sway bars/strut bars

[mightyaccord]

i been reading in some threads that since the cb has too much understeering its adviced not to place a front sway bar. does everybody agree with this? how about the rear tie bar in addition with the rear sway bar, will that equal out the understeer. whats the general opinion on rear strut bars as well?

[johnl]

I took my front ARB out completely, which is definitely better. I've also stiffened all the rear ARB mounting points (too flexible in stock form), and fitted poly bushes to the rear ARB, and these mods make a noticable improvement to understeer, though it wouldn't be as much as a stiffer rear ARB (awaiting adequate disposable funds for more mods like rear ARB, will try it the front ARB back in once I have a stiffer rear one).

Konis help a LOT.

I also have both front and rear tower braces (home made and very stiff), both recommended more for for an improvement to responsiveness and a feeling of chassis 'integrity / stiffness' than any change in understeer. I also have a home made 'X' style brace that sits in the aperture behind the rear seat backrest, which also made a noticable difference to chassis response.

But, don't bother with lesser quality / cheaper tower braces, they aren't rigid enough to work well.

[Ronald_Type-R]

i been reading in some threads that since the cb has too much understeering its adviced not to place a front sway bar. does everybody agree with this? how about the rear tie bar in addition with the rear sway bar, will that equal out the understeer. whats the general opinion on rear strut bars as well?

Our cars already have a stock front sway bar..If you have an EX it will be even stiffer..I have the smaller one (DX model), and for me it's good enough.

Rear tie bar won't do anything man...Rear strut bar helps a little, but not too much noticeable difference..Rear sway bar will help a lot for sure..What will help even more would be a good set of suspension (adjustable preferably)..

After that, you can start playing with tire pressure, camber, wheel specs (width, offset), as well as tire specs..You'll be surprised with what differences those little things can make And if you really know what you're doing, just with those things mentioned above, you can easily oversteer coming out of corners

Mind you, it will be really hard to completely eliminate understeer, knowing that our car is a front heavy FWD car..But then again, a lot of things also depend on driver skills and preferences..

Hope that answers your questions

Ronald

[johnl]

Rear tie bar won't do anything man...Rear strut bar helps a little, but not too much noticeable difference..Rear sway bar will help a lot for sure..

Beg to differ. A rear tie bar is unlikely to do much, but a GOOD rear tower brace does quite a lot. However, a poor quality one (read not very rigid) won't do very much (same deal for front tower brace).

If I have to remove my rear tower brace (to carry long loads into the passenger compartment) I can certainly feel the difference...

[mightyaccord]

hey thanx guys for all the responses. i do have an ex-r(canadian) and i checked under the car, i have both rear and front sway bars. so my plan is to leave the stock fron sway bar and replace the rear sway bar with a more stiffer one. recommend any good sway bars?

[alb_accord]

i been reading in some threads that since the cb has too much understeering its adviced not to place a front sway bar. does everybody agree with this? how about the rear tie bar in addition with the rear sway bar, will that equal out the understeer. whats the general opinion on rear strut bars as well?

leave the front sway bar alone. well just replace the bushings lol....

rear sway bar is a very very very good idea. well worth the money. forget the rear tie bar.

rear upper strut bar from esp(one piece solid) will make a very noticeable difference....

[johnl]

so my plan is to leave the stock fron sway bar and replace the rear sway bar with a more stiffer one. recommend any good sway bars?

Good plan.

The brand of ARB doesn't really matter so much as it's the diameter / stiffness that you want. Two ARBs (or springs..) of identical dimensions but differing steels will still have the same stiffness as each other (i.e. it's not the steel that makes any difference in stiffness it's the dimensions), so it doesn't really matter what brand (does have to be a decent spring steel though, which they all will be good enough).

If you find any brand (rear ARB) in the OD you want that also comes with stiffer mounts than the OE mounts, then go for that brand because the OE mounts are not stiff enough (i.e they flex, not break). I don't mean rubber or poly bushes, but rather the metal brackets attached to the subframe with three bolts (each bracket), they're flimsy and effectively deduct stiffness from the ARB.

I still think you ought to at least consider experimentally disconnecting the front ARB, you might be surprised what a difference it makes. easy to disconnect, easy to re-connect if you no like...

[mightyaccord]

All great info, thnx John. Really helpful So thinkness of the bar matters and also dimensions?

[lokuputha]

understeer is great. so is the front sway bar. if anything, get a rear sway bar and upgrade your bushings, springs, and dampers.

[johnl]

Given identical dimensions (i.e. shape of the ARB and wire diameter), then any two ARBs made from different steels will be as stiff as each other, which is the same deal for springs. The only difference with different steels will be in the yield point of the steel (i.e. how far the spring / ARB can be deflected before it permanently bends), or how many times it can deflect before the spring / ARB starts to sag or become brittle.

Do note that the shape of the ARB will affect stiffness to some degree, so two ARBs of the same diameter but differing shapes may have a different stiffness. This is mostly to do with the relative lengths of the 'lever arm' sections of the ARB (the more or less longitudinal parts at each end, with longer softening the ARB) and torsion bar section (lateral central part, with longer softening the ARB). Any difference in the various bends used to clear other components may influence stiffness, but I don't think it would be much.

[johnl]

understeer is great.

You're kidding aren't you?

It might be safer for inexpert (or foolish) drivers, but it certainly doesn't feel as nice as a more neutral handling balance, nor as quick on the track.