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I am thinking about getting a CRX and was wondering what year/engine models people are running in their CSP CRX's? Would an 87 CRX Si with basic engine mods and fully done suspension be a good regional car? This would just be a fun car and weekend racer. Is the 87 CRX Si a good base for CSP? Does anyone know some good CRX Solo2 sites? Also what are the major differences between 1st gen (84-87) and 2nd gen (88-91) CRX Si's? Is there anyone in here that runs a 1st gen CRX in CSP?

The 1st gen CRX would make a fine regional CSP car, and may still be competitive at a National level with the new wide 13" tire Hoosier has this year.  The good things are that they are very light, very reliable, and generally have a low maintenance and operation cost.  The bad things are that they are getting pretty old now.  Chassis rust is an issue, parts are getting much harder to find, and all of the hot parts you'd need to build a CSP car are no longer made, so they can be both expensive and hard to locate.  I really don't think it would make sense to start building one from scratch for CSP.  The car is way more competitive in EP, and the cost to prep would be similar.  For CSP, the Miata has to be the obvious choice.  It would be much easier to find parts for, more competitive, and still cheap to buy.  The 2nd gen CRX is mechanically similar to Civics from 88-95, so there is a ton more aftermarket support for them.  They're not quite as light as the older cars, but have much better suspension design and more power.  It would be way easier to build a reasonably competitive 2nd gen CRX than a 1st gen, although their price is going up rapidly as they become more 'collectable' and people are also buying them for the gas mileage. 

The source for information about the 1st gen CRX is www.redpepperracing.com  That is where we all hang out.

 

-Chris  

The best CRX for the job is probably the 88-89 CRX HF. Throw in the SI drivetrain and do the suspension and you are gold.

My co-driver has one that already has the engine swap(could use a rebuild soon) but needs a transmission. It has Konis, the entire Si suspension swapped and is pretty much rust free. It would be a perfect car to start with. If you are interested in the car, PM me and I will get you in touch with him. The car is in Indianapolis.

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90 Miata/89 CRX - STS2 #90/190

weasel KP61:

I am thinking about getting a CRX and was wondering what year/engine models people are running in their CSP CRX's? Would an 87 CRX Si with basic engine mods and fully done suspension be a good regional car? This would just be a fun car and weekend racer. Is the 87 CRX Si a good base for CSP? Does anyone know some good CRX Solo2 sites? Also what are the major differences between 1st gen (84-87) and 2nd gen (88-91) CRX Si's? Is there anyone in here that runs a 1st gen CRX in CSP?

Regionally, either generation CRX will be a good, fun, quick car. Once you get outside of local events (assuming you are not in CA with all the big tire miata guys to begin with) it will take a good bit more work to make the car top of the class competitive.

As for the differences, the 1st gen's are lighter when you look at fully built models (most of which are early 84-85 chassis with the later Si drivetrain, right?). you can get to the same weight as a later 1st gen with a 2nd gen HF/Si combo and have more power/better suspension to boot, but the early 1st gen chassis with the later motors will be a couple hundred lbs lighter than a 2nd gen HF/Si. The second gen does have better suspension geometry, significantly better actually, and you can eek out more power from the 4 valve A6 motors. The new 255 Hooser should help the second gen cars more than the first since I'm not entirely convinced that the 1st gens can actually get the 255's hot :) This might sound like 2nd gen is the way to go, but don't discount how much those 200lbs can help the 1st gen cars. That's less weight you have to accelerate, turn, brake, etc and in addition the 1st gen cars are a bit narrower (an inch or two I think).

There are not a ton of good resources for building a 2nd gen CRX for CSP. I would suggest taking a look at the info on here for the STS2 CRX's since fundamentally the setup's are not that different. For 1st gen's I'll defer to Chris and others since I have not set one up.

thx

Ian

 

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--CRX Addict
--Recovered Mini Addict

GChambers:

It has Konis, the entire Si suspension swapped and is pretty much rust free. It would be a perfect car to start with.

Keep the HF suspension on there, trust me. It's several lbs lighter on each of the front hubs, and the smaller brake rotors and calipers save even more weight. With some good agressive brake pads you won't have any issues with braking (I was running Hawk HP+'s in front, and porterfield R4S shoes in back and it would easily lock up all 4 wheels). You can either press out the splines from the Si hubs and press those into the bearings on the HF and use Si axles, or better yet just use the HF axles. I would suggest keeping a spare set of axles and front hub splines with you at events if you use the HF axles since they won't take the abuse of a built up A6 at pro launches very long.

The rust free bit is a big plus, I flew to atlanta and drove a chassis home just to get a rust free 89. Of course the guy lied through his teeth and the car had been hit in the front, back, and up the hood. He just thought those were the "common honda dents and dings".

Ian
 

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--CRX Addict
--Recovered Mini Addict

ibaker:

GChambers:

It has Konis, the entire Si suspension swapped and is pretty much rust free. It would be a perfect car to start with.

Keep the HF suspension on there, trust me. It's several lbs lighter on each of the front hubs, and the smaller brake rotors and calipers save even more weight. With some good agressive brake pads you won't have any issues with braking (I was running Hawk HP+'s in front, and porterfield R4S shoes in back and it would easily lock up all 4 wheels). You can either press out the splines from the Si hubs and press those into the bearings on the HF and use Si axles, or better yet just use the HF axles. I would suggest keeping a spare set of axles and front hub splines with you at events if you use the HF axles since they won't take the abuse of a built up A6 at pro launches very long.

The rust free bit is a big plus, I flew to atlanta and drove a chassis home just to get a rust free 89. Of course the guy lied through his teeth and the car had been hit in the front, back, and up the hood. He just thought those were the "common honda dents and dings".

Ian
 

Ian, thanks for the info. I think he still has all the stock HF parts as well.

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90 Miata/89 CRX - STS2 #90/190

weasel the SFregion is super tough....

 we have all the csp top runners .... fraser and kubo :o
 

vietnameeh:

weasel the SFregion is super tough....

 we have all the csp top runners .... fraser and kubo :o
 

 

yeah that's what i thought..... :( all the super fast miatas. It will mostly be for fun tho. 

vietnameeh:

weasel the SFregion is super tough....

 we have all the csp top runners .... fraser and kubo :o

Hmmm?  I thought the fast CSP guys were in Omaha?   

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John
Utah Region, #23 CSP Miata

GChambers:

The best CRX for the job is probably the 88-89 CRX HF. Throw in the SI drivetrain and do the suspension and you are gold.

+1 for me.  I run a Miata now, but also have an 88 HF with the Si stuff.  Fun car if you like FWD, but my Miata is just a little quicker. (Or, maybe I'm just driving better!)

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John
Utah Region, #23 CSP Miata