I'm begining to run out of things to do to my suspension. Here is what I've done so far........

lowering springs
Skunk2 front camber kit
SRR rear camber kit
SRR rear lower control arms
Energy Suspension front swaybar bushings
Comptech 22mm rear swaybar/tie bar combo
Carbing 3pt aluminum front strut tower bar
Mugen rear strut tower bar
Falken Azenis tires

I'm currently saving up for some Zeal coilovers. So in the meantime, I guess a front lower tie bar would be a good thing to get next since it's a damn cheap mod. The only thing that concerns me is having to sacrifice precious ground clearance. Right now, I'm still undecided on either the Carbing, Cusco, or JIC. I heard these 3 are all made by Carbing/Okuyama, and the finish is the only thing that separates them apart. Can anyone confirm this? What color does everyone think looks best?

Carbing (white)


Cusco (blue)


JIC (chrome bling)
[no pic]

Anyone using the Carbing or JIC piece, are there any scraping issues? How do you like this bar?




[Modified by Draggin99Si, 4:16 AM 2/4/2003]

 

I asked for the front and rear Lower tie bars (carbing) from my GF for V-Day!

My uppers (carbing) should be here the 5th!

If she gets them (she better haha) I will post pics and Give experince!

Eric

 

Cool let us know how you like it. I'm leaning towards the Carbing front lower also since my front upper is already Carbing, so I might as well stick with the same company. Definitely post up some pics!

 

why don't you also replace all your rubber bushings with polyurethane ones. That's what I'm in the middle of doing.

 

I don't recommend any of those if your car is dropped least 1.5inches. I have the cusco bar, its hits pretty much everything on the road. And just a week ago it totally got bent when i was driving up to a car lift.
My friend had the cusco bar also but driving in Georgetown he hit a manhole and ripped his out and messing up his suspension.
I believe the cusco is the same one as curbing, they both sit way too low to the ground. I'm dropped about 1.5inches and teh bar is about 3inches off the ground.

 

Dont get a front lower tie if your car is lowered. I had a 2" drop on my Integra and Acura bashed my Cusco bar pulling it on a center lift. Theyre all pretty much the same design and where the connect, and if you car is lowered its a bitch.

 

jic baby, blingin

 

You can also try a OEM ITR front crossmember bar that bolts up to the suspension right under your steering rack in the engine bay...Your car should already have the 4 threaded holes for it....

 

or how about you go run your car around the track?

why do you care what brand you have for a tie bar? they work the same, and its not like anyone is going to see your "bling".

 

how bout some srr tie rod ends and the srr exhaust heat shield.


[Modified by djhatch, 1:33 AM 2/5/2003]

 

That's what I'm using on my 93 hatch, I got it at a body shop from a GSR parts car for 10 bucks

 

JIC is bad ***..i have the JIC bullet 505 2.5 cat back exhaust and ive never seen or heard anything of this quality

im currently saving for the front and rear strut tower bars for my eg

 

cusco.!

 

hell yeah, i have a cusco too, very under-rated mod it does wonders for steering prescision and response. i have tein ra's with a pretty agressive drop and i havnt had any ground clearance issues. the bar has a few scapes in it but nothing major.

get whichever one is readily available, these are cheap($) but i had to wait for 2 months for mine. definately worth it though. but just based on some of the retarded drops i have seen on this forum, if you are a ricer bottoming out on everything(including manholes ) then dont get this bar, otherwise definately get it and you can even look at it as alittle protection for your much more expensive header.

couple this with an itr or benen crossmember and you are golden

EDIT: these do present a problem when driving onto certain lifts but the install only takes a few minutes and if you know you are bringing your car to a shop just take it off. if you drive over something on the street that will hit this bar then you need to pay better attention, these are right in line with the wheels so speed bumbs and inclines dont present a problem... if youre are encountering objects that protrude 3+" from the street surface that are stationary enough to damage this solid bar then.... i dont even know how to finish that sentence.
[Modified by euclid, 11:22 PM 2/4/2003]


[Modified by euclid, 11:45 PM 2/4/2003]

 

i'd go with a front cross member bar instead. i don't believe its worth sacrificing valuable ground clearance for a mod that can be compensated for in other places...ie the cross member.

plus i think these bars are all overrated, as a good upper front strut bar and rear upper strut bar along with sway bars is all you really need to have a great handling car...and i speak from my own experience and after seeing chris's aka b18c5's car auto-x. he doesn't utilize a front lower strut bar and or a front cross member bar and i'll put his car up against anyone in the country.

 

Oh my god, could it be true. Am I going to agee with Jonas on something.

 

im reposting this idea from a thred i responded to last week but o well... people need to realize that much higher speeds and g forces are seen on the street than auto-x, and a parking lot does not have bumps and potholes to add to chasis flex like the street does. plus whatever manipulation night driving has on your perception that makes flex become much more apparant.

this bar DOES help in many areas especially steering response... if you havnt had the bar on a properly set up car then sorry but you are not speaking from experience.

EDIT: and based on this dudes setup now and his future plans for zeals... he is working towards a properly setup car.



[Modified by euclid, 12:00 AM 2/5/2003]

 

i have a fair amount of experience, and chris aka http://www.b18c5.com has more experience than 99% of people on this board.

i'm not saying a front lower tie bar wouldn't make a difference, but i'm saying that its not worth the compromise...especially when the difference can be made with a bar that attaches to the same part of the subframe, just on top rather than below. i think its crazy to have a bar hang that low, especially when you consider the height of cars when their suspension is compressed coming around a corner...or experiencing strong downward forces...etc....plus for daily driving having a bar hang as low as the front cross member car is impractical, as i know of a few people that tore theirs off (was a benen piece) with cars that were at the same height as mine, which is only about a 2.25 inch drop.

and before you say i have no experience, i auto-x regularly and finish in the top 2, 3 of all cars on street tires at most events here in the tampa area...ask kenji or eric oleson if you're interested in checking my credibility and or knowledge on this, as i was faster than both of them on similar setups.

again, i don't know everything, i am somewhat familiar with what it takes to get a hatchback to handle well, and i don't believe a front lower tie bar is a necessary piece of that equation when there are other options out there.

 

Euclid made points, I have choose to get the lower tie bars for reasons that My car will be a track car more so then a Auto x car (or other wise i would have left my car alone)

I have also made big changes since to my car, In which i will need time to dial in!!

Eric

 

Well, the Benen bar I've got on my 92 hatch hasn't ever scraped on anything. I'm lowered on H&R Sports, so just over 1.5".

They said it was a risk, but it's just never happened.

*shrug*

 

K-bar