- Sat Aug 25, 2007 3:04 am
#21087
Yup...everyone was right. Thanks for your input.
I spent all morning trying to break the 3 rear nuts for the cat. I did manage to break the 2 front collector fasteners and was barely able to snake the OEM bar out without completely removing the cat. Of course, I also had to drop the shift linkage.
However, snaking it out was a REAL pain. So, I ran to a friend's muffler shop and broke them while the car was on a lift. It's SO much easier when you're on your feet and not your back!
I drove home with NO cat...straight out the collector!
Anyway, with the cat off, and the linkage dropped, the GS-R bar mounted up like a glove. The endlinks are different, so make sure you get them if you do this swap.
I was able to re-use the poly endlink bushings I had on my OEM bar. I have poly body mount bushings on order.
Even with the OEM body mount bushings, I can tell a huge difference. The car feels much more precise, responsive, and has much less roll. It feels just plain
sportier.
Perhaps even "Miata-like...?" OK, an exaggeration, but you get the idea.
I wish Honda would've installed these AND a 13-14mm rear bar originally. Or at least given the Si the same set-up as the LS teggy's (22F/14R).
I would imagine the non-Si hatches would notice a huge difference by adding at least a small front bar, say 21mm, or even 22mm.
As for the understeer/oversteer issue, I already had the car set up really loose for racing by rear tire pressure and a pretty scary amount of rear toe out. I went with this much toe out in anticipation of upgrading the front bar.
With the OEM bar, it was almost too loose. In the rain, any steering input was pretty much an exercise in keeping the rear end where you wanted it.
I hope this upgrade will not only tighten the car (some...I still want it loose), and help keep a better contact patch for the fronts. If it does make the car push too much, I can still compensate with tire pressures...or simply not overdrive it.
Anyway, I thought it was WELL worth $75 shipped. Most of the aftermarket kits I've seen are more than double that. Most of them are bigger (25-26mm), too.
With MUCH stiffer springs and coilovers (eventually...), an aftermarket 22mm rear bar and brace (again...eventually) I think this is a nice, cost-effective (read: CHEAP) upgrade that can be complimented nicely in the future.
Gotta race next weekend, so I guess we'll see!
Remember..."Civic spelled backwards is "civiC"
