hey all i just wanted to share my experience with a new rear sway bar i got for my 91 crx hf. i believe its a progress sway bar since it was blue *got it off craigslist* its thickness is about 22mm. its an adjustable one with 3 holes on each end of the bar. well i put it on today was pretty straight foward. i put the setting to medium *second hole ftw* and test drove it and didnt get that night and day difference people always say... i know i should feel a big difference since i dont even have a sway in the first place. i do feel a difference, the steering is more snappy than before. before the car was pretty sluggish, i have gr2 suspension on h&r race springs. but what i noticed other than the quick response is that i have to turn the steering wheel more, through 90 degree turns it feels like i have to move the steering wheel more than before. hmm maybe to really feel the difference with the bar is through continuous turns "like S turns"? if you want describe to me what you guys felt *in detail not just say night and day!@* when you put your aftermarket swaybar... oh and thanks for reading my post, sorry its kinda long!

 

I would assume it only helps when your really getting on it. Around town it wouldnt help much because its not doing much.

Just keep in mind that sway bars take away traction from the wheels that you put it on. Its the same as putting on stiffer springs, without the shitty ride.

 

Yeah night and day (sorry it really was)
When I installed a sway bar (ST) I had stock suspension, and good tires. It went from tons of understeer, lots of body roll on corners to a bit of oversteer, Feeling much more planted and being able to actualy spin out .

After spinning out I started to believe the warning on the sway bar saying something to the effect of "go to a f-ing track and test it first, your cars handling will be dramaticly different". I saw that statement and thought to myself "Yeah right thats some BS", but lo and behold they are correct!

I imagine since you already have a stiff suspension that the difference in handling was less than the difference felt with a stock suspension.

But there are lots of variables to handling, so it could be any number of things.

play with the settings on the sway bar, maybe you can tighten it up a bit and get it where it feels good.

and it doesnt just work when "getting on it" it works whenever the car is "swaying".


Modified by grog at 7:22 PM 4/21/2008

 

hey neozero, you said you installed the sway bar on yourself? i heard that the tow hook ***** dont have threads so you have to make your own bracket or something. I have a 91 dx crx and trying to figure out how im gonna put on a sway bar.

 

well i really "got on it" today haha, did some spirited driving in some mountain roads. it IS night and day! before i could really feel the transfer of weight through the switch back turns *s turns" now with the sway bar the rear feels more planted and it feels like i can "aim" the car where it wants to go, like the rear follows nicely. i have to say my suspension isnt great, but if i were to get koni yellows with GC it be a killer set up for some fun driving. voodooboy is right around town i couldnt feel the potential of the bar, but after today it felt real nice. thanks guys for reading! if your like me and have a non rear sway bar car, and looking for a more predictable rear end, try a sway! oh by the way about the brackets that mount on the shocks, what it does is mount on the head of the bolt so that it clamps it down to the shock, and it holds good, i dunno about making brackets? but if u get the ST sway you should be complete to put it on your car.!

 

The sway bar should come with those brackets. When I put the ST rear sway bar on my car (which already had stiff springs & adjustable shocks) it made that car feel more stable around turns & at high speeds (90+). It definately made that car closer to neutral, when going around corners relatively fast it made it tend to oversteer rather then understeer.

 

I also just installed a rear sway bar on my 90' hatch dx. It is a ST bar and like neozero999 said the rear end becomes much more predictable and stable.

The one thing i have to get used to is not knowing exactly where the breaking point is in my suspension as far as traction goes. I just have kyb gr2's with stock springs, a nuespeed rear lower tie bar and the sway bar. Before the sway i was able to tell about where the suspension would give and therefore i knew when to stop pushing it haha. Well the other day i took it out for a test drive with the new sway bar and i hit the breaking point without knowing it was coming and ended up kicking the back end out and in the end doing a controlled slide at about 65-75mph. It was pretty fun i must admit and i absolutely love the sway bar. Well worth the money

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hondacivic90zc &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well the other day i took it out for a test drive with the new sway bar and i hit the breaking point without knowing it was coming and ended up kicking the back end out and in the end doing a controlled slide at about 65-75mph. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I'll run 3-4 track events a year with no rear sway. In the rain, it is VERY easy to get it sideways, where you kinda have to try to in the dry. I'd definatly recommend staying stock if your going to track it, at least for the first few times. I've done my share of spinning, dont think its a required upgrade to do so.