Hello all,
After reading thread after thread on strut bars its only made my decision on choice that much harder. Some people sware by them, others simply think its a waste of $ to upgrade. For stiffining purposes only (not cosmetic!) what would an aftermarket strut bar have over my GS-R bar? I have seen many members make their own bars- and seem pretty well designed, should I try it?
Here are some things to remember... GS-R Bar is Aluminum weaker than steal and prone to bending under harsh conditions.

 

Harsh conditions? Like say an accident? I've never seen any bar bend just from driving, but hey, I haven't seen it all. And the GSR bar is not aluminum. It is steel. Try putting a magnet to it. If it were aluminum, it would be better because aluminum is more rigid and lighter than steel. That's why the NSX body is made completely of aluminum. An aftermarket bar can be better in many different ways if it is made correctly. You gotta look at the construction: material, thikness, welds, shape. Aluminum will break before it bends, but steel will bend relatively easily. A cicurlar tube (like the stock GSR bar) won't be as rigid as say an oval tube (like on the Mugen bar). If the bar triangulates to the firewall (like the pricier of the two Carbings) then it will likely offer you more rigidity as it has another mount and offers a better load bearing shape, i.e. the triangle.

If you can make a good weld and can get good rigid materials, then by all means go at it! There's nothing better than having an original (that works) on your machine. But there are a lot of good ones out there already, so is it worth it? Your decision.

Trust me on this one, if you want any kind of rigidity through corners of your road track, and even if you're blistering it up down the 1320, you can use a bar, front and back, upper and lower. In my opinion, chassis rigidity is too often overlooked by the budget racer, no offense.

 

Thanks for the reply. Chassis rigidity is key! I have the comptech rear sway system, and im looking to upgrade the front strut bar and either make or buy one for the rear. So besides the costly mugen piece- do you have any other suggestions on products??? Thanks again

 

No prob man, my pleasure. You know, I am a bit of a Mugen *****, to be honest, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I have the rear Mugen, but the front is still stock. For the front I do like the triangulating Carbing (www.passwordjdm.com) and believe they do make a rear piece, but I've never held one in my hand nor have I seen one in person. And there's always the JDM ITR rear bar. I think those are pretty cheap, but I'm not too fond of the way the welds LOOK on them, but that's just cosmetic. I'm sure they are fine as the have the Honda name on them. And I'm sure there's plenty you can get that are decent and low priced, I just don't know of any.

I was looking into the rear Comptech sway bar because of its adjustability, but they disclaimed that it wouldn't fit with some aftermarket exhuasts. I have the Mugen (surprise) exhaust and suspect that it won't clear. Can you offer any information on it, as well as you opinion on its performance?

Thanks

 

cheap ebay bars own me. i have both tops, and a skunk lower tie on my 92 hatch. along with koni yellows and skunk coils. its a beautiful setup IMO

 

anyone had any luck with the skunk2 strut tower brace?...i can get a really good deal on one but i dont want to spend money if its just pure bling

 

ebay bars have been owning me also. I have ebay rear strut, front and rear lower tie. Putting a ITR rear sway on that i just got....just waiting for my bsq kit to come in.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kchungb17a &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If it were aluminum, it would be better because aluminum is more rigid and lighter than steel.That's why the NSX body is made completely of aluminum.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Aluminum is lighter yes. but more rigid? I dunno about that. I can bend aluminum with my hands if it were as thin as a gsr strut bar. The NSX body is made of aluminum, because its light.

 

thats what i was about to say, aluminum is not more rigid than steel.

 

I used to have JIC carbon fiber strut bars...loved them and there was a huge difference over the stock gsr bar.

Just my 2cents

 

I have the Neuspeed 4 point. It's nice. I think it's worth the money.