A few things I'd like to see if anyone can answer...

- Can stiffer springs be put in my car that won't lower it? Are there adjustable shock/struts to accomodate them as well?

- Strut tower braces: Is there REALLY a difference between the $25 ebay specials vs the $250 name brand pieces? Will the $25 ebay special even make a difference over stock?

- "4 point lower brace bar" such as this one. Worthwhile? Waste of money? How tough is installation?

- Lower tie bars for rear suspension: Again... Worthwhile?

 

if you want stiffer springs without lowering the car all that much you can get ITR springs or HnR makes like a stiffer stock replacement. Yes there are adjustable shock/struts to accomodate them but they are more money and would depend on what you are trying to do......to the rest of your questions mostly pointless..not your questions, but the items.

 

I believe front and rear upper strut bars do help a lot w/ cornering. As far as spending huge amounts on ones, your mainly paying for the name brand as opposed to the generic version, no proven difference. Lower tie bars, same thing goes for them...I would say the only thing i wouldnt cheap out on is a sway bar. Good luck.

 

you wanna reduce body roll..get sway bars...strut bars on these cars arent worth the 25 bucks you would spend on ebay for them.

 

Bottom line is that I'd like to improve the handling of this thing without making it look like its been modified... ie: stock height. I park the car in my driveway at night so I need to keep it as boring looking as possible to deter any theives. ...a sleeper, if you will.

Later on down the road I think it would be fun to play with it at the autocross course, however I drive it for work every day (100-400mi a day) so I can't permanently modify it for track duty only. Maybe a setup that will allow me to stiffen things up (and possibly lower it a bit if necessary) while at the track only, then change back when I'm done. If I go that far, I'll probably end up getting some wheels to put on it solely for that purpose. When I'm done at the track, the stock 14" steelies/hubcaps go back on.

 

I would say a good rear sway bar upgrade would liven things up quite a bit, and if you wanted to be able to play with the ride height I would go with a coilover setup...either dedicated such as a TEIN setup, or Koni Yellows with ground control coil over sleeves.

 

Yeah, sway bars are high on the priority list. Just doing some quick surfing, I found this setup . Are these any good?

This thing needs some bigtime bushing replacement(my rear LCA bushings are DONE). Debating with myself whether to just go for the Integra setup with discs. Don't know enough about it to know how much of a pain in the ass it would be.

 

Oh i totally agree with you. I had a Neuspeed rear sway bar on mine a while ago, and a difference definitely showed. I was pleased.

 

I had the whole shabangabang on my civic, and I just wished I wouldnt have wasted the money on strut tower bars and spent it somewhere else more effective. Once you get into good adjustable shocks/springs and sways the amount of roll you can control with strut bars is neglidgable.

 

Oh i agree with you totally dude...im not second guessing your intelligence/experience. I guess i just didnt get that far into it where i would see a difference w/out the strut bars.