Front lower tiebar...
SilverY2KCivic
05-03-2003, 05:11 AM
Recently I swapped out my 13mm 6th gen Civic Si rear swaybar I had on my '00 Civic DX coupe, for an almost twice as large 22mm Integra Type-R rear swaybar. A couple days after having it installed, one of the endlinks which is bolted to a special collar to fit the larger endlink mounts to the bar, popped out while driving. Needless to say $50 later I had to order a new endlink (which I should have done in the first place) because of something I had to do with that link while I had it in my Si swaybar which it worked for that bar, but doesn't for this much larger one.
Anywho, the time I had the ITR swaybar on, I didin't really push the car to any limits to see how any snap oversteer would be with it installed in place. I did notice some better handling performance, but nothing unexpected. In the meantime I've disconnected the other connected endlink as to not cause any off balance of the car to any one side, so the bar is bolted to the subframe, but not the actual suspension itself at the LCAs, so essentially I'm driving with no rear swaybar right now. I've driven my fav local mountain passes recently since I disconnected the ITR bar, and I have a good gut feeling I won't be able to drive those roads how I did last weekend once I get the bar all re-attached because I'll have some serious understeer problems. Right now the car feels surprisingly balanced, although I have no front swaybar either, which brings me to my question.
Until I can figure out a solution to getting a front swaybar weather it be aftermarket (Neuspeed I was looking at) or OEM if I can find the appropriate control arms for the front that'll accept an OEM swaybar, would in the meantime putting a FRONT lower tiebar be beneficial any? Would that dial in even slightly more understeer to better balance the set up, or would it be a complete waste of money? They aren't very expensive, so I'm figuring I may just spring for one.
Anywho, the time I had the ITR swaybar on, I didin't really push the car to any limits to see how any snap oversteer would be with it installed in place. I did notice some better handling performance, but nothing unexpected. In the meantime I've disconnected the other connected endlink as to not cause any off balance of the car to any one side, so the bar is bolted to the subframe, but not the actual suspension itself at the LCAs, so essentially I'm driving with no rear swaybar right now. I've driven my fav local mountain passes recently since I disconnected the ITR bar, and I have a good gut feeling I won't be able to drive those roads how I did last weekend once I get the bar all re-attached because I'll have some serious understeer problems. Right now the car feels surprisingly balanced, although I have no front swaybar either, which brings me to my question.
Until I can figure out a solution to getting a front swaybar weather it be aftermarket (Neuspeed I was looking at) or OEM if I can find the appropriate control arms for the front that'll accept an OEM swaybar, would in the meantime putting a FRONT lower tiebar be beneficial any? Would that dial in even slightly more understeer to better balance the set up, or would it be a complete waste of money? They aren't very expensive, so I'm figuring I may just spring for one.
BullShifter
05-05-2003, 12:15 AM
If you only have one sway-bar on the car it should be on the rear. FWD benefit from rear sway-bar . . .RWD front sway-bar . . .
SilverY2KCivic
05-05-2003, 01:26 AM
I HAVE a swaybar on, but it's a pretty large Integra Type-R rearsway bar, which compared to a puny Si swaybar (rear) can have some pretty negative effects on the car if you try to any real extreme handling with it, like I go when I auto-x. That's why you need a small front swaybar to help balance things out, otherwise you'll oversteer as much as an old 70's muscle car.
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