The car never felt like there was a handling issue, just never quite fast enough. Most of the guys racing Hondas start talking about the Rear Trailing Arm Bushings and there are a few differing opinions about the material to replace the OEM rubber bushings. The one consensus there seems to be that anything new is better than old, rotten, and torn.
The Road Racing guys use such high spring rates that the Polyurethane bushings work ok in this application. There are also some Spherical Bushings that are very popular, despite the price. Some of these will actually articulate in the same planes the OEM design works.
Mugen, Honda’s Performance Division, has made some bushings with a harder rubber than the OEM design and have been “The” solution for years. Going through the Honda Forums the harder rubber bushings are so much better, that is what you get now as the replacement part with the softer factory bushing not being available.
There are special tools out there to press out the old bushing from the trailing arm and this tool is used to press in the new bushing. On the net, I found a few demonstrations of replacement using a hammer - my favorite tool. Removing the arm itself is a little time consuming, but less than five minutes of tapping changes the bushings. There are some measurements in the details for having the new bushings in exactly the right orientation once installed. The bushing shell must be pressed in about 12mm-14mm and it should be “clocked” at the correct angle for the chosen ride height.
Now the car feels much more solid in the corners, without any snap oversteer. No knocking or funny noises either!
