A rear sway comes stock on my Prelude, and I'm rnning koni yellows/ Neuspeed race springs. There is understeer when the koni's are at full soft all around, but when I stiffen the rear up by half I believe it's mostly gone, or at least feels like it to me.

If stiffening up the rear does the same thing as upgrading the swaybar.. would a thicker rear swaybar be worth the upgrade? What characteristics would it provide over stiffening up the rear koni's?

 

Stiffening the swaybar is not the same thing as stiffening the rear springs, or increasing the damping on the shocks. A rear swaybar is a good first mod to reduce understeer, but if at all possible I'd recommend going with stiffer springs first. The swaybar should be used more as a tuning device to complement the springs.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PIC Performance &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Stiffening the swaybar is not the same thing as stiffening the rear springs, or increasing the damping on the shocks. A rear swaybar is a good first mod to reduce understeer, but if at all possible I'd recommend going with stiffer springs first. The swaybar should be used more as a tuning device to complement the springs. </TD></TR></TABLE>



what are the sizes for the oem front/rear sways on a lude?

 

The stock rear sway for 4th gen preludes are hollow 23mm, and I think its the same for 5th gen as well. ST makes I believe 25mm solid bars, and progress makes 27mm solid bars.

Well I want to keep the neuspeed springs I have as they are pretty comfy matched with the koni's, and I like the drop. So basically what I'm asking is .. what difference would I feel in going with stiffer settings for the koni's in the back and stock sway vs. soft in the back and thicker sway. I have an idea of the differences but would like to know for sure to make an informed buy.

 

The nice thing about stiffening the rear by using adjustable shocks, is that you can drive home in a neutral or safely understeering car again if you auto-x or track. If you live in an area where it snows alot in the winter, its nice to change the balance of the car back to where it was. I heard someone say, theres a reason there are soo many ITR rear sways out there that have been donated. It does behave differently though, as youre doing two totally different things. The sway bar is the better way to reduce understeer as well as harder springs out back, because with stiffer rebound, the cars suspension is actually working slower. Some people complain the car feels like its dragging its tail with too much rebound, and not enough spring, but in a DD car, its a tradeoff. I'm going with a gsr rear sway and adjustables so I can do just what youre looking at doing.

 

Problem with going to stiffer rear springs is that it makes the car ride much more harshly on bad roads. A sway bar is like adding spring rate during cornering only. It doesn't affect ride quality when driving straight, unless the road is really uneven.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by b18LS &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The nice thing about stiffening the rear by using adjustable shocks, is that you can drive home in a neutral or safely understeering car again if you auto-x or track. If you live in an area where it snows alot in the winter, its nice to change the balance of the car back to where it was. I heard someone say, theres a reason there are soo many ITR rear sways out there that have been donated. It does behave differently though, as youre doing two totally different things. The sway bar is the better way to reduce understeer as well as harder springs out back, because with stiffer rebound, the cars suspension is actually working slower. Some people complain the car feels like its dragging its tail with too much rebound, and not enough spring, but in a DD car, its a tradeoff. I'm going with a gsr rear sway and adjustables so I can do just what youre looking at doing.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i just recently added a oem gsr rear sway and wow, what a difference in handling. The car feels so much more neutral and you feel more confident when your taking fast turns.

 

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

i just recently added a oem gsr rear sway and wow, what a difference in handling. The car feels so much more neutral and you feel more confident when your taking fast turns. </TD></TR></TABLE>

haha, that's kinda funny actually, considering the GS-R rear bar is like a skinny spaghetti strand.

My old 89 Camry came with no rear sway bar from the factory, so I added the OEM one from the higher-end models, which was only 13mm in diameter, and I felt almost no difference, even with wide 205/50-16 tires (up from the stock 185/70-14 POS's).

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PatrickGSR94 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

haha, that's kinda funny actually, considering the GS-R rear bar is like a skinny spaghetti strand.

My old 89 Camry came with no rear sway bar from the factory, so I added the OEM one from the higher-end models, which was only 13mm in diameter, and I felt almost no difference, even with wide 205/50-16 tires (up from the stock 185/70-14 POS's).</TD></TR></TABLE>

haha coming from having no rear sway at all there was a good difference. I decided on throwing the gsr rear sway becuz 1. i got it for free (payed $25 for oem endlinks) and 2. drove my little bros em1 (comes w/ 13mm rear sway) and his rear end held alot better in corners. His EM1 is running the bigger 26mm front sway, but i knew the rear sway played a big part too. I just took my car up to the canyons last night(i dont drive reckless haha) and the difference was night and day, going through corners the rear held up alot better and i could finally keep up with my buddies.

 

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

i just recently added a oem gsr rear sway and wow, what a difference in handling. The car feels so much more neutral and you feel more confident when your taking fast turns. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, I noticed the steering got a lot lighter as well. Even 1mm difference is over 20% stiffer.