Modifying Your Honda CR-Z

Should You Modify a Honda CR-Z?

The Honda CR-Z, with its distinctive hybrid powertrain and sporty compact design, offers a unique platform for automotive enthusiasts. While it's a capable car straight from the factory, the question on many owners' minds is: should you modify a Honda CR-Z? The answer, for many, is a resounding yes. Modifications to the Honda CR-Z are extremely popular, and with good reason. While performance upgrades are nothing new in the automotive world, there are some critical building blocks that should be considered to ensure you unleash your vehicle’s maximum potential. This guide will delve into key areas of modification, focusing on how to properly enhance your CR-Z for improved horsepower and handling, ensuring a more engaging and rewarding driving experience.

Suspension Set Up: The Foundation of Performance

When embarking on any performance modification journey, it's crucial to remember a fundamental principle: always make the suspension faster than the engine. Ensuring your vehicle can turn and stop effectively is fundamentally more important than simply being able to accelerate quickly. Getting your Honda CR-Z's suspension dialled in can equate to out-handling your competition, and depending on your type of driving or racing, it can even lead to significantly better lap times or a more confident drive on winding roads. If your vehicle came from the factory with softer suspension, it will almost always handle poorly until the suspension is replaced with a performance setup, such as a set of coilovers. Furthermore, old, worn-out suspension components also have a very negative effect on handling and should be replaced, especially if the car is used for any spirited driving where precise handling is key. A well-tuned suspension system provides the driver with a more connected feel to the road, allowing for greater confidence and control.

Coilover Basics: Precision and Adjustability

Coilovers are a cornerstone of modern suspension tuning. They help to set up your Honda CR-Z's ride height and damping characteristics, which allows you to lower your vehicle's center of gravity and stiffen up the chassis. This, in turn, leads to significantly better cornering performance and overall control. Not only does a lower centre of gravity make your car look sportier (and, in our opinion, considerably better), but it's also a key step in transforming your car into a true performance machine, effectively translating your engine modifications into tangible wheel horsepower. The ability to fine-tune your suspension is paramount for achieving optimal handling characteristics.

There are many different coilover brands and types on the market, and picking the right set can be a daunting task for even experienced enthusiasts. Here are four key things you need to look for when buying Honda CR-Z coilovers:

1. Spring Rates: Controlling Body Movement

Springs are an integral part of your suspension setup. They control the vehicle’s ability to absorb bumps, manage body roll when cornering, and ultimately influence how the car feels and handles. Higher spring rates require more force to compress the spring, which naturally reduces the amount of suspension travel. The body of your car naturally moves when you accelerate, brake, and turn. By reducing this excessive body movement, you make the handling much more predictable and effectively spread the cornering load across all four tires more evenly, leading to better grip. Most aftermarket coilovers utilise significantly stiffer springs than OEM suspension, which dramatically improves handling and gives the driver more feel for the road and their car when performing spirited driving. The choice of spring rate is highly dependent on the intended use of the vehicle – a street car will have different requirements than a dedicated track car.

2. Spring and Valving Adjustability: Fine-Tuning Your Ride

One of the many reasons enthusiasts purchase a set of coilovers for their Honda CR-Z is the ability to lower the car. A lower centre of gravity will help reduce excessive body roll and improve overall performance. Having adjustability for ride height, spring preload, and damping are essential features of a high-quality coilover system. Adjusting your coilovers allows you to fine-tune exactly how your vehicle handles and achieve the perfect ride height for your specific application. The ability to replace the springs with stiffer or softer options is also an important feature, as track cars often require much higher spring rates than street cars to gain maximum grip, improve handling precision, and further reduce body roll. If you opt to swap to stiffer or softer springs, it is crucial to match your spring rate with your damping settings to avoid a harsh or bouncy ride, which is ultimately detrimental to handling performance.

3. Top Mounts: Precision and Responsiveness

At the very top of the coilover assembly is a mount that holds everything together and bolts the top of the coilover to the car's chassis. This component is known as the “Top Mount.” Between the mount and the strut assembly, there are typically two types of bushings used: rubber or pillowball. As you might expect, Original Equipment (OE) manufacturers commonly use rubber bushings because they deflect more under load and are a primary cause of reduced suspension precision. The rubber found on most OEM struts is soft and allows a significant amount of energy deflection during cornering. A stiffer rubber mount can improve longevity and reduce energy deflection, offering a slight improvement. However, a pillowball bushing, which is a metallic spherical joint, rather than deflecting from cornering forces like a conventional rubber bushing, pillowball mounts do not move at all. This translates into a far more precise feel from the suspension and steering, offering a direct connection between the driver and the road.

4. Monotube Design: Superior Damping Performance

Inside any coilover, you will come across two primary designs of dampers: monotube and twin-tube. The twin-tube design uses an inner and outer tube, hence the name “twin.” The inner tube houses the piston shaft, valve, and damper oil. The outer tube contains the damper oil and nitrogen gas. Here’s how it works: when the suspension is compressed, the piston forces oil out of the inner tube through its valve and into the outer tube. When the piston moves back into position, the oil is drawn from the outer tube back into the inner. Most OEM suspension systems utilise the twin-tube damper setup because it allows for a greater suspension stroke and generally improves ride quality for everyday driving.

Monotube dampers, on the other hand, house the gas and the shock absorber within a single tube, separating the liquid damper oil from the pressurised gas with a floating piston. This design pushes the damper piston through the oil and forces the oil through internal chambers and valves within the piston itself. This configuration allows the gas to be compressed and react much quicker, resulting in a damper that can compress slowly over small bumps for comfort and more rapidly through larger impacts for better control. One incredibly important detail about monotube dampers is their ability to be mounted either way up, unlike many twin-tube designs which must be mounted upright. Compared to the twin-tube design, the monotube holds more fluid, offers superior heat dissipation, and significantly improves the responsiveness of the damper. For the best performance on the street or track, the monotube design is generally considered a superior upgrade to the twin-tube design.

Air Suspension: Versatility and Style

If your primary goal isn't heavy track use, but rather a blend of street performance and aesthetic appeal, then Air Suspension is another excellent choice for your Honda CR-Z. While primarily associated with street and show cars, many of the Air Suspension Kits available on the market today are robust enough to withstand light track use as well. The debate between enthusiasts who prefer coilovers and those who favour air suspension can get quite heated, but the unmatched height adjustability offered by air suspension makes it a compelling option for many Honda CR-Z owners. The ability to instantly alter ride height provides unparalleled versatility for different driving conditions or aesthetic preferences.

Sway Bars: Enhancing Stability and Reducing Roll

Another critical component to consider when modifying your Honda CR-Z are the sway bars, also known as anti-roll bars. By default, almost all factory cars are tuned with an understeer bias. This tuning makes them easier to drive at their limits and generally safer for the average driver. For example, a stock Mitsubishi EVO 8 (a car known for its handling) comes factory with a 24mm front sway bar and a 22mm rear sway bar. While there are many other upgrades an EVO might need out of the box, the point is that upgrading the rear bar is often one of the first modifications done to bring the car closer to a neutral handling state. On an EVO 8, upgrading the rear bar to a 25mm unit made a noticeable difference, nearly correcting all understeering issues with the car itself. The size and stiffness of a sway bar can make a world of difference in a car's handling characteristics. It's important to keep in mind that when lowering a vehicle, you alter its suspension geometry. This can incorrectly preload the sway bars, leading to unpredictable handling characteristics or, in even worse cases, damage. To mitigate this, it's advisable to use adjustable end links to correctly set the preload on the sway bars after lowering the vehicle.

Brakes: Stopping Power is Paramount

While going fast is undoubtedly fun, a crucial question for any performance build is: how well can you stop at your peak power? This is something that must be considered for every single build, regardless of its intended purpose. Whether you're building a dedicated race car or a street-focused car, how effectively you are able to brake, and how consistently, will make a notable difference in both performance and safety. Big brake kits typically consist of larger calipers that have more pistons or larger contact pins within the caliper to hold and compress larger brake pads. With more brake pad surface area making contact with the brake rotor, you will require less pedal travel and time to bring the vehicle to a halt. This also significantly helps to combat brake fade, which is a build-up of energy and heat within the braking system that causes the brakes to start slipping after an extended period of hard use. Larger calipers also aid in dissipating heat generated during the braking process, further contributing to reduced brake fade. Being able to brake efficiently, safely, and with improved aesthetics makes a Honda CR-Z Big Brake Kit a key component for any serious build.

Summary: Your CR-Z, Your Way

The list of potential Honda CR-Z modifications is almost endless, ranging from engine tuning and exhaust systems to interior enhancements and aerodynamic upgrades. However, we hope this guide has provided you with a solid understanding of the fundamental areas to consider when enhancing your CR-Z's performance, particularly focusing on the suspension and braking systems. By prioritising these core components, you lay the groundwork for a truly exceptional driving experience. To learn more about further performance upgrades, including essential aspects like exhausts and ECU tuning, we recommend exploring comprehensive resources dedicated to the Honda CR-Z platform.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1: Is modifying a Honda CR-Z worth it?
Yes, if you are looking to enhance its performance, handling, and aesthetics. The CR-Z responds well to suspension and brake upgrades, making it a rewarding car to modify.

Q2: Will lowering my CR-Z affect the sway bars?
Yes, lowering your vehicle changes its suspension geometry. This can improperly preload the sway bars, potentially affecting handling. Adjustable end links are recommended to correct this.

Q3: What's the main difference between monotube and twin-tube coilovers?
Monotube coilovers offer superior heat dissipation and responsiveness due to their single-tube design, making them ideal for performance applications. Twin-tube designs are more common in OEM setups and offer a balance of comfort and performance.

Q4: Should I upgrade my brakes along with suspension?
It is highly recommended. As you increase your car's ability to handle and corner, you also increase its potential speed. Upgraded brakes ensure you can safely and effectively slow down.

Q5: Is air suspension a good alternative to coilovers for the CR-Z?
Air suspension offers excellent adjustability for ride height and can provide a comfortable ride. While great for street and show use, coilovers are generally preferred for dedicated track performance due to their more direct feedback and robust construction for high-G loads.

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