I used SEARCH but didnt really find my answer. I have a 97 civic w/ GSR motor/tranny and im looking to start running it in autocrossing/DE's. I have Tein single damping adj c/o's, front and rear strut bars, and ill always be running on street tires. Ive roadraced my e30m3 many times but FWD is new to me. So what swaybars do i want to run? I noticed that the 99-00 Si front bar and LCA's are different design than my 97's. WTF? Also, i have no rear swaybar. What do you guys suggest? Thanks.

 

Comptech (or similar like ASR) adjustable rear bar that has a tie bar to help distribute the load and keep you from tearing out the mounting points.

Comptech:
http://www.comptechusa.com/store/140130.html

 

Damn thats a nice piece! Thanks for the link.

Any other suggestions appreciated.

 

for racing... I would get the Comptech or ASR parts. I run the comptech and LOVE it(tried ST and Eibach). others have put the type R rear bar on, but there is some modifications you have to do and there is no reinforcment.

 

asr/comptech.

type r/skunk2/progress can/will tear your subframe. skunk2 got me.

comptech on my daily driver/track stunna (96 coupe) every day for 3+ years (only because charleston's ek setup wasn't available yet).

 

I ran 22mm ITR rear sway bar with the Beaks kit for seven months, (four autox events), with Skunk2 coilovers/KYB AGX shocks...no tearout problems. I just installed the ASR rear subframe brace on Saturday though...now I have no worries of tearout. Next event is this Sunday.

 

I've been running a 26mm (99-00 Si) front bar and a 24mm Mugen rear bar for autocross/DE for the past 2 years and I like it so far, although for autocross I'll give myself a couple of extra degrees of negative camber up front. Your '97 should have a 22mm OEM bar on it, so something in a 20mm range should help get rid of the understeer. Be sure to use some type of sub-frame reinforcement, expecially if your spring rates are relatively soft (I know nothing of Tein springs). I ran 530F/480R springs with just a Beak's Kit until just recently and had no problems with it, although I have built myself an ASR-style rear brace that I'm currently running, mostly because seeing a bunch of sub-frame tearout pics on H-T made me paranoid.


P.S. - I think you'll enjoy running the Civic once you get it all sorted out, my brother and I both used to run M3's (E36 for me, E46 for him) and we now run Hondas (Civic for me, CRX for him) and have a lot of fun with them.

 

Ive come to this conclusion on my choices so far.

ASR 22mm non-adj $340
ASR 32mm 3-way adj $570
Comptech 22mm 3-way adj $399

So far as i can tell my only problem the first ASR is that its non adjustable.

The second ASR(big bar) is a.expensive b.no one here seems to run it so maybe its too big?(though they do claim it will completely eliminate understeer)

Comptech combines the rienforcement brace along with a 3-way adjustable bar. So far this seems like the most logical choice since its priced in the middle and offers adjustablity(they do say it might have clearance issues with aftermarket exhaust and im running the 2.5" PIT, which is basically a skunk 2 replica).

What do you guys think of the above assesment, am i forgetting something?

And about the front. My stock '97 front swaybar doesnt have endlinks and the 99-00si does. In fact the 99-00si is a completely different design and requires the use of 99-00 control arms. Besides the difference in size of 26mm vs. 22mm mentioned above by rmcdaniels, i wonder if the 99-00si bar is a better design since it has endlinks. Maybe the difference is minimal and doesnt merit the cost/hassle of switching to the 99-00si setup. Isnt a bigger front bar just gonna cause more understeer anyway? Just some food for thought, because i have the necessary 99-00si parts on my other car, but didnt know if it was worth swapping.

 

[QUOTE=ruthless013
progress can/will tear your subframe.
[/QUOTE]

How is this possible with the bracket it's using ?

 

I'm pretty sure the ASR 32mm bar is hollow, so size doesn't necessarily equal stiffness for that one, although out of those 3 options I'd probably pick the Comptech adjustable bar/brace setup on price.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by STN_Pat &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

How is this possible with the bracket it's using ?</TD></TR></TABLE>
Id like to know this too, heres a pic of it:
http://www.sportcompactonly.co...5&l=2
For only $185 this seems another pretty good choice considering the price, "IF" it wont rip out the mounting points. Only bad thing is its non-adjustable, but maybe thats worth giving up for the price.

Its hard to tell from the pic if the reinforcement plate has threaded nuts on the back or if it uses the factory ones and simply includes longer screws to accomodate? Is anyone running this that can clarify?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 240M3SRT &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The second ASR(big bar) is a.expensive b.no one here seems to run it so maybe its too big?(though they do claim it will completely eliminate understeer)
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I have the 32mm, 2.5mm wall thickness bar and mine is 4 way adjustable.

 

A buddy of mine has one of these progress bars on his 96 Hatch, and has had zero problems with it. He has had it installed at least 2 years I'd say, and has completed several DEs as well as countless auto-x events, not to mention his crazy driving on the street. He doesn't have a front swaybar either, and the car is very neutral.

 

I had Suspension Techniques bars on my 98'. Not exactly "adjustable" in the conventional sense, but the price was nice and I had no complaints. 5 years of Pennington concrete (in your backyard ) and Hoo$ier$, resulted in no tear outs or anything funny with the subframe. Also, the ST front bar for a 6G Civic is a different design from the one for a 5G.

 

I thought the 32mm bar from ASR was not offered for sale?

 

FWIW, i called Progress directly and they said their 92-00 rear sway bar does NOT include a reinforcement plate. Appearantely only the RSX applicaion has it. That rules them out for me.

 

check how the bracket is designed you'll understand...