I have a 01 Prelude SH and i was planning on buying front and rear tanabe strut bars are they good and is it worth it?

 

I have the megan racing front and rear struts, and love them. they definately helped with the cornering. but, do you have the car on a nice suspension? that'll benefit you more than strut bars.

 

Tanabe bars are made well. I personally prefer bars without hinges like the Neuspeed - better design.

Rear bar is worthless on a Prelude though - just for looks. Put that money towards a rear sway bar instead. Actually, buy good shocks/springs, then a rear sway, then a front strut - smartest way to use your money to get the most out of a Prelude.

 

anybody else have opinions on what i should do?

 

Strut bars don't do a whole lot, that's why they're cheap and easy. Upgrade your rear sway bar and endlinks if you want better handling.

 

i love tanabe and this is probly one of the best sites ive seen that has them at the cheapest ive seen. http://www.hopupracing.com The color is like a polished aluminum. But ebay may have them for like 3 bucks cheaper if u search for tanabe; and i think they come in a red on ebay.

I have the front and it helped alot with the shaking i was having (due to a broken in half brake pad, i found out later).

 

I have a Tanabe rear stb. It feels like my car is stiffer when I go over speedbumps and uneven roads but that is all arbitrary. Like its said above Sway bars > Strutbars.

 

Sway bars + Strutbars = godly =P

 

whats wrong with the type s strut bar? i was lookin at pickin one of them up.

 

I have a tanabe strut bar on the front of my car (which is a 4th gen) I like it, I think I feel a difference over stock (; haha but that's butt-cornerning technical data only.

If you do buy one from ebay, do NOT get one from qualified japanese parts - they were stupid about the shipping with me (not to a po box), refunded my money and kept 10 dollars from me, because i was still contracted to them for the purchase thru ebay i had to pay again with a physical address - and then the bastards sent me one with scratches at either end of the main bar (like it had been installed before or something?) on top of all that it's the redish one, which sorta has a pinkish hue - which wouldn't be my first choice. just a heads up. the worst part is - i can't give them negative feedback as a power seller because they'll trash my reputation which doesn't have too many buys/sales yet. gotta hate that.

 

don't forget to upgrade bushings if you're really serious. I hear good things about tanabe lower tie bars, I've never used any but I'm gonna get some just to try out. Theres a guy on pp.com who swears they are great, so i'm gonna check it out.

I would agree with the suspension, rear sway, struts/tiebars/bushings order though. I've been running no front sway bar for a good while now, thinkin about putting it back on to feel the difference.

 

sorry to punt this to the top (from the living dead)... but i just got a very interesting email back from tanabe - who advises that none of there authorized dealers sell thru ebay - anyways you can read it here....

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thank you for your recent purchase of Tanabe performance products!

We apologize for the delay in response, as our email servers required
maintenance.

We always recommend purchasing through an authorized dealer, and advise
against purchases from ebay due to a high amount of fraud, and "fake"
parts listed. We have had several complaints about that particular
seller (none of our authorized dealers sell on ebay). While we do try
to place limits on our distributors to prevent items from being listed
on ebay, this can sometimes be impossible due to third parties making
sales out of our control. As always, all items from ebay are "buyer
beware".

To properly preload, tighten the load so that it goes inward. You
properly preloaded the car, and this makes a very noticeable difference,
as opposed to simply bolting the bar on.

Best Regards,
Tanabe Racing Development, USA
http://www.tanabe-usa.com

Visit More Japan!
http://www.more-japan.com</TD></TR></TABLE>

anyways - the seller they are referring to is the very one i had problems with, besides all the harping tho, of interesting note is at the end (which was the real reason i emailed them in the first place) on there website it says to "preload" the strut bar (with the tires off the ground)- and i was unsure which way to preload - all senses pointed to inwards - but i wasn't sure, and no one answered in the thread about it - so as juvenile/elementary as it may seem - that's the answer straight from them.

 

i dont mean to bring it back from the dead either but i emailed Tanabe a few times and they never got back to me on any of my emails i sent them.

 

odd... they've replied to every email i've ever sent them, however i'll admitt the response above was a few days delayed - but I was still impressed they replied, especially after point of purchase.

 

my $0.02, get the neuspeed front strut bar and a rear sway bar, the rear strut bar on a prelude is more for show than anything.

 

On the 4th gen you can run the Neuspeed because it is a control arm bar. Hence it bolts to the control arm. You can also get a strut bar. Run both!