My 96 ex is dropped with H&R race and KYB adj. I am planning on playing around in the spring with a little auto X action. My question is what kind of swaybar or strut brace setup might do some justice. I was planning on the Suspension Techniques Front and Rear kit. Can someone explain the concept of over and understeer to me. I know the basics but what will I extect with a swaybar upgrade? And YES, I know Accords are not the best to Auto X in, but I just want to have some fun before I were to buy something to compete with
Thanks

 

Oversteer is when the rear slip angle of the tires is greater than the front (when the rear tires lose grip quicker). Understeer is the opposite: the front slip angles are greater. Generally, when you stiffen the front suspension you increase understeer. Conversely, stiffening the rear suspension increases oversteer. FWD cars typically understeer, while RWD or AWD cars can be more neutral or have some oversteer. For safety, production cars are designed with understeer. For auto-x, some oversteer is desirable to be able to rotate the car easier by bringing the rear end around.

Sooo, to answer your question, a ST swaybar kit will make your Accord oversteer more. The front bar from ST doesnt improve all that much over the stock bar, but the ST rear bar is much larger in diameter than the stock bar. Its clear they design the kit to make the car oversteer more.

 

you would most likely want more understeer in your fwd accord.

put some bigger sway bar in the rear and leave the stock one alone.

softer setting in the front suspension and harder/stiffer setting in the rear.

there's alot of ways to do it

 

Oh my.. You are the first person on this site to ever fully answer a question of mine. I greatly appreaciate your advice, Thank you. And thank you again for not responding with a " why don't you try searching" remark

 

Yeah, that is how I have my shocks set, soft up front and stiff in the rear. hahaha...yes, I said stiff in the rear

 

No problem! I dont like flaming people unless its just a totally stupid/uninformed question. To follow up, id say the ST swaybar kit would be perfect for some basic autocross action. Heard lots of good reviews...i've installed the ST front bar on my '97 CL, and am waiting on hardware to install the rear bar. The steering now feels a little lighter and more responsive at low speeds with the new front bar. I'll update you when I finally get the rear bar in...

 

Thanks, appreciate the info.