Current setup:
99 civic ex coupe
16x7 wheels
205/45/16 Yokohoma S. Drives
22mm USDM ITR rear sway bar / ASR brace (stock front sway bar)
Tokico Illuminas
Eibach Sportlines

At low speed, my cars handling is phenomenal. Its very responsive with the 205 tires and overall good. But anything over, probably 30mph, and it gets pretty unpredictable. I've read the S. Drives are known to have some more noise to them than other tires. But either they're not as sticky as people make them out to be or I need to work on my suspension more.

The long circle on-ramps for highways are where I like to test my car the most. I start to get a pretty good amount of oversteer if I push it hard enough. If I jerk the wheel in the turn, the *** end will slide out and I'll have to correct it slightly. Didn't surprise me as that's what I read would happen with a very beefy rear sway bar. 90 degree turns are okay when I'm going under 30mph. But I get a lot of understeer and tire noise if I go faster.

I want to get a 3-point front strut bar. I used to have one and I noticed a difference in handling. Now, is upgrading the front sway bar to the Si 26mm one worth it? Does it help correct under/over steer? I have my shocks set to 5 in the front and (I THINK, not 100% sure since it's been a while since I've changed it) 2 in the rear. I thought setting it stiffer in the front might compensate for the stiff rear end.

I haven't considered getting my car corner balanced and I do not want to. It's not a track car. I just want some tips to tweak it a little bit for some better / more solid daily driving fun (yes, it is my daily car).

 

some people will swear by the 26mm front sway bar. I have it and definetly like it.
With the 26mm and 22mm it should feel nutral. So im told.

Are you looking for less oversteer? If so a larger front sway will do that.
Remember you'll need si lca's and shock forks.

 

Yeah I'm looking to correct a lot of my understeer.

Damn I need to switch out LCA's and shock forks? I was unaware of that... I have aftermarket shocks. Will that effect anything?

I might not get one after all and see how a 3-point front strut bar helps... My car is driven year round and my city LOVES to use salt. EVERYTHING is rusted underneath the car. Hell I snapped an e-brake cable earlier this year because it was so rusted. I yanked up and POP randomly one day.

 

A larger front bar will make the car want to understeer. Try taking yours off and see how it is. You can do it without removing the exhaust, its tricky though. Going with a stiffer spring and better shock will help too. The S drives arent super sticky. Maybe you should look at the kumho xs or azenis rt 615. they are available in 215/45. also consider 15's, there is a better selection of tires.

my setup is
koni yellow, lowest setting
h&r sport spring
no front arb
22mm ctr rear arb
205/50/15 s drive
15x7 slipstream
sedan

my next step will be probably ground controls in the 400f 300r range, and dunlop star specs or kumho xs, and 15x7 enkei rpf1(9.5lbs each!)

-i would try removing the front bar, and playing with your shocks first before buying a tower bar.

 

Yep, with 99-00 si sway bar you'll need the lca's and shock forks.
The lca is a 1 piece design and wider. And the shock forks are also different. Shocks don't matter, they will all bolt right on.

 

your spring rates are 310/280. try 3 in the rear and 4 up front and see how you like it. Try better tires. tires wil make THE biggest difference in your ride. Since your in NY you should have a winter tire and a summer tire. I do here in MD. Im running potenza RE-11's for summer and Continental snow tires as well on stock steelies. i can assure you a lot of that understeer is being caused by the tires. im running sportlines as well but on eibach shocks. i used to run illuminas and progress springs. i have a 13mm EM1 rear sway and F7 LCAs so the effective swaybar size is around 15mm dues to the different holes that up the stiffness of the bar. I have hardly any understeer unless i REALLY push it. its very balanced. I do want to swtich to a del sol VTEC rear bar though

 

You really don't have a front sway bar? I thought I read having a bigger front sway bar when you get a 19+mm rear sway bar would help counteract the over/understeer (I forget which).

I've considered getting 15" wheels. It's not in my budget right now but I'd like to.

Thanks! I gotta look into an Si bar now with the reply above.

I've tried so many different combinations of shock settings... I think I've done it all lol (except individual numbers, I normally do the same front and same rear). I'll go back to 3/4 though. That's what I used to have it on.

RE-11's are WAY the hell out of my budget... I checked tirerack and it was $704 shipped for 4 205/45's. No way in hell lol. I'm looking at Toyo Proxes R1R right now but those are still going to be around 600 or so.

Yes I do have steelies for winter, not snow tires, but pretty much brand new all seasons.

I know tires make all the difference. But I feel like my suspension is lacking something. I definitely want to get a 3-point front strut bar next year. And I'm going to try out the 4-point rear strut bar if it's in my budget. I mean why not right? If it ends up increasing understeer then I can always sell it.

 

no sir. Its a little snappy and the balance is weird but I prefer it. You def. have to be careful the back will slide if you push it, or its wet, etc.

Honestly you should skip the tower bars until you have the tires you want, and you try some stiffer springs and experiment with sway bars. With the couple hundred youll spend on tower bars you can be that much closer to great tires, or higher rate springs. Tower bars will have little effect on over/understeer. The general rule is that the stiffer end of the car slides first. So say you have a 19mm rear sway with 300lb springs, and 300lb springs in front with no bar, the car will have a tendency to oversteer, the back will slide because the bar reduces roll, making that end more prone to sliding.

Hows the rest of the chassis? Make sure all the bushings are good, tie rods, ball joints, bearings, bolt are torqued to spec, etc.

 

Dunlop star specs are cheaper than the re-11's and in the same class as well. maybe check those. you will be surprised what a good sticky tire will do for you. also your alignment as well will have an effect on things. i wouldnt go spending money on sway bars till you change tires and see what you think. S drives aren't exactly the stickiest tire in the world