jedubz

I've searched and cannot find a good side-by-side comparison of available rear strut (upper) bars for the EF CRX.

I currently have a 1988 with unkown lowering springs, Tokico Blues, Neuspeed front Strut Bar and 1992-1995 Civic Blox Rear lower control arms. I'm looking for the best bang-for-buck upgrades to my CRX which I plan to someday be a grassroots time-attack car. The car is daily driven at the moment.

I've mainly been seeing lots of Tanabe Sustec, Cusco Type-AS, Password JDM, DC Sports, Ebay/No-Name, and Neuspeed rear upper strut bars... I'm sure one has to be better than the other, or that there is another, much better one out there.

What are all of you guys running? How do you like it? How was the install, and was it worth the price (considering there are bars ranging from $25-$250 and beyond?)

zrickety

iTrader: (1)

i have one of the the no-name/ebay bars, it works. there are people that will argue it doesn't do anything at all, so my advice is to get whatever you can afford and looks well-made.

Tyson

For someone who says its their goal to get the best bang for buck, you sure want to waste money on useless and low quality crap. Take those lower control arms off for OEM and buy some real suspension, that's the most imporant stuff.

I'm sure any rear strut bar "works" but to what real affect in performance? There's not much going on there to care about. Unlike the front.

virusinfection1

ok, so here is the deal, do the science behind it and your sure to figure it out, the hole concept is to stiffen the chassis while helping improvement of the suspension, all adjustable struts are the same, the best and the most costly are the ones like DC sports 200 and something dollar one piece no adjustable strut, or a custom, I just bought a no name eBay for the rear and a obx for the front to give the engine bay a little more sparkle and it has a bit more depth because its not just a round bar like the one in my rear, so it all is the same the best ones will be the non adjustable or customs but still they all do the same thing so it just comes down to what you want, for the rear you can pick on up on eBay for less then 30 bucks and it does the job well.

jedubz

Hey Tyson,

Can you elaborate a bit more? ie real suspension, real affect in performance? What should I be buying instead? I want to have real performance gains, and most people mention that they experience this with the cheaper bars. The parts that are on my car are on it because of circumstance. My ultimate plan is to "fill the gaps" / stage 1 the car for the next year until I don't need to drive it daily.

Thanks for your feedback, and let me know what you guys are running!

virusinfection1

for a strut to work properly you hole sespension needs to be perfect that is if your going for track racing other then that struts just stiffen the chassis it improves better hole shot in racing but with out the proper adjustments to your suspension and everything else really all it does is look good.

http://youtu.be/m4KgS8ertHU

Tyson

jedubz, you should be concerned first with removing all the crap components on your car. specifically the "unkown lowering springs, Tokico Blues, ... and 1992-1995 Civic Blox Rear lower control arms." keep the neuspeed front bar, thats pretty effective.

replace with some decent shocks like Illuminas (its a MUCH better shock than Blues, despite from the same company. not from the same factory tho, china vs japan).

and then get some proper springs. you CAN reuse your crappy adjustable coilover sleeves with better springs from Eibach, instead of getting a whole new Ground Control kit. I think the sleeves are much better, easier to adjust and dont freeze up or corrode if you install and use them properly. You can start with the standard GC rates for the CRX, 350f/250r for now and then later when you want you can buy your own springs to match your talent and application.

also tire choice is most important to good handling.

those blox lower control arms are crap and im probably sure their bushings are junk by now. OEM arms and bushings work great and have a much longer lifetime than those dirt cheap chinese made stuff. you just have to install the arms properly by tightening the suspension bolts under load, and anytime you work on the suspension. bad bushings are obviously a bad thing and can severely affect ride performance.

lastly, you ought to go over the whole car and spend money on maintaining other worn out components. typical things are the steering rack end bushing, ball joints and rod ends and of course brakes. this is where you ought to spend the most effort to get your car ready for the track. a completely STOCK and well maintained car is all you need to get started. REALLY, you do not need to upgrade or modify anything, its all about upgrading the driver first when starting out. unfortunately most noobs never want to admit it or realize this... so im probably talking into the air with this advice.

the point is that a rear strut bar is absolutely worthless and the last thing that should cross your mind when talking about adding performance to your car.

virusinfection1

I agree to a certain extent to this, the driver is the first to be upgraded, but what you really need to do is learn all about the cars purpose, track or strickly driving, there is a difference.
I like upgrading parts because there are a lot of performance mods you can do to a ride that where you only spend the money once and never touch it again, motor mounts are one of those things you can get for cheap but have to replace again down the road or pay 300 bucks for and never touch again, bushings ball joints ect, suspension like previously stated after the suspension if you need a strut to help stiffen the chassis then youll know after youve down all the necessary work first.
Save your money put it in the suspension first, and the learn all you can about the ride and feel of your car, if you need struts you will know.

virusinfection1

I disagree, rear traction even in a front wheel drive car is something you need, helping the cars chassis to be more stiff so it doesn't bend or twist keeping the center of gravity where it is needed helps in propelling a car. Just like the discussions on rear wings on a fwd car, no matter what it helps create down force and any little bit counts on or off a track.
So adding a strut front or rear an all the other pillar types they make out there does in my opinion help.

zrickety

iTrader: (1)

i take my rear bar out sometimes to haul stuff. maybe it's in my head, but the car feels a little more 'loose' when it's not there. like all parts on my build, i weigh cost vs performance. i'll buy quality spark plugs, filters, belts, joints, etc, but i cheap out on stuff like strut bars and intake pipes.

jedubz

It's answers like these that made me leave Honda-Tech a few years ago. I'm not concerned (in this post) with anything besides the rear strut bar.

Tell me what kind of strut bar to get, or about which one not-to get, and why. Don't insult my car or intelligence. If you don't have something to say about about CRX rear strut bars on the market, don't reply.

hoga113

Get strut bar that have thick base mount. I have tanabe and vision strut bar, I do weekly canyon run, it bend the mount, then I go with EM racing strut bar on rear now.

jedubz

Thanks Hoga113.

So you bent your Tanabe Sustec bar on hard runs, but have not experienced this with the EM Racing "Z-bar"?

I'm cautious about the Z-bar because I plan to add a cage in the near future.