies that make them for the 06-10 Civic. Progress, Blox, Eibach etc etc. It will help to give you a little more roll control and some more feedback. Combine this with lowering, a set of sticky tires and you've pretty much completed everything you want for a daily driver. I wouldn't give yourself delusions of grandeur with this car being a track toy... it's really not going to do it unless you gut the interior and change up your seat. :P

Anyway... if I were you, I would look into ST Suspensions Speedtech coilovers. ST Suspensions (formerly known as Suspension Techniques) was bought out by KW and is being used as their entry level coilover system (not a bad thing). The Speedtechs are identical to the KW V1's except for the fact that they're made from galvanized steel instead of stainless like the V1's. We don't get all that much salt here so I wouldn't be too worried about stainless vs galvanized. The other benefit that ST/KW has is that the spring seats are composite so they won't seize to the threads and screw you over after a winter when you want to change ride height.

http://www.stsuspensions.com/technology.php

They go for $895 CDN I think... very reasonable for KW quality. The ride is pretty good, so I wouldn't even worry about adjustability unless you plan on hardcore tracking the car. A lot of people are so caught up in being able to set stuff but then never end up touching it again. The ride is similar to stock, firmer without being really bouncy.

Make sure you get camber arms for the rear, camber bolts for the front and get an alignment.

For wheels you can go about as wide as 17x9 and don't need to roll or pull your fenders (dependent on your choice of wheel), unless you want the super slammed, "hella flush" look.

Buy your air/oil filters from Honda instead of Acura (if you want OEM stuff)... you'll save yourself money for the same part.

Also check out 8thcivic.com for way more Civic resources... wealth of knowledge there for your car.

Thanks for all the help. I spent all day in it just driving, love it, def going to think about the coil overs, I like the ride, I'd like a new smooth one, and the sway bar sounds like a good investment. Been looking at rims the 17x9's look good, think I'll start with those tomorrow.

As for the coils, I keep reading I need to get the camber adjusted when I get them, if anyone can explain that to me, be really appreciative too.

^
Depends on how low you want to lower the car, you basically need to get a camber kit so that you can correct the camber. They would adjust it when you get your alignment done after lowering the car. Why get a camber kit? Uneven tire wear, the inside of your tire wears out faster then the rest, meaning you have to replace your tires a lot sooner.


As I mention from my last post I got the HFP suspension kit (For the civic Si sedan but works fine for the CSX either way), basically springs/shock that drop a conservative 1" drop. Ride is a little firmer than stock but its good. I kind of wish it was a bit lower but I got the kit for a killer price (350$ shipped to PR) so cant complain.

^ Pretty much what W2K said.

Camber kits are needed because the aftermarket suspension is much different in construction versus the OEM stuff. Thus it changes your suspension geometry (ie, where the camber arms sit etc). Adjustable camber arms will allow you to get back to stock, or go more aggressive, if for example, you need to give your wheels more camber to clear your fenders. You can see from most canned 8th gens, they run pretty aggressive rear camber to get them to fit.

The HFP kit gets really good reviews and based on bang for the buck. If you're looking at the HFP kit, you'll probably want to get the SI sedan kit since the curb weights are a lot closer than the CSX to non-SI Civic. The downside is the drop isn't really noticeable. Upside is that you won't need camber kits since it's a 1" drop with OEM type components.

For your price range a nice set of RPF1's are a common, but great choice. Light weight plus looks amazing on csx's.
Other little mod's I'd start with is.
- Led interior/license plate lights
- led reverse light
- debadge like mentioned above ( follow what limitless said) but I'd heat it first with a hair dryer
- yellow drl bulbs / fogs + yellow fog lens tint
- new low beams (unless you have hids ( not sure if csx had stock hid) )
- window tint

awesome, thanks guys.

does anyone know where to get a good price on the HFP kits?

EBay. Look up the seller yourkeylessremote. I got mine from there and ship it to PR

College Hills Honda is another good source for HFP kits.

Btw... since you have a CSX, you should be looking into JDM exterior stuff for your car. CTR bumper or front lips, etc. The USDM is pretty ugly in comparison... and I own one.

thanks for the info about College Hills, I'll make a call to them and see what I can get.

I was looking on the PasswordJDM.com site and they have a Mugen front lip and Mugen ventilated visors which I'm quite enamored with, haven't come across a CTR kit yet, but I'm sure I'll find one.

get a big aero spoiler. revscene wont like it but it looks good. :D

I wonder, can you use aftermarket civic body kit say rear bumper to a csx?

heh, I saw some of those spoilers and I don't think it's my thing, they look kinda cool, but mine already has the factory one and I'm thinking of gettting a low profile lip one or just taking it, I'd kind of like to shave the doors but I'm not sure about that just yet.