Hi guys,

I searched about this but all I find are sale threads, debate about which one is the best or that it does not really help...

In my case, the handling became pretty bad after the install. With the bar on, the steering wheel seems way less responsive and sometime, for a fraction of second, feel like it does what it wants... very weird feeling. I drove it for a little while and I am not crazy, the handling sucks with the bar. The drive was regular spirited drive, no track, just some quick highway exit.

I removed the bar last night and the car feels great again. The bar is an ebay bar, it was pretty damn tight but the sitting on the towers was not perfect, I would say like 95% perfect though...

My neighbour, who does track race, said that a front strut bar on these cars is no good as it creates understeer... would that be what I was experiencing? Anyone have the problem? And what would fix it? Add a rear bar!?

Thx

 

First I have heard that a strut bar creates understeer... But if your friend tracks cars then I would expected that *if* the bar created an understeer condition he could dial it out with suspension tuning if the effect of supporting the car is more beneficial. BTW large sway bars can create the understeer affect, and is a common modification for AP1s to address the snap over condition inherent with their suspension set-ups from the factory, AP2s use the bar also but usually have to start using custom alignment settings to balance out the understeer condition that come with the stiffer bar, as their suspension from the factory addressed the AP1 issue...)

But there is some debate the the bar even provides anything useful to the car. I have not installed one yet myself but am in the process of chassis stiffening and I think a bar coupled with work on the bottom side of the car will net the biggest change, but the bar alone would not.

It is weird that you noticed a decreased in performance and not at least a "stayed the same"... Are you sure everything was tightened down? you mentioned that it did not sit flat if the bar was loose you will get unwanted movement from the suspension that could have created your issue.

 

I've always heard strut tower bars don't do anything for our cars. The best I've heard about it is that it makes a good place to learn on while working on the car lol. Are you sure you guys aren't talking about the sway bar causing understeer?

 

That's what everyone says, yet their's zero proof. J's, Spoon, ASM ect all make and use strut bars on their S2k's. I wonder why.

 

I installed my front bar (cusco) along with a front brace on the subframe and noticed a significant improvement to steering and stability over bad pavement. Can't say I noticed any change to the cornering balance.

 

Steady-state cornering balance is not likely to change with a bar. Bad pavement handling will give relatively more understeer with a bar. This is a good thing, because it makes the car more predictable when it gets tossed around, and still gives you the rotation you want on smooth pavement. A good bar will make a noticeable difference on a car with coilovers and sways. Can't speak for stock suspension, where I suspect it will make less difference.

My vote is that you didn't put it on right, and/or that you didn't put it on with the car level and under equal forces. A good bar requires the car to be lifted and one wheel to be pulled down to make clearance for the studs, but it's important to jack the car from the center and/or set it on stands on both sides of the car. You can't just lift one side of the car and install it, because you're going to be reinforcing the car into a twisted shape.

 

I agree with this. Had an ASM-style 4pt, then switched it up to a Cusco Ti 2pt. Neither had any noticeable difference from stock.
Maybe if you're pushing your car to it's limits everyday, but otherwise, i think the cross member on our cars boxes up the front pretty well.

 

Am I the only person that noticed it was an eBay bar? Your problem is probably that. You will see better responses out of solid bars over the bars that use bolts to connect the bar to the strut mounts. I have a t1r bmax 4 pt and I noticed a difference in steering feel but that is because it connects to the steering rack.

 

the first time i drove with my GTSpec bar i thought i noticed a difference. Now i just think it was all in my head. I would assume that they would have to do a little something in regards to performance, we just have trouble feeling it.

 

It was pretty damn tight but the metal ring of the bar was not sitting 100% tight on the tower. I would say 95 fine though, and I mean 95%. I am very picky and I decided to keep it as the gap was very very small. No play at all, as I said, it was very tight.

Nop, no swaybar here.


Car was 100% straight in my garage, no newbie wierd jack setup =P

It might be it, as I said, it did not fit 100% right... again, it was pretty tight though. Hard to tell but I guess I will have to blame it on that. Since no one seems to have experienced that, I guess it does not worth it to try to correct it with a rear strut bar.

Thank you for your inputs.

Front strut bar for sale, looks brand new, 20$ =P