sway bars

nat3d

Wait, I don't drive a civic anymore....
3,335
1,566
Adams MA
Vehicle Model
Ford Focus ST
Body Style
Hatch
ok tax money that needs to be spent and im thinking sway bars. is that a wise bet? i have NO intention of lowering.... ever. i do wanna do some handling upgrades and was thinking sway bars (front and rear) is that a wise choice? if so what brand should i look at and should i be looking at the front and rear?
 
Upgrading the FSB, IMO, is a personal preference. Many will tell you increasing the size of your RSB will need to be offset by a larger FSB in order to reduce oversteer. I have a 22mm Progress RSB and stock FSB; oversteer is minimal. RedShiftChris can give you more insight on sway bars and suspension in general.
 
well i dont track should i just spend the money on interior leds and fog lights?
 
well i dont track should i just spend the money on interior leds and fog lights?

That would depend on your needs and wants. If you drive your car aggressively and corner hard, it would make sense to upgrade the wheel and tire package ( upsize to larger rim, shorter sidewalls, and softer compound tread ), being that it's an LX.

You may find someone local with an Si that wants different wheels and tires, and selling off the stock wheels and tires as a package. IMO that's a decent step up in performance. Next I would consider suspension upgrades, as in increasing the sway bar rate. From all accounts, increasing the rear sway bar diameter will give you better handling and reduce the amount of factory understeer.

Interior LED's are an inexpensive upgrade, I bought mine off of eBay for ~ $ 7.19 a pair. Fog lights are also a worthwhile upgrade, but fairly expensive.
 
im looking at an ledglow.com setup (friends have had experience with them and love them).
 
im looking at an ledglow.com setup (friends have had experience with them and love them).
That's the ones I have abs they work great.
Comes with plenty of wire and a nice remote, make sure to get the fuse adapter.
 
Get a larger rear sway for better handling on this car. Civics come from the factory with a very stiff front end and are setup for understeer to make them very safe for grandma to get to the store in. The rear end will not come around on her if she floors it through a turn by mistake.

Leave the front alone and upgrade the rear. If you are concerned about inducing massive oversteer you will not. Progress makes a very nice rear sway for your car and it is an incremental increase over the stock Si sway. I put one on my LX and it is so much nicer to drive.

The only time I ever get oversteer is if I am in the snow and I crank it hard around a turn trying to break the ***-end loose. It's very controllable and a much better feel than when the fronts used to break free and was straight lining towards the curb.
 
Nix is there a progress set up for the coupe all i saw was the sedan? (though i was really just looking at elibrach) which is a better brand? i may just do all 3 fogs, interior AND just the rear sway. also 323 which fuse adapter did you get? the mini or standard and which fuse you run it off of?
 
Nix is there a progress set up for the coupe all i saw was the sedan? (though i was really just looking at elibrach) which is a better brand? i may just do all 3 fogs, interior AND just the rear sway. also 323 which fuse adapter did you get? the mini or standard and which fuse you run it off of?

The coupe and sedan are the same.
 
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Nix is there a progress set up for the coupe all i saw was the sedan? (though i was really just looking at elibrach) which is a better brand? i may just do all 3 fogs, interior AND just the rear sway. also 323 which fuse adapter did you get? the mini or standard and which fuse you run it off of?
It's fuse slot 23 under the dash and when buying the lighting kit, go to installation accessories and select "expandable circuit w/ mini 4 amp fuse"
 
Both brands are very good. The Progress bar is slightly larger than the Eibach. Also it appears you can't just buy the rear from eibach, it comes in the kit with the front. The eibach rear is 19mm and the progress is 22mm. Trust me, you want the bigger one.

The 06+ civic rear sway from progress does fit the 2012+ civic also. Redshift motorsports has it listed on their website and there is also a note about the adapter that progress includes with the bar to make it bolt right up.

Scroll down the page to the A La Carte section and under the progress rear sway there is a dropdown menu and you can select 2012+ EX/LX
http://redshiftmotorsports.com/RedShift2012CivicSuspPackages.htm

If you are purchasing this rear
swaybar for a 2012+ EX/LX,
you don't actually NEED
anything new. Progress has
added an adapter bracket
so it's a direct bolt on.
Still, for reference, I have
left the picture below to show
what is needed to fit a
2012 Civic Si rear swaybar
on a 2012+ Civic EX/LX.
 
thanks Nix :) i will be buying that sway bar and 323 thanks just real quick when are the lights on when you use that fuse?
 
thanks Nix :) i will be buying that sway bar and 323 thanks just real quick when are the lights on when you use that fuse?
they turn on with the car, but you could always wire in a switch if you dont want them to automatically come on.
and the remote has an on/off button to manually turn them off
 
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Seems you have already figured out what you are going to do. I would personally recommend the aesthetic enhancements over the performance if you aren't tracking the car.

If you do decide to get a sway bar(s) I would just get a rear bar. In all of my experience tracking and racing Cvics you don't need a larger front sway bar - a smaller one or none would be better. The beauty of FWD is if you have oversteer from the rear you point the wheel where you want to go and stomp on the gas and it corrects itself unless you are going insanely fast.

I disconnected the front sway bar on my 95 for this track day and it was a blast to drive but after 2 sessions like that I connected it back because the track had no grip and it was getting scary going into the carousel at Sebring. But shows you what a large rear bar does to counteract the natural understeer of Civics.

6675130181_b8fa8c93c3_b.jpg

6675129459_45750b2baf_b.jpg
 
i think ill do the rear sway and the fogs i already got the lights in :D cant wait to install them thanks for the feedback guys
 
also Nix does that kit from red shift include EVERYTHING i need so all it is is a bolt on affair?
 
Yup. Swaybar, new bushings, frame bracket extender hardware for r18s, endlink reinforcement brackets. It comes with a small packet of grease but you might want to pick up some more at the parts store.

If you're working alone I found it easiest to get a set of the plastic car ramps from autozone/where ever and just back the car up onto them rather than jacking it up. Plenty of room to work. Very stable.

When you are unbolting the old sway bar I would recommend you get a wire brush for removing the nut from the end of the stock endlink. The threads will probably be all crusted in dirt. If you just use the brush to scrub off all the crud and make the threads clean it will come off a lot easier.

It might be a little tricky to do yourself just cause the bar is heavy and holding it in place while you bolt up the bushings is a little difficult. A helper is nice.
 
yeah itd be me and a buddy doing it thanks so much guys :)
 
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