tinkfist

what is the largest rear sway bar that can be used unreinforced without expecting subframe tearout on a 6th gen ek?

i have the si in there now and i think the itr is just ridiculously stiff. i would like something in the 15-18mm range.

peace.

kommon_sense

I believe that 19mm is the max. However I have seen claims that even 19mm tore out the subframe. I don't think that I have seen an aftermarket bar for the civs less than 19mm, EXCEPT for the mugen bars. mugen offers several bars that all come with reinforcement kits. Only problem is that they are in the $250+ ballpark. Check http://www.kingmotorsports.com for the mugens.

iirc, seemed like eibach had a 17mm bar, but i'm not sure.

yobtah

A stock Si understeers. That's not considered desireable... I'm betting it's biased toward understeer because Honda simply couldn't install a larger bar without risking damage to the subframe.

Basically, if Honda went to the trouble to install a rear sway on the Si, I think they would have used one that eliminates understeer if they could have. Because they didn't, I think the 13mm is the largest "safe" rear sway that can be used without reinforcement.

But I could be wrong...

euclid

id say dont go any higher than the 14mm gsr rear bar w/out reinforcement

Apex i ITR

Just get a beaks kit and use a eibach rear sway

Mojo-Jojo

You are.

Think of how easy it is for enthusiasts to get rid of understeer for a few hundred bucks. Now think of how easy it would be for Honda to do that to every car without raising the prices of the cars significantly. Very easy. Why don't they do it? Not because the frame can't handle it.

Almost all cars are tuned from the factory to understeer as a safety measure.

It's easier for the majority of the driving public to recover from understeering than oversteering.

euclid

remember that the itr uses the 22mm and they did reinforce the subframe for it. i have that bar and the beaks kit on my civic and i have not had any problems. like i said dont go above 14mm without reinforcement, but with it you can go as high as you want.

Apex i ITR

How does your car track with the beaks kit and ITr bar Eulicid. The reason I ask is because after car gets out of the shop I'm putting some Tein SS's, LCA made buy a company i can't mention right now (Made to perform as good if not better then the SRR's) and the beak's kit with rear ITR sway bar. The last thing I need to get is the rear upper strut bar (I'm waiting until I come across one for an ITR). I knwo my car is going to handle very different and I want be as prepared as possible.

Going around sweepers will the *** end step out....if it does is it easy to get it back in line?

euclid

the itr bar is awesome, i replaced my front bar with a susp tech 26mm, i have a coupe, so any info i can give you might be alittle different than on a hatch with stock front bar....

i put the front bar on first and trashed my tires b/c i didnt have a rear bar at all and i was understeering on 40mph bends

then i put the rear itr bar on and th car felt completely changed, the car tracks so nice, you turn the wheel and you wont have to wait for the back to settle in, it will just respond.

the beaks kit is awesome quality but it is a bit pricey, you can get a bsq for cheaper. i have a benen rear lower tie bar that i had to space out 1" with the new sway bar, this wasnt a big deal though and the fitment of the whole thing is perfect now.

i have itr lcas and tein ra's so my body roll was at a minumun to begin with, but now it is like nonexistant. i can literally take sweeping turns at almost 100mph. i have so3 tires which grip awesome and i get a *hint* of oversteer when i try for it. i havnt really been able to explore my cars limits yet b/c i had to put my stock steelies with snow tires on for the winter(only 2 weeks after i put the itr bar on) but when i really turn sharply around a corner i can push the rear end out alittle with my snows (which grip terrible) but so far it is very natural and the correction is as easy as compensating the steering wheel and giving the car alittle gas to pull out of it.

i was really cautious about exploring the limits of my car with the new swaybar setup and you should be too, drifting with a front wheel drive is alot different than with rear wheel drive and it can startle you if youre not expecting it. like i said i dont know what my limits are yet with my summer wheels and tires but i can tell you they will be ******* ridiculous. i cant wait to put them back on, my snows are hindering my performance so much but it is still really quite amazing.

these steering characteristics are what made the itr so famous, basically taking a civic and beefing up the swaybars, getting nice set of coilovers, and strut bars will surpass an itr imho. a civic can weigh 500lbs less.

if i can help you out anyfuther just let me know

EDIT: btw does this company you are referring to make lcas for the itr too? i just found out prothane made a bushing kit, i will be buying this soon if i cant find aluminum lcas with uerthane bushings already in them... pm me if its really top secret ****


[Modified by euclid, 6:44 PM 1/28/2003]

96 SOHC VTEC

I installed a Comptech rear sway, which is the same diameter as the ITR rear sway, and it made a huge difference in the handling. I just did my first track event not too long ago, and the back end never came close to coming out. The car still understeered. If it does start to come out, just keep your foot planted and steer in the direction you want to go. The front wheels should do the rest.

Apex i ITR

Well I'm gotting some from a good source right now. Actually the name of the company escapes me. Not sure of fitment applications yet. i know EG/EK will work. I'm getting them for free so I'm not complaining. If they work good I will share pricing and info with everyone. I was going to add Poly urethane bushings to the sway bar and LCA's. I wasn't going to upgrade the front sway bar yet because I have a lower front tie bar and turn in was pretty decent with that upgrade so i wanted to see how the car felt with just the rear in.

My wife bought me my beaks kit for christmas so its been sitting there for a while on my shelf...I'm anxious to get it on the car though.

Ince I get my car out of the body shop I will install everything new. The only thing I will be missing is my wheels....well actually the wheels i want (Advans) but I like my Volks so I'm not really sweating it.

euclid

if you are not upgrading the front bar to at least the size of the itr (24 or 25mm, i cant remember) then you should be ready for some serious oversteer, the 26mm bar made a huge difference over stock on my car and im still getting oversteer now with the itr rear bar. you can get a stock integra front bar for cheap and even the susp tech front bar is only $125 with all harware and uerethane bushings.

i have the prothane d-bracket and bushings for the itr rear bar as well, but i dont know how much of a difference they would make... my thinking is the less "play" the bar has to move the better it will work