imported_Mikeye

Anyone know whether tie and strut bars really matter, performance wise, if they r no name bars? Im getting a 4 piece combo for just 90 bucks.

So i was wondering if there was a HUGE difference between cheap ones and expensive ones?

bbarbulo

iTrader: (2)

ya there is a HUGE difference between cheap ones and good ones... materials and construction make ALL the difference. it's the difference between a Lamborghini and a Kia... I mean, they're both cars right??

imported_Mikeye

well, i was wondering whether I can feel the difference when cornering?

spracingsports

the real diffeence from what ive read is only felt between ones with hinges and bolts, and solid ones, the latter being the better.... but i think the only difference between cheap-o and say JIC/MUGEN/DC expensive ones is bling factor

95CivicDxCoupe

well i never felt the DC ones where any good, now if you want to buy some cheap bars, by all means it's your money and your car, but I hope your not going to push the car to it's limit at a track or autocross. you don't want to find a strut bar snapping and going through your hood or trunk.

the main thing you will be looking for would be a good solid bar, one that would not flex so easily, ITR, SIR, Mugen, Spoon, etc.

Now will you fell a different, probably not. I don't seen anyone doing any hard high speed corning in downtown toronto streets to fell a different. If you want to fell a huge suspension upgrade I would go with strut bars and sway bars, just try not to go with a too big of a rear sway bar (22mm or higher) civic's rear subframe where not engineered for that big of a bar and will rip or crack the subframe. if you want a 22mm or higher i would recommend the comptech sway/tie bar or a subframe reinforcement bar (see link below). The big problem with people buying cheap quality parts to save a buck or two is it will cost them more in the long run to repair the damage it caused and then doing it right.

http://www.a-spec-racing.com/product2.php

lordm

thats like the neuspeed kit

bbarbulo

iTrader: (2)

oh daddy like the subframe brace. I think I might get it cuz all I have now is the beaks kit with the ITR bar.

oh yeah, and given your driving skill, you prolly couldn't feel the difference. so take the $90 and put it in your pocket.

imported_Mikeye

Great advices, but what exactly is a subframe? =P

bbarbulo

iTrader: (2)

it's a structural part on the body of the car... like a frame on old cars/trucks... but now cars don't have frames, they have subframes which are integrated into the body.



see where the three bolts are... two for the swaybar, and one for the lower control arm... well the thing that the bolts go through is called the rear subframe, it's welded/bonded to the body and it holds all your susp components.

bbarbulo

iTrader: (2)

this is prolly a better shot of it

spracingsports

what tie bar is that B??

bbarbulo

iTrader: (2)

Tanabe Sustec Pro front and back

cee_mon

You feel any oversteer/understeer with that setup?

spracingsports

ooohhh big spender

imported_SaYjAiBaO

sorry for the noob question but what does the sway bar do? also, can someone tell me the effects of installing a front and rear sway bar? i just recently installed a front strut bar and i did notice the difference. the car felt better making turns and i didn't feel the front rolling as much. i don't know if its me or not but on stock tires before i installed the strut, i would go about 60km/h on the off ramp and the front would start losing grip but i decided to test the limit yesterday and went to about 80km/h before i started to lose any grip at all. but then again, it could just be me being too scared to fly off the off ramp with my stock tires and w/o the strut bar. i was wondering if i install a rear strut, would i feel the difference as well?

bbarbulo

iTrader: (2)

I'm 100% certain that a strut bar didn't give you and additional 20 km/hr on an offramp.

sway bar resists body roll, it transfers the force of the body roll onto the opposing side. it keeps the car more level. this can also affect the oversteer/understeer tendencies of a car. a strut bar basically just distributes load over the shock towers, essentially bracing one to the other to prevent body flex under EXTREME loads. My guess is, however, in this cold weather on whatever tires you have... the tires will break loose before any such load is created. You gotta have really sticky tires in order to really produce flex in the body from cornering.

cee_mon, I use a front SiR sway bar 26 mm and ITR rear bar @ 22 mm. this setup is VERY neutral, but it can go either way depending on how you work the throttle. you can overpower the front wheels and cause understeer or you can lift out and get a lil sideways

imported_Mikeye

Holy crap, if the subframe is welded to the body then isnt it super hard to remove it and to install a new one?!

bbarbulo

iTrader: (2)

well it's been done before, but the subframe BRACE is what that one link to a-spec shows... so it bolts TO THE SUBFRAME on top of it to help the subframe better handle the stress of having a MASSIVE rear sway bar. The rear swaybar puts a LOT of stress on the OEM subframe which was NOT designed to have such a huge rear swaybar attached to it. So we brace it. But yeah it would be a pain in the *** to replace, which is why we go through so much to try to protect it! I've seen pics of when the rear sway bar tears out the subframe and it's not pretty at all. The Beaks kit was one of the first to try to address this issue.

imported_Mikeye

Well, since EKs dont come with rear factory sway bars, then does that mean the subframe is very fragile?

Ummm...say if I was to install an SiR rear sway bar...would that cause a lot of stress to the subframe or even break it?

bbarbulo

iTrader: (2)

No, SiR sway is totally safe as long as you get ALL the right OEM brackets, and also make a BACKING plate for the bolts or use oversized washers to help distribute the load.

I had an SiR sway on my car for a while, and now BOND007 is rockin it. Great upgrade