Better high speed handling gen 3?
 

First, for what it is I think my 2015 fit EX handles great. However, I use the car for travel and I drive a lot and often find myself outdriving (with my crappy skills) the suspension. Yesterday, the car actually was airborne (all 4) at high speed coming around a bend with a nice dip feature in the road. It was not perilous necessarily but it made me think I do need to make some improvements for how I am using it.

The new Honda HFP spring/struts look appealing as they do not lower the car. Since I will be driving through snow etc, low is not really great.

I have thought about a rear bar but I don’t want to push the car too much into oversteer and find out at high speed it is in fact too much. Has anyone pushed the limits of the car with a rear sway bar at high speed? I am curious of the outcome.

I am running stock size 185/55R16 tires but I do think it might be smart to go a little larger and maybe a 17. Something like a 205/45R17.

Any thoughts or experience would be helpful. Please don’t say buy a new car :)

I think most will agree that you'll achieve more with wheels and tires than any suspension modification. This is especially true since you are still running the very narrow stock tires.

A switch to a lightweight 16x7 or 17x7 wheel with performance 205's would be my first recommendation. Choosing between 16's and 17's is mostly a matter of comfort. The 16's will ride better.

Rear sway bar at high speed
 

I have done about 90 laps of hpde on a 3.4 mile track with 17 turns, many off camber (spring mountain). 30 without the rsb, 60 with. It was very much under control and significantly reduced understeer. Did not completely resolve. I am shimming the rear for positive toe out and negative camber for additional turn in. I'll let you know how it goes... but don't be afraid of adding the sway bar. And good tires are the best upgrade, obvi...

16X7" wheels with some 205/50R16 tUltra High Performance 300TW tire like the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 or stickier Extreme Performance 200TW tires such as the Bridgestone RE-71R

Next best mod is the driver mod. Do some autocross, sign up for your local SCCA region autocross school or do a track day. Learn to drive the car to the limit in a controlled environment. Autocross is cheap. Around $25-$45 plus maybe a $10 SCCA weekend membership. You will get more out of that than most mods combined.

Lastly, not sure what "High Speed" is? Not sure why you want to endanger your life or someone else driving on a public road pushing the car? Most motorsports have you sign a waiver. Basically consenting to you might hurt yourself, hurt someone else, or someone might hurt you racing racing cars in a closed course competition. The soccer mom in the minivan hasn't consented to anyone endangering her life or the passengers life. There's better options and cheaper than defending yourself in a vehicular homicide charge if something were to go wrong.

https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/20...s-isnt-racing/

Done it a few times. Seeing how fast you can drive in a parking lot isn't racing. I'm betting that the OP is going faster just getting to work on the Interstate.

OK, so it's not racing. It does teach one how not to overdrive the car. It teaches weight transfer. as the article states "The driving does require very precise inputs and footwork, and I have great respect for those who do it well." I myself get bored with track days. Maybe a Lemons or Chump car one day? In the mean time the worst I've done to my WRX is mess up the paint and put a crack in the front bumper cover. Inexpensive compared to destroying a car going off track.

I have a friend. Drove differently than I would drive on the street. Asked many times for him to come autocross since he thought he was a top driver. He had no interest. Would brag about how fast he had driven on the Autobahn. Was charged with vehicular homicide this year and is now going through the court process. He lost control of his car doing 85 in a 45 mph zone. Killed a mom and put her baby in the hospital.

My perception of autocross. It's like a car show where people actually use their cars. 99.9% of the people there aren't under any delusion of grandeur that they're ever going to become F1 or NASCAR champions. You see everything (at least in my local regions) from $1500 Miata to Porsche GT3. Just about everyone will give you a ride in their car regardless if they're a doctor who brought their GT3 or work at the parts counter at the local Honda dealer. It's good exercise walking the course. Great exercise running for cones and it's something to do on the weekend.

It does teach one how to drive better. Especially at low speeds.

What it doesn't do is show how well a car behaves at higher speeds or how well the brakes work in real world situations where you may be traveling downhill or need to slow for others.

I agree, about everything you said except for how well it transfers to real life. There is knowledge to gain for sure. Heck, I got two trophies in the first three events and scored well in my fourth.

That being said, it greatly favors small agile cars with stiff suspension. Not the same thing that works well at Interstate speeds.

When I did Autocross, I lived in FL and it was the closest I could get to handling type activities without being stupid. Since moving to the mountains, I see some major differences both in what works for driving style and what works for vehicle set up.

Edited to add...there are places on the planet where you can have fun driving without being in a parking lot with cones or risking killing children in minivans. Some people forget there is such a thing as a fun rural mountain road. I certainly was naive to the existence when I lived in FL.

Great info! Much appreciated.

Thanks for the Autocross advice. I am sure you are right.

As far as on the roads, I am in very remote areas and I may not see another car for half an hour. But regardless you are correct.

Some of my favorites of when things go wrong

They lower the car by 10mm.

Thank you Action… I goes 1cm is not the end of the world.