dowzer

I was thinking of getting the Comptech rear sway bar, and did a quick check to see what the stock stabilizer bar sizes are. I was expecting to see the same sizes for my Canadian model as is listed for the US model, but apparently that's not the case!

The US Acura site lists the following sizes:
front: 26.5mm
rear: 14.0mm

The Canadian Acura site lists the following:
front: 25.4mm
rear: 15.0mm

Does anyone know why they'd use different sizes for the Cdn models? With the smaller front bar, would the 22/23mm Comptech bar be too much?

gogozy

different size?? i did not realize this!! are you sure?

xizor

Hehe, no . If they are different, the CompTech rear sway makes either oversteer quite a lot.

fdl

So the CND TSX handles better that the US TSX? Not sure why they would do this but its interesting.

dowzer

Judging by the Cdn sizes, I'd say the Cdn TSX would be a bit more neutral, but with slightly more body roll (at least in the front). Judging from my experience in the car, it does seem plausible. Of course, I haven't driven a US-spec TSX, so I have nothing to compare against.

fdl

Thats right, there would be more body roll, but it would be significantly more neutral.

1mm diff in front and 1mm diff in back makes a noticable difference.

dom

May this have something to do with road conditions in either country?

jlukja

More like bulging American waistlines that give the car a higher center of gravity and more prone to lean on corners.

Lung Fu Mo Shi

Fear the Fat Assed Americans with Guns!

Oh wait...I'm one of them...hehe.

dom

Hey we have fat Canadians too, only no guns.

dowzer

Hmmm, maybe I should hold out on the rear Comptech sway then. Going from a 25.4/15 to a 25.4/22.3 seems pretty extreme...

fdl

The neuspeed is 19mm. And they have a front sway you can buy too.

jlukja

Would going from 14mm to 15mm (US spec to CDN spec) in the rear of a US TSX make any difference?

fdl

Yes, but not worth the cost.

Dan Martin

So what's the score now between US and Canada differences?

Canada Only:
Heated mirrors
DRL's
Washer fluid sensor
Indigo Blue
15mm vs. 14mm rear sway

US Only:
CG
ABP
MSM
Quartz Interior

So we've pulled ahead with a one point lead. :P

dowzer

Do you know of any retailers in Ottawa that carry the neuspeed bar?

Dan Martin

Any place that caries Neuspeed products can get it for you. It won't likely be a stock item at the store but they should be able to get it for you in a couple days. Or try ebay if you want a deal.

Dani

a quick question...
for "max handling performace", what sizes of front / rear sway bars should we be looking for?
apparently the aftermarket sway bars are longer the the stock ones, so longer = better!?

fdl

Its not the length , but the width (stiffness) of the bars that affect handling.

As far as better..

well first you need to decide what better is. Do you want understeer? oversteer? how much body roll? For me I'd prefer neutral handling with just a touch of understeer at the very extreme limit. Some people prefer oversteer at the limit.

So wider is not neccesarily = better. You need to tune and balance the front and rear of the car to get it to do what you want. Because most cars have heavy understeer out of the box, the first thing you want to do is thicken up the rear to counter it.

xizor

before you buy anything read up on racing dynamics as much as possible. Then drive your car to its limit and decide how you want to change it. fdl's description of the suspension is right on.

cmf

Dan-- you forgot that the canadian models also have ebony interior w/ the pearl white.

So the car now has a lot of understeer, how do I "tighten" it up some more. Granted lowering helps, but I like the car to be stiff into a turn.....does that make sense?

Dan Martin

Yes but we can't get milano red with ebony so we'll call it a draw....

fdl

or black with ebony.

or carbon gray with anything

MrChad

Actually Honda OEM parts like these are cheap.
I got the TL type-S sways and strut bar for my Accord all for under 100bucks total, that included bushings and endlinks too.

Nearly 4x less then aftermarket for parts nearly identical maybe even better then aftermarket.

xizor

Err... stiff is not how I'd describe turning, and I'm not sure what you mean by "into a turn." If you mean you want harder cornering, then reducing understeer will do that. Buy a rear sway bar, it'll totally eliminate it.

fdl

How easy/cheap would it be to get an OEM euro-r front and rear sway

Dani

xizor & fdl...thx for the great info, yap...i'll definitely do some homework before purchasing any suspension bars

kiteboy

Neither can they - parchment only. They do get +1 year on the factory warranty and Nav.

MrChad

My intent wasn't for Euro sways but for the US vs. Canadians to understand that swaping parts back and forth wouldn't be prohibitively expensive.

In addition, do USDM V6-6spd parts fit and/or of simaliar dimensions to the TSX? Maybe bigger rear bars or front if you want more understeer.

xizor

I doubt the Accord V6 fits since its a coupe and has different weight qualities with the V6.

MrChad

Honda generally uses the same suspension pickup points, they just stretch the length of the floor pan in the platforms. I have TL sedan parts on my Accord Coupe.

The key would be, is the width of the 2 cars close, if so the endlinks should take care of any extra slack. You just need to be sure the bar will clear the exhaust and mate to the bracket holes in the donor car. What I mean is, the bracket holes that bolt the bar to the chassis need to be the same. The bushings in the bracket can differ but the brackets need to bolt up the same. They may since the TSX and 7th gen Accord share the same platform. But it only helps if the Accord has bigger bars or smaller bars to meet your tuning needs.

cmf

Now if spoon would only make a rear sway bar!

MrChad

Spoon? I think the RTR bars are king of the hill in my book.

cmf

RTR--real time racing? Didn't know they manufactured parts for the public if that's who you are talking about. My list of mods runs with limited companies, spoon being the major one...just my choice.