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I just cured my suspension/handling/steering woes with the Neuspeed Upper Strut Bar.

I have dealer-installed off-brand 17" wheels/tires that create a lot of chassis flex. I dunno the weight but I'm sure they are on the heavy side.

The Neuspeed bar has made an AMAZING, or should I say STUNNING difference.The car handles and steers much better.

If you have big wheels, go buy an upper stut bar, you can install it yourself, it's super easy, and you'll absolutely love it.

So what can you expect?
I noticed the difference pulling out of my driveway, its a "night and day" type difference.
The best $110 I ever spent on a car.

 
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how does big, heavy wheels create chassis flex?

 
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that's good to know, i just ordered my neuspeed strut bar last week, its coming right now

 
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hehe he probably meant when he's cornering the wheels being heavy - pull [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG]

 
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I'm wondering the same thing. Hmm... A big heavy wheel will have a large moment of inertia, so when it spins up it will be harder to steer. The power steering should help you out, but when you do fast turns going at high speeds the chassis will flex more than it would with smaller wheels since it's like there's resistance to turning the wheels. Hmm... So when you turn you get more chassis flex with big wheels. Makes sense. Don't know how pronounced this is, but you may be right. A front strut bar will definately cure that (depending on how stiff it is). Hmm... I forget what the force is called. It's a weird thing where a spinning wheel is harder to turn the faster it spins and the more mass it has and the more mass it has on the outside.

 
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Im confused?????

[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG]

Anyone with stock rims or aftermarket rims would benefit the same way. I asume that you consider 15's to be "not heavy".

185-60-15 is going to create alot more "tire roll" than a say 205-17-40 would. Id rather have a little chassis flex than extra tire roll anyday!


Is your car lowered jwsisme? Cause if you have 17's on a stock suspension,of course theres gonna be hella chasis flex cause your car is higher than stock.

 
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It also appears that you have an 01 lx or dx which did not come stock with front and rear sway bars

 
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It's a 2001 LX, but I didn't know the car didn't have swapbars.
The suspension is otherwise stock.

I never drove the car without the 17" wheels, so I actually don't know if the car feels the same way with stock wheels.

Regarding the chassis flex... my thinking is that big heavy wheels create more resistance at speed, and the civic suspension isn't designed for them, its designed for something a bit lighter, so you get some movement in the chassis/suspension, where I dunno, but it's there somewhere.

Neuspeed says this about their strut bars, "You will feel the difference in handling, and it is especially important when using larger wheels and tires."

Thinking about it further... if I can feel the car is stiffer even at very low speeds, like pulling in or out of my drive way, maybe the wheels aren't the biggest factor.

In the end I still dunno, but I love the results, and twisty roads are fun again. [IMG]i/expressions/demon.gif[/IMG]

 
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i understand that with bigger wheels the handlings not as stable tho.. like my car will start to lean torward any crack on the road. i always have to make sure i have one hand on the wheel cause ya hit a lil crack and my steering goes off, i'm thinking this is cause i have wider wheels and there isnt as much sidewall to absorb even the slightest impact.. and if the road is really really badd, my steering wheel will even turn a whole 30 degrees
i dunno is that what your talking about when you say the strut bar fixed that? if so hmm. maybe i should get it..

 
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Well it still catches the ruts in the road and steers by itself, like you are describing, because it has happened before and after the bar, but I don't get that too much. I agree VNlilMAN... that this is a tire issue and the tire width and profile do impact tracking or whatever you call it. Basically, the more radical the tire, the more pronounced the issue usually is, or so I have always read.
VNlilMAN you would likely notice the difference when you fight the "rut tracking"...the steering is more responsive and there is less overall flex in the front end of the car.

CivicVTec- Let us know what you think about it 4sure!

 
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01 LX has front sway bars. 25.4mm

quite large.

no rear sway though [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/IMG]

and thats whats really needed.

 
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Ok, so a 2001 does have a stock front swaybar, 25.4mm.
If I'm going to do the rear swaybar, what's a good match?

 
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What do you mean by sway "bar's". As in there is more than one?? And if it does come with one wouldnt it be an anti sway bar?
I for some readon thought that the 01 lx doesnt have a front anti sway bar. But i know for a fact my 02 lx has front anti sway and a rear sway bar.

01 lx suspension is soooooo jacked!!! I dont know why Honda would put such a huge anti sway bar (bar's?) 25.4 on the front and not one for the rear??? ? I was alway told that anything over 24mm would create understeer at high speeds, especially if the front is thicker than the rear sway bar.

 
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Yeah, that's why Honda decided to fix that problem with the '02's. Although DX's still don't get a rear anti-roll bar in '02, right? [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG]
Anyway, I have 27mm front and 22mm back right now and I have a little oversteer. It just depends on a lot of factors. Weight distribution betwean front and rear is one of them. Whether the anti-roll bar is hollow or solid is another. The shape of the anti-roll bar is yet another. The angle of the end-links to the control arms is important too. The bushings as well. You can't just make the generalization that a thicker front sway bar will create understeer; also speed in and of itself has little to do with it.

 
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bottom line: the neuspeed is one of the most effective mods for the price. PERIOD.

 
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Springs are the most effective when it comes to suspension!

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whats the point of having 17's and stock height with sway bars?

I stiffer spring rate is always first on my list! screw a sway bar! [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/IMG]

 
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yup agreed...

 
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I took a ride up to Stunt Canyon, which is off of Mulholland Highway, which I've been racing up and down for 18 years, (VNlilMAN: do you know the place?). The upper strut bar made a huge difference in my confidence and ability on that road. The stock shocks and springs certainly aren't the best, but they aren't that bad performing either.

Anyways....Here's my thinking:
The car has shocks and springs, but the stock LX coupe doesn't have a rear sway bar, or upper strut bar in front or rear, and it doesn't have the X brace. Since there are not a lot of shock/spring/coilover options, I say: get what your car doesn't have first.

When I'm done getting what I don't have, either I will like it enough to want to keep the stock shocks/springs, or it will be time to replace the shocks/springs. I might even have a few more options to choose from.

Whats the point of having 17's and stock height with sway bars?
There's a lot of points, too many to list, but the biggest is this:
I want to improve my performance without hurting the ride quality.
Granted...I would like to be an inch lower the stock, but that's not the priority.

After Grey reports the results on the spoon upper rear strut bar, if it makes a difference, I will likely get it with the rear RSX 19mm ASB. Then I will evaluate and consider shock/spring/coilover options.

Thanks everyone for the imput