Hey guys,

I've got a 95 cx. I've done tons of stuff to it.
It's my dd right now. and my project. and my showcar after paint/body work is done this year. It's only got a sohc jdm d15 vtec right now.
May put a b20 in it soon.

I'm not trying to make it a drag king, or a auto x king, just a fun car that handles Great.

Haven't done much to suspsension/handling improvements except I have kyb struts w/ ground control coilovers.

Just got my first chassis strengthening item.

Spoon Sports front strut bar.

I've been doing a lot of research and I would just like to know:

What are the pros and cons of sway bars and strut bars?
What would be a great set up for a 95 cx hatchback?

I would assume having both front and rear strut bars with front and rear sway bars would be best.

The strut bars will both be relatively the same in strength and wont matter.

But sway bars come in different sizes, so which to get to achieve what?

Is it better to not have a front sway. Have front strut bar, and no rear strut bar, but have a rear sway bar????

Please only give advice if you've been down the same road. thanks.

 

I'd Do KoniY/GroundContral combo if you want AutoX.
Sway bar would cause less under steer depending how thick it is.
I'm not so sure about what strut bars are used for I'm pretty sure its for under steering too. but i would get a sub frame brace you will feel a difference on your steering. sorry i couldn't help much

 

strut bars are useless in dd's in my opinion. the first thing i would do is a rear sway bar to address the understeer issues. thats probably the biggest and best upgrade. next i would do front sway bars and probably replace the old trailing arm bushings in the rear. after that i would start replacing bushings i love my energy suspension bushings on my car it handles so much better. the last thing i would do if i already had everything else would be reinforcing the chassis...strut bars pillar bars etc.. good tires are always a plus

 

I would say good tires are the first, most important thing. I agree with the post above for most of the other stuff though. A rear sway bar will really help with understeer. If I were you, I'd stick with your spring/shock combo unless you want something really fancy. My Konis were not good. I would recommend either just a small rear sway bar or a large rear bar with a front bar. A subframe brace would be a good idea if you're going with a sway bar bigger than a stock Si one. I think strut bars and other chassis reinforcement do the least benefit, but they'll still help a bit.

 

^bingo!
You can throw thousands at the suspension, and without good tires it will all be a waste.

Look into a 94-01 integra front sway bar/ lower control arms. Doesn't matter what model it comes from, they will all work.

With that in, drive the car around and see how you like it.

I would highly reccomend starting with a small rear sway bar to start. A stock DC rear sway bar is 14mm, and that should do just fine for a DD.

After that, if you feel like you want more oversteer, pick up a ITR rear sway bar.

 

I understand a thicker rear sway will rip out if I don't get a subrace also.

98civdx: your saying go ahead and keep my spoon sports front strut bar on. and the next thing to get is a rear sway bar set up ? and then go from there?

Is it more beneficial to have only a sway in the rear, and to not accompany it w/ a strut bar?

That's my whole point to this thread, I know I can just get strut bars and sway bars.
but I'd like to hear what a good set up would be.

So far I'm hearing put in a rear sway. and then front sway for some reason....
and then lastly do strut bars.

help me out guys. Just need one guy with lots of experience w/ this to chime in.
thanks for the replies so far

 

I would think putting in front and rear strut bars would have to cons. only pros. stiffen up chassis.

and then the sways are the real difference.

So the question would be: If I have front and rear strut bars. And I want my street car daily spirited driven to handle awesome,,,, Do I only get rear sway? or both front and rear?

there. that's more simple of a question I guess.

Is this what I should get?? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT

or should I go with a itr rear sway with subframe brace and itr front sway right off the bat?
I definetly don't want to go with a weenie set up just to "try" out, then pay more $ to get the itr bar. I just want to do it one time around.

 

^^^^ That would be a great start... You can also grab a rear subframe brace and install it when you swap out the rest....I would grab some energy suspension bushings for the front lower control arms if you grab the ones off ebay they look like they have seen better days lol...

 

I would disagree with getting the rear sway bar first. If I am not mistaken the cx came without any sway bars. Adding a rear bar first is going to upset the balance of the car. Start at the front with its sway bar, then add the rear for a dd a oem14mm will be plenty. Find yourself a pick and pull salvage yard look for 94-01 integras and pull the front lower control arms and sway bar. If it also has a rear bar get all the same parts. Remember to also keep all the mounting hardware. Should be able to pick it all up for around $100

 

Might as well keep it, if you already have it.

With a 14mm bar, no you will not a brace or anything. The stock subframe is plenty strong to handle that small bar. You will need to get LCA's though.

Honestly, I wouldn't bother with a strut bar unless it was a 3 point or more...
There is people that say they make a large difference, and others that laugh when they here it. Turns into a debate almost everytime they are brought up.

By all means, if you want them get them. But I really can't see them making that big of a difference.


Persoanly I reccomend holding off on getting the itr rear bar for now, unless you have experience driving honda's with large rear bars.
They can get you into trouble quite fast and easily.

I have spun around a couple times with 22mm+ bars.

If you have some good sticky tires, go for it....

You could also swap some hard rubber/poly bushings in to stiffen the car up as well.
Poly does tend to fail sooner, and requires a good bit of maitanece.

 

Knowing that your Cx is lighter than my Si, Suspension and frame support is mainly dependant on the driver, some like it stiffer, some like is softer. I found I really like this setup for spirited daily driving, I don't see the track anymore.
92 EH3 oem 19mm front swaybar
2000 ITR suspension/rear lca's
2000 USDM ITR 22mm rear sway bar(too big for dd)
ASR rear subframe brace
1996 Delsol front lower subframe brace
PWJDM front and rear strut braces

Figure out your driving style, and the terrain you will be driving on.

And unless you're getting type r parts for dirt cheap, get aftermarket. Don't pay for the ITR or JDM hype.

 

anyone else got some opinions or good set-ups ?

I'm going to go with front and rear gsr sways. w/ asr brace and beaks, just for fun.
spoon front strut bar and still deciding on rear bar, but will prob match it up w/ a spoon.

 

As to sway bars, if you want to move the steering behavior towards nuetral or mild oversteer, a new front OEM and appropriately chosen larger rear will aid cornering by helping the car rotate during a turn. But choose very carefully.

 

You might want to be aware, you are replying to a 9 year old thread. The original posters have quite likely moved on.

 

This is the 2nd or 3rd one I've seen him reply to. Dude needs to be sure to check the date they were posted before commenting. I'm guilty of having done that, so that's why I give that advice.

 

Yeah there was two oldies, as well as he has two questions he's asked that no one seems to have information they can provide. It shows he's searching so that's good, just not aware of our etiquette around here where we let old threads be and reference them if we have a question regarding them. However his posts have provided added info for future searchers so it's not all bad, and can easily be seen as helpful.

 

Yep, its a definitely better than those "hey, what hedderz R best? aluminum or carbon fiber" derp posts. Lol