Im thinking bout some strut bars. Do they really help enough to make the money worth it. Also looking into sway bars. Cusco and Skunk2 look to be the most reputable companies. Any opinions?

 

quite a few people around here have theo nes off ebay (myself included) and they do the job just fine. Although with a top mount TB like some of the D series have, the ebay ones rub on the intake, and DC makes a strut bar that goes around it, which is kind of convenient. Strut bars are one of the few things that the generic/ebay kind will do just fine for.

 

(anti) sway bars are great they can just be difficult to install sometimes.

 

+1, from what i've heard sway bars make a HUGE difference, but expect to pay quite a bit for some quality ones, i'm not sure how good the generic ebay ones are.

 

ya im not that impressed with anything off of ebay let alone something that i would want to function and help the car out. Ive only heard horror stories about ebay so ill stay away from them. But i was thinkin i might want to autocross...or the SCCA. So i wanted to beef up the suspension. Probably move to coilovers instead of just springs

 

as far as strut bars go i have the cheap apc ones from advance auto and they do the job just fine baut as far as the whole coilover situation if your doing just autocross with your car but form what ive hear if you drive it on the street the ride is extremely harsh so you would be better off with a quality set of lowering springs and struts

 

^ you're right, for the most part. The only thing I disagree with is the ride quality with coilovers will depend on three things as far as I know: 1) spring rates (obviously) 2)struts (are they adjustable? What setting are they on?) 3)how low do you have your car?

anyway, I've heard mixed things about strut tower braces. Personally, I have an APC brace, and I was wondering if it actually made a difference, so I took it off for a few days (and painted it semi-gloss black while it was off ). I noticed absolutely no difference, but that was only under normal driving conditions, with only a few hard corners. Autocrossing might be a different story. Also, I might as well just throw this into the mix: I've heard tales of people putting athin wood strip on their cars in place oftheir strut tower brace. After the driving, there wasn't enough roll to break the wood.

Anti-Sway bars, on the other hand, make a world of difference from what I've heard. If you're going to AutoX your car, I say definitely invest in like a Suspension Techniques anti-sway bar kit. I know Eibach used to make a kit, but I'm not sure they still do.

 

strut bars help and the ones found on ebay work and most of the time fit just fine. tho if ur serious about racing, u'll want strut bars that are solid, meaning no pivot points at the ends. also, if u really want something that'll makeaslightly morenoticable difference, a 3 point front upper strut bar and a 4 point rear upper strut bar is the best u can get.

sway bars make a very noticable difference. u dont need to spend big big bucks on them either. i'd highly suggest searching for used ones. get used bars/hardware, maybe new bushings, and used endlinks. it'll save u money and be just as good as a new set, after all its a bar. be carefull tho, if u get an beefy bar, u'll need subframe braces to prevent subframe tearout. Beaks sells a good subframe brace kit for like $70 shipped. ASR makes a great brace kit too, more so for bling, cost a couple hundred, but still gets the job done.

as for shocks/coilovers, dont cheap out. def. stick with something name brand. ie: skunk2, ground control, koni, tokico, kyb, eibach, tien, etc..spring rates play an important roll on how ur car will handle but u need to look at what ur building ur car for to choose the right rates, research. adjustable dampening shocks are probably best, street or race. can make the ride more smooth for daily driving or sturdy for fun time in just minutes with the turn of a dial.

 

civicracer....thanks for the info man and everyone else. I think i might just go with coilovers and some nice struts. also i will buy some of those antisway bars...ive raced autocross before and it was just a hellova good time.