Do strut bars work!

[old&slow]

Ok Im kinda hung up on removing body roll and am trying to gather intel on whats worth spending money on.

Do stut bars and bracing work??
Does something like this:

Link wont work! It's a cross Brace thing that looks like an X-wing fighter from star wars! Goes in the front!

have any impact or is it gimmicks??

thnx

[braden883314]

Adjustable ones work best. The whole idea to to brace the strut towers, its does this by pulling them together, if body roll is the issue, you may also want to look into good beefy antisway bars.

~Braden

[BokCh0y]

yeah fatter sway bars make a huge difference in terms of cutting out the body roll.

strut bars also make a difference IMO but not as much as the sway bars.

when i had my corolla gts what i did to cut down on the body roll was install fatter sway bars, strut bars, lower and bigger rims with less rubber and stiffer struts. thing is though you loose tons of ride comfort that way.

my friends civic has the full meal deal.

-fat sway bars front and rear
-upper front and rear strut bars
-lower front and rear strut bars
-huge ass rims with minimal rubber
-lowered

yeah the dude can take corners FAST at amazing speeds with minimal body roll but he has to be careful with potholes and can barely get off his driveway without scrapping.

[EK 2.0]

Then why increase your rims size??...I mean if you have stockie 13 inchers...then yeha a 15/16 inch wheel on MOST cars is prfect esp a Civic. That will allow you to run a lower profile tire AND still maintain civility...I know this because I swapped from my regular street 17 inchers...to a set of borrowed 15's and I didnt want to give them back...

[BokCh0y]

i dunno - it was my friend. just going with what i know from him.

on my gts i only went from 14" to 15" and it did the job for me. i'm just giving the dude some ideas :dunno:

[old&slow]

Dont want to go any lower...already a small drop.
Been toying with going from 16 to 17 in rims.
Got a fatter rear anti sway. Was wondering about a lower tie bar.
Curious about those cross brace things!

[GTS Jeff]

Strut tower bars won't do a thing to improve body roll. They help to minimize camber changes under cornering.

[Weapon_R]

They don't really do anything to justify buying a set. A good sway bar is far better than a set of strut bars. Ricers will disagree.

[rockym20]

After you have done everything else to your suspension, then you add a strut bar. As Weapon_R said, its mostly the ricers who buy them because they are relatively cheap and pretty-up you engine bay.

[infected]

What is the difference between a sway bar and a strut bar?
Where do they mount?

[FiveFreshFish]

Sway bar

http://tech.hybridgarage.com/gallery/adrian/sb02.jpg



Strut brace

http://amargosa.com/bmw/images/mods/strutbar4.jpg

[old&slow]

How about a Tie Bar for rear?
Would that be an asset?

[Weapon_R]

Even less of an asset than a strut bar.

[garyb]

i noticed a change in my cornering by installing front and rear strut braces, i guess im a ricer!?

[infected]

Eibach has an "Anti-Roll Bar Kit" that I am looking at, do those work the same as a sway bar? I dont want to sacrafice too much ride comfort, will it have a large affect after I install them?

Sorry for thread jacking :hijack: :D

[old&slow]

Post a link!

[EK 2.0]

Originally posted by infected
Eibach has an "Anti-Roll Bar Kit" that I am looking at, do those work the same as a sway bar? I dont want to sacrafice too much ride comfort, will it have a large affect after I install them?

Sorry for thread jacking :hijack: :D

sway bar = Anti-Roll Bar

[b_t]

When I got my front strut bar, it made absolutely no difference in cornering. The steering just feels a little (key word there is "little") tighter, and if you hit a bump with only one wheel, it rides a bit rougher.

[infected]

http://www.tirerack.com/suspension/suspension.jsp?autoMake=Mercedes-Benz&autoModel=C230+Coupe&autoYear=2003&autoModClar=&make=Eibach&model=Anti-Roll+Kit&group=Anti-Roll+Kit&partNum=2564.320&perfCode=S

That's the link to the anti-roll bar kit. Eibach also has a Pro System Plus Kit:

http://www.tirerack.com/suspension/suspension.jsp?autoMake=Mercedes-Benz&autoModel=C230+Coupe&autoYear=2003&autoModClar=&make=Eibach&model=Pro-System+Plus+Kit&group=Pro-System+Plus+Kit&partNum=2563.680&perfCode=S

What's everyones opinion on that? I dont know alot about cars, I was looking into performance upgrades but it was way over my budget. Pulley kits were around $700, FMIC's for $1100, cat backs around $900... :eek: So I decided to do some research and play around with suspension and handling upgrades.
I dont want to just get the lowering springs because it would be very hard on the stock shocks. On the other hand, would the Pro System Plus Kit be a little overdone? The car will be mostly daily driving and possibly some track. How much ride comfort should I be expecting to lose after I install everything? Will it feel like I'm driving a Chevet instead of a Benz?

*And I dont know if this has anything to do with it, but the wheels and tires will be:
16x7.5 - 205/55/16
and
17x8 - 225/45/17
(two sets)