Originally Posted by
CivicSiRacer
Yeah with the research I'm doing so far everyone is going back to OEM or Mugen bushings now. ES or Prothane bushings have been known to tear or wear out quicker than OEM bushings.
And goes to show why my 00 Civic Si started getting slower and felt like it handled llike crap these past couple of years. I'm going to put in OEM or Mugen for the autocross season next year.
That's pretty interesting considering urethanes were touted (marketed) as "last forever" bushings.
Is this mostly the autox world you are talking about?
What is wearing out? the bushing or the components they are put in? I've been wondering about the lack of compliance urethane has and how the energy is going to go somewhere... either to bust the bushing, or to wear the metal components it's in. For example, the rear trailing arm bushings of the 5th & 6th gen civics are designed to also roll as well as pitch. Therefore the urethane replacements, which only have the pivot sleeve, don't allow the rolling needed as the strut compresses. Sure it'll "work with no problems" for awhile, but eventually it's going to wear something out, especially when it was DESIGNED to roll.