curious_g_83

hey
i've got an 88 crx as some of you may or may not know
i was wondering whether or not strut bars are actually effective in making my car handle better
i'de be doing the upper and lower front and the upper and lower rear
i'de be getting some cheap generic brands probably.. most likely whatever is cheapest.. will that make a difference?
i could fabricate them myself but they might be a little heavier than what i'de be getting from a store or whatever..
anyhow.. thoughts on that would be appreciated
thanks..
many plans for the car but i figured i'de start here and then go for a coilover kit.. but i'll ask about that later
thanks again
hope to get some replies soon!

SteveZ

yes ull notice a diff when turning. as far as brands go, u wont notice a big diff between brands. as long as the bar isnt flimsy, they all pretty much do the same thing.

imported_Thrill_House

Please stop giving advice on something you have no personal experience or real knowledge of. You really are a typical "magazine racer".
With that said there is a huge difference between brands, and about 90% of the strut tower braces out there for civics are flismy not only because of there ****ty design but also because the majority of them are made out of aluminum. After I installed the Neuspeed strut tower brace on my 1991 civic (a car known for alot of frame flex) I noticed a substantional increase in cornering stability. There are really only 2 worth while front strut tower braces for EF's, the best on imo is the Neuspeed bar because its still in production, it made out of steel tubing, its solid and has no adjustable points to weaken it, and it ties into 4 different bolts on your strut towers. The only other bar worth getting (if you can find it) would be the JDM SiR Cusco strut tower brace, its of similar design and contruction as the neuspeed bar although it does have one adjustable point in the middle. THe drawback to the Cusco piece is that its no longer made and its ultra hard to get, I rarely even see them on ebay any more.

imported_SaYjAiBaO

i think the 3 point strut braces would be just as good as the neuspeed. those things look pretty damn beefy and have no pivot joints. passwordjdm sells a bunch of them. also, if your car is on stock suspension, the only thing you'll feel is that the car will be more firm around the corners. it will make a bigger difference on upgraded suspension.

imported_Thrill_House

Damn I didnt even know such a brace existed, that is fuggin sweet man, I was looking for a 3 point brace like that for the longest time to. Very expensive though.

imported_Team Rukus

i dont know about ef's much.
but generally strut bars and any other bars dont really give back much unless you are driving your car to the extreme with hard cornerings and such.

most of the times its the driver/owner that is put in a mind state where he/she thinks its actually working because they know what it is and what it is supposed to do.

now obvioulsy with a car that has a lot of flex is different but with eg and ek and any other gen or car people just claim they feel the difference based on the mind state they are being put into.

curious_g_83

please correct me if i'm wrong.. but i was under the impression that flex was good when it came to suspension and that you needed flex when cornering?!
especially in the case of any roads or tracks around here?
i'm hoping to do some weekend autocross stuff when the next season rolls around.
should i still consider a strut tower brace?
I was thinking of making the 3 point one that passowrdjdm has come out with (or copied.. whatever)
would i have to do a 3 point strut bar in the rear also?
any suspension gurus out there?
thanks for the help thus far guys!
keep it coming!

imported_GoldBadge

I don't think there is such a thing as a three point bar for the rear. The three point brace up front will bolt to each strut and then back to the firewall. Since there's no firewall in the rear, you would be bolting to the seats, which makes no sense. Maybe there's a bar that somehow connects the strut towers to the trunk floor or the roof, but I highly doubt anything like that would be mass produced.

I would suggest you tune your chassis with sway bars first, and then add the stiffening braces to the rest of the chassis.

Actually, forget that. You should buy your coilovers fist and then correct camber and then go for the sway/tie/strut bars.

cibs

ahhh... as a commerce major we LOVE people like you! they work hard to get people as loyal to their brand as you are....

It all depends on what you're going for, as well as what the rest of your set up is... is it worth it getting an expensive tie bar when the rest of your susp is stock, or cheapy stuff? no. I have a generic front upper tie bar and rear upper tie bar and a spoon rear lower tie bar, is there any noticable difference in the way they were made? not really.

You don't have to go off and say 90% of the bars out there are ****ty because those 90% of the bars are enough for what the average person needs, and like Jay said people notice the difference because they want to and they know what it's supposed to do.

curious_g_83

oh.. i was just wondering something.. i'm able to fabricate these bars myself.. it would be out of steel but i'm capable of doing that.. is this frowned upon?.. if so why?.. i'de be fabricating something for myself probably by just building it as close to whatever the best is on the market.. or whatever someone is willing to let me measure up and copy.. but that's in the air.. i suppose if i had to buy one i would.. they're just really really expensive.. any thoughts on this would also be appreciated
thanks

cibs

meh why not? give it a shot, just make sure you make it strong enough

Younes Si

hope it doesn't break :cry:

SteveZ

here we go. yes, im a "magazine racer" meanwhile how convenient that the only strut tower braces that you feel are worthy to put on ur civic are either jdm (shocker) or neuspeed. how much knowledge do you really have? im guessing youve only used those 2, because those are the only ones that look "cool" under the hood, and neuspeed stickers add 15hp, and jdm, well thats just too fast to be legal. dont tell me what i do and do not have knowledge or personal experience on, when u dont know.

imported_Thrill_House

Your replys make you seem less and less intelligent everytime you post them. For you information im not like you, I dont install parts because of the way they look, I install them because of the way they perform, and if I wanted a showy looking strut tower brace I would have bought a colourful generic one as the neuspeed bar is just black tubing, in fact without the sticker most people would probably assume its stock. And I have had other braces before including a cheap 20 dollar ebay aluminum brace that was a waste of money as it flexed just as much as the rest of the car. Although I may not have tested every single part out there when I do go and buy new parts I make sure to do the research on them first to know weather they are worth getting and are a quality item.

imported_Thrill_House

What I meant was 90% of the strut tower braces for EF's were ****ty, my bad on the miswording.

imported_GoldBadge

Take it easy, guys...it's just a strut bar.

imported_Thrill_House

I do agree with you on all your points, especially about it being a mindstate for most people just like when kids buy CAI's for there stock D16 and because of the way it sound they think the car is actually faster and that they have gained a whole bunch of HP. And you are right for most people that dont drive there cars that hard a brace is a waste of money and that why most people who buy them get them as a dress up item for their engine bay which is all they majority of they brace are, dress up items. However I do drive my car to its limit from time to time so I know what to expect from it, and when I added the brace I really did notice a difference on driving the same roads that I like to test my car out on. For example there is one really long tight on ramp going onto the DVP that I always like to corner as hard and as fast as the car will go on it, the ramp is rated for like 15kmph and I used to take the ramp at maybe 50 kmph but that was with the tires squeeling as me fighting the wheel to keep it from going onto the shoulder, after I installed the brace I could take that turn no problem at 50 and even get it up to slightly over 60 without spinning out or going off the road. The main thing I have noticed with this bar is that it allows the suspension and tires to do there job better as the front end flex has been greatly reduced. Now am I saying that this exact same bar will yield the same results on an EG or EK? No, the cars are of a different chassis design and are much more rigid therefore adding such braces may not really be nessecary.

electronblue

iTrader: (1)

Everyone here is arguing over a simple strut bar, I have a DC Sports upper strut bar on the lude (DC sports because it offered me clearance of brake lines that the cheap one didn't) but unless you have a great set of tires, suspension mods mean nothing for stability.

Its all about tires, and you move forward from there.

imported_My93Civic

I agree, stop fighting like children. No I'm right....No I'M right...

1niceSi

Benen rear lower tie bar