Rear Anti-Roll Bar Options -- 2001-05 Civic
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From: Havana, FL
Rear Anti-Roll Bar Options -- 2001-05 Civic
I did a bit of crawling under automobiles over the past few days, and can verify that the rear anti-roll bars (or sway bars, or stabilizer bars) on any of the following cars can be swapped:
All Honda Civic 2001-05
All Acura RSX
And I can also provide some data on the sizes fitted on the showroom floor:
Honda Civic DX or HX: No anti-roll bar at all.
Honda Civic LX or EX: 12mm
Honda Civic Si 3-door: 17mm
Acura RSX: 19mm
Acura RSX Type-R: 22mm
While at the Honda dealer, I got a price from their parts department on that Civic Si 17mm bar: $167.98. Not bad, actually, but remember that this doesn't include any of the end links or center brackets and bushings. If you already have a bar, the only additional thing you'll need is the center bushings -- cheap, and you can buy generic or poly instead of the Honda OEM parts -- but if you don't have a bar to begin with you'll also need the end links and the center brackets.
Also note: Addco offers a 3/4" bar for the rear of the Civic, essentially the same as 19mm. It's around $135 plus shipping, I think, including all the attachment parts needed.
For those of you who already know all about anti-roll bars, I've probably given you all the info you need. Get to work!
For the rest of you: Anti-roll bars are perhaps the single biggest factor in the handling qualities of an automobile. Starting with any typical automobile, replacing both the front and rear bars with stiffer bars will make the car handle MUCH better with only a slight degradation in ride quality.
There is also, however, an issue of balance front to rear. The general rule of thumb is that making the bar on one end of the car stiffer makes the OTHER end handle better. So, if the car has good balance to begin with, you want to change both ends simultaneously.
The problem is: No cars sold in the US have good balance to begin with. They all understeer. This is apparently because the big car companies -- and the civil court attorneys -- all believe that the average American driver is far too stupid and certainly too irresponsible to ever be trusted with a car that has even the slightest possibility of oversteering in any situation.
Things have improved markedly over the past 30-40 years. Back in the 60's, American cars understeered so horribly that they typically would plow straight forward regardless of steering input. Today's automobiles typically only understeer a little bit, apparently because today's auto designers can assure their lawyers of understeer under all conditions without having to go overboard.
If you would rather drive the car than have the car drive you, what you typically want to do is replace the rear bar with one that's a bit heavier. If your car came with no rear bar at all, adding a light one is a good plan. This will usually achieve good balance. Obviously, going too far with a really heavy bar can result in a severly oversteering car, which is not good. If the benefits gained from a slight increase in rear bar are not sufficient for one's tastes, the thing to do would be to replace BOTH bars, the front and rear, with stiffer items.
FYI, the relative stiffness of anti-roll bars of the same shape varies with the 4th power of the diameter of the bar. One bar twice the thickness of another will be 16 times as stiff! This doesn't necessarily represent the actual effects of a change in bar diameter, though, because a lot of other things flex in a suspension system -- including the inner bushings and the tires themselves. In fact, once you get close to the desired handling traits with your selection of anti-roll bars, you can fine-tune your setup by replacing rubber bushings with poly (or vice versa) or changing the air pressure in your tires.
So, if you have a Civic with no bar, you probably should start perusing the junkyards for an LX or EX complete with the mounting and attaching hardware. Once you find one and can get under the car, it only takes a few minutes to unbolt. Only six bolts/nuts, as a matter of fact. And it's just as easy to install on your car.
Similiarly, if you have an LX or EX (as I do), you should start looking for an Si 3-door in the junkyard. If you have an Si, you should be looking for an Acura RSX.
Of course, if this forum had its act together, we could arrange to trade bars around. I, for one, would be willing to pay a reasonable price for one of those 17mm bars off an Si, if anyone has one they're willing to part with.
All Honda Civic 2001-05
All Acura RSX
And I can also provide some data on the sizes fitted on the showroom floor:
Honda Civic DX or HX: No anti-roll bar at all.
Honda Civic LX or EX: 12mm
Honda Civic Si 3-door: 17mm
Acura RSX: 19mm
Acura RSX Type-R: 22mm
While at the Honda dealer, I got a price from their parts department on that Civic Si 17mm bar: $167.98. Not bad, actually, but remember that this doesn't include any of the end links or center brackets and bushings. If you already have a bar, the only additional thing you'll need is the center bushings -- cheap, and you can buy generic or poly instead of the Honda OEM parts -- but if you don't have a bar to begin with you'll also need the end links and the center brackets.
Also note: Addco offers a 3/4" bar for the rear of the Civic, essentially the same as 19mm. It's around $135 plus shipping, I think, including all the attachment parts needed.
For those of you who already know all about anti-roll bars, I've probably given you all the info you need. Get to work!
For the rest of you: Anti-roll bars are perhaps the single biggest factor in the handling qualities of an automobile. Starting with any typical automobile, replacing both the front and rear bars with stiffer bars will make the car handle MUCH better with only a slight degradation in ride quality.
There is also, however, an issue of balance front to rear. The general rule of thumb is that making the bar on one end of the car stiffer makes the OTHER end handle better. So, if the car has good balance to begin with, you want to change both ends simultaneously.
The problem is: No cars sold in the US have good balance to begin with. They all understeer. This is apparently because the big car companies -- and the civil court attorneys -- all believe that the average American driver is far too stupid and certainly too irresponsible to ever be trusted with a car that has even the slightest possibility of oversteering in any situation.
Things have improved markedly over the past 30-40 years. Back in the 60's, American cars understeered so horribly that they typically would plow straight forward regardless of steering input. Today's automobiles typically only understeer a little bit, apparently because today's auto designers can assure their lawyers of understeer under all conditions without having to go overboard.
If you would rather drive the car than have the car drive you, what you typically want to do is replace the rear bar with one that's a bit heavier. If your car came with no rear bar at all, adding a light one is a good plan. This will usually achieve good balance. Obviously, going too far with a really heavy bar can result in a severly oversteering car, which is not good. If the benefits gained from a slight increase in rear bar are not sufficient for one's tastes, the thing to do would be to replace BOTH bars, the front and rear, with stiffer items.
FYI, the relative stiffness of anti-roll bars of the same shape varies with the 4th power of the diameter of the bar. One bar twice the thickness of another will be 16 times as stiff! This doesn't necessarily represent the actual effects of a change in bar diameter, though, because a lot of other things flex in a suspension system -- including the inner bushings and the tires themselves. In fact, once you get close to the desired handling traits with your selection of anti-roll bars, you can fine-tune your setup by replacing rubber bushings with poly (or vice versa) or changing the air pressure in your tires.
So, if you have a Civic with no bar, you probably should start perusing the junkyards for an LX or EX complete with the mounting and attaching hardware. Once you find one and can get under the car, it only takes a few minutes to unbolt. Only six bolts/nuts, as a matter of fact. And it's just as easy to install on your car.
Similiarly, if you have an LX or EX (as I do), you should start looking for an Si 3-door in the junkyard. If you have an Si, you should be looking for an Acura RSX.
Of course, if this forum had its act together, we could arrange to trade bars around. I, for one, would be willing to pay a reasonable price for one of those 17mm bars off an Si, if anyone has one they're willing to part with.