Sway Bars/ Strut Braces

[cowboyslayerfh]

sorry, n00b question coming up.. im just wondering how much differance sway bars and strut braces would make on a lightly tuned eg?

[brenth]

well on my dc2 ive done j's racing front and rear strut braces and also a ITR 22mm rear swaybar.

I'd say the best upgrade i did was the itr rear swaybar with a beaks subframe reinforcement kit. But then again i dont know how effective it would have been if i didn't have the strut bars already on. They all work in unison.

But yes they all help a fair bit

[ashwin]

yea.it improves the handling

[WingIt]

Originally Posted by ashwin

yea.it improves the handling

Thankyou captain obvious.

You can notice the difference, I have factory front strut brace, J's Rear Strut Brace and a PWJDM Rear Tie Bar, and I get a bit of lift off oversteer as the rear end is so much stiffer.

A good upgrade

[VTAKYO]

Generally you balance the car out through playing with swaybar thicknesses. Thicker rear gives more oversteer, thicker front gives more understeer. Contributing effects can be found through stiffening up other suspension and chassis components too... braces, harder suspension, etc. For an FF track-based car, which from factory has a habit to understeer, you generally want a stiffer rear than front to induce more oversteer. Depending what type of event you are doing, and how much oversteer/understeer you require, you can adjust the front/rear balance to suit. IE, more oversteer for a Auto-X than a full circuit.

If it is just a daily driver I wouldn't bother worrying about swaybars, just sort the rest of your suspension first. Thick swaybars can make cars feel unstable around town. Also consider whether your subframe is up to the job of handling the pressures of a thicker swaybar, it may need reinforcement (like brenth mentioned).

[Brendon V]

So true. So many places say when improving Honda handling, work on rear suspension first. Ive seen an EF Civic without a front swaybar and larger rear swaybar. Was one of best cars at track! I would start with your front and rear strut braces. This will stiffen things up more and feel tighter. Look at doing lower bars later or just make some. Then talk to someone like Speed Factor about a rear swaybar. Stiffen that rear up and get rid of understeer. That will give you some oversteer but thats more fun.