Front strut bars on Civics. Worth bothering with?

Are aftermarket front strut bars on a 5th generation EG Civic worth bothering with? I have heard various things about them but ignoring the el cheapo ebay ones I am wondering about adding one to my '93 FSP car.

The general question is, how far away from the firewall are the struts? The closer the distance the less effective the bar.

A friend had the same question about some other car. I can't remember which car. Essentially his answer was to fab up a temporary bar, and mark it with something which will stay wet on one strut tower while attaching it on the other end. Race for a while and see if it moved while you were racing.

Sounded great in theory. He found that the bar was useless for him.

at the end of the day a strut tower bar is just a metal rod to hold things from moving, so personally i would go with a cheap one if i were getting it and it would probably do a good enough job

There seem to be different types of bars available for EG/DC Hondas. The factory mounting points on GSR/ITR cars have studs that the factory bar mounts.

Some aftermarket bars attach to the two top hat studs and the neuspeed bar attaches where the Upper Control arms are mounted.

They do get in the way when doing maintenance...

You may not notice it on the street or even the track.. but I am certain that the extra metal holding the struts together will help in the long run as fatigue starts to set in

I would make a faux bar, one that can disconnect in the middle, keep it disconnected. then I would push a good amount of putty (something that won't fall out or dry up) into the bottom edge of where the bar meets the mounts on both ends. Do that on both ends and then go wring the piss out of the car. Try to get that "I have no clue what I'm doing" type of Under steer especially. Not That it would be driven this way. Then, Check the putty. Has it moved away from the connection point? If so, the bar has flexed. And you now know your strut towers move.

Trackmouse wrote: I would make a faux bar, one that can disconnect in the middle, keep it disconnected. then I would push a good amount of putty (something that won't fall out or dry up) into the bottom edge of where the bar meets the mounts on both ends. Do that on both ends and then go wring the piss out of the car. Try to get that "I have no clue what I'm doing" type of Under steer especially. Not That it would be driven this way. Then, Check the putty. Has it moved away from the connection point? If so, the bar has flexed. And you now know your strut towers move.

that sounds like a valid test, but for $26 here you might as well just get it if you want one, and its actually a name brand.

Back in the day I had a neuspeed (I'm to lazy to see if that is the correct spelling), I had on on my Integra GSR. The theory at the time I heard was you needed one that bolted solid at both ends to be effective and that any of the cheapo ones that have the "Rod end" or any kind of pivot pretty much negated any benefits of putting them on. (the neuspeed bolted solid in 4 spots). I can't say by the numbers that it made any difference, but the front end felt slightly more planted with it on regular street tires.

On a side, but related, note: I always wondered why no one designed more bars that triangulated the struts towers to the firewall (like a Toyota AE92 GTS and FX16-GTS). I'm sure it has to do with the distance between the shock tower and firewall (or ineffectivness??)...

Or going much further back like the export brace and Monte Carlo bars used on the Shelby Mustangs...I can tell you for a FACT that those helped the feel if not outright handling of any old Mustang.

tedium850 wrote: On a side, but related, note: I always wondered why no one designed more bars that triangulated the struts towers to the firewall (like a Toyota AE92 GTS and FX16-GTS). I'm sure it has to do with the distance between the shock tower and firewall (or ineffectivness??)...

Well, at least for people using it for autocross, a 3 point bar (if not originally equipped with one) kicks you into street mod or prepared or something.

Can't say for the EG specifically, but they do function. Triangulating the suspension is always a good thing. Any flex turns in to varying alignment angles under load. I see too many high end cars with them installed from the factory to not believe they are worthwhile. If you can attach it to the firewall, even better.

The Hoff wrote: Can't say for the EG specifically, but they do function. Triangulating the suspension is always a good thing. Any flex turns in to varying alignment angles under load. I see too many high end cars with them installed from the factory to not believe they are worthwhile. If you can attach it to the firewall, even better.

Password JDM and a couple other make bars that attach to the firewall as well. I was kind of leaning toward that one but the Neuspeed is also interesting since it mounts at the control points.

Although I need to check on legality for FSP.

edizzle89 wrote: at the end of the day a strut tower bar is just a metal rod to hold things from moving, so personally i would go with a cheap one if i were getting it and it would probably do a good enough job

I can tell you there's a massive difference in effectiveness in the ones in the Miata world. The crap ones have big bends in the bar and you can flex them like a ski. The good ones (including the late factory offerings) will hurt you if you try.

I can also tell you that the shock towers (not strut towers, which is important from a structural standpoint) on a Miata will spread when you put the car on a lift. Struts put cornering loads into those towers and they're usually hanging out in space with a big hole in between for an engine, so a good brace should make quite a difference.

Uh... I've never actually owned one, but I thought 5th generation civics had a double-a-arm suspension up front with shocks, rather than struts?

My understanding has always been that shocks only provide damping, while struts provide both damping and upright location. Struts therefore see lateral loads during cornering, and when this load deforms the strut tower it's effectively moving the upper pivot point inwards thus changing the suspension geometry. Shocks, OTOH, only see "vertical" loads, and any shock tower deformation resulting from those loads will only move the upright further along the travel arc of the original geometry, it will not change the geometry.

Thus I'd always been told that braces for shock towers had performance benefits, while braces for shock towers were at best an NVH improvement.

That's the theory, but a good shock tower brace will provide a noticeable improvement in steering feel on a Miata. Mazda started putting them on Miatas in 1999 and hasn't stopped yet.

Those control arm loads still get fed into two frame horns that don't have a lot of cross-connection. That's my theory. It's not as bad as a strut car, but still beneficial if done well.

As has been said, don't get one with a flex joint on the ends like so many have, that makes it nearly useless.

Just try to get one of the OEM ones from a 94-01 Integra, they are cheap, available, bolt onto your EG basically, and are a pretty effective and simple design.

BIG improvement with the Neuspeed front shock tower bar on my older Accord. It has a CRAPton of preload, it's a pain to install with one person.

I had them front and rear on my s13 and it was a noticeable difference.

Keith Tanner wrote: That's the theory, but a good shock tower brace will provide a noticeable improvement in steering feel on a Miata. Mazda started putting them on Miatas in 1999 and hasn't stopped yet.

Even if all it does is improve NVH, that could still be enough reason for Mazda to put one on.

Sonic wrote: As has been said, don't get one with a flex joint on the ends like so many have, that makes it nearly useless. Just try to get one of the OEM ones from a 94-01 Integra, they are cheap, available, bolt onto your EG basically, and are a pretty effective and simple design.

I forgot the GSR had one. I will look for a stock GSR bar.

In reply to codrus:

I can't see how that would improve NVH, the opposite if anything.

BrokenYugo wrote: In reply to codrus: I can't see how that would improve NVH, the opposite if anything.

Stiffer chassis = less interior squeaks / rattles. Not sure how else it would help though.

A stiffer structure means that impacts are dealt with by the suspension instead of deflecting the chassis. Improved ride and better handling. There's no downside other than weight gains.

Properly stout ones definatly work. I can tell that you an un-braced Mazda/Ford BG chassis car with a racing stiff suspension and R comps will flex enough to crack the windshield...

I have an EG Civic. I put in a Neuspeed upper strut bar many years ago. I don't remember it making a much difference by itself. If you have an EX or Si, there are mounting points in the K member for a reinforcing bar that runs forward of the steering rack that was included on the DC chassis Integras but not the Civics. When I put that in, it made a much more noticeable difference. I had to put a small dimple it in to clear the power steering lines on the Civic steering rack. So if you are going for junkyard parts, make sure you get the lower K member brace to go with the upper factory strut bar. In combination, you will definitely feel the difference.

The last thing to noticeably stiffen the front structure of the car was an aftermarket part called a Frame Lock from a company called Korbach. Korbach, I believe, is out of business now. The founders were friends of a friend. My Civic has the first prototype set for an EG. Google "Civic frame lock" if you want to know more.