I installed the Progress rear swaybar a little over a week ago, this past Saturday was the first time I really pushed the car harder around the turns.
Well, first the quality. Since I already have Progress rear swaybar in my Prelude, I knew about their quality. I believe the bar is powdercoated with gray color. They welded end plates (or stops, or whatever the thing is called) to prevent the bar from shifting side to side (this happened to my Progress bar in the Prelude). I really like the way they did this because it eliminates the use of split collars.
For the installation. It took me about 45 minutes to install the Progress bar. It was a little tricky to get the bar in without removing other suspension arms and/or exhaust. Once it was in there, the factory bolts to secure the bushing brackets were a little too short to start. Fortunately, I had couple of longer bolts with the same threads. Other than these two things, it was pretty straight forward.
Now the performance. Before the Progress bar, I noticed that the car understeered quite a bit. There is this freeway on-ramp (270° with banking, 15mph limit) that I take often, I would plow and had to lift (or slow down more) at the end of the turn. This past Saturday, I took the same on-ramp at approx. the same speed (about 30-35mph), and the car followed the line I wanted to take. There was no sign of plowing. I was impressed. Then later I went to a freeway interchange (very long left hand sweeper) where I normally started feeling the push (understeer) at 80mph. This time, I accelerated through the interchange at 90+mph. At the end of the interchanged, I was already at a speed of 96mph. I think I could have gone through it quicker because I really felt that the car was pretty flat around that sweeper. I wonder how it will do at the track.
Anyway, I give it a big
. I'd would rate this as the "mandatory" suspension mod.
Oh BTW, I had the bar set at full stiff, and it works great.
Well, first the quality. Since I already have Progress rear swaybar in my Prelude, I knew about their quality. I believe the bar is powdercoated with gray color. They welded end plates (or stops, or whatever the thing is called) to prevent the bar from shifting side to side (this happened to my Progress bar in the Prelude). I really like the way they did this because it eliminates the use of split collars.
For the installation. It took me about 45 minutes to install the Progress bar. It was a little tricky to get the bar in without removing other suspension arms and/or exhaust. Once it was in there, the factory bolts to secure the bushing brackets were a little too short to start. Fortunately, I had couple of longer bolts with the same threads. Other than these two things, it was pretty straight forward.
Now the performance. Before the Progress bar, I noticed that the car understeered quite a bit. There is this freeway on-ramp (270° with banking, 15mph limit) that I take often, I would plow and had to lift (or slow down more) at the end of the turn. This past Saturday, I took the same on-ramp at approx. the same speed (about 30-35mph), and the car followed the line I wanted to take. There was no sign of plowing. I was impressed. Then later I went to a freeway interchange (very long left hand sweeper) where I normally started feeling the push (understeer) at 80mph. This time, I accelerated through the interchange at 90+mph. At the end of the interchanged, I was already at a speed of 96mph. I think I could have gone through it quicker because I really felt that the car was pretty flat around that sweeper. I wonder how it will do at the track.
Anyway, I give it a big
. I'd would rate this as the "mandatory" suspension mod.Oh BTW, I had the bar set at full stiff, and it works great.
Pro
I have a Progress bar too. Quality was good out of the box, everything lined up. On mine the clamps were a little too small, so the bushings are a little 'squished', meaning the bushing doesn't quite make it all the way around the bar. Probably not a big deal, but a slight annoyance nontheless.
Handling is great, sometimes I have to remind myself the car is FWD, the way the rear will gently start to slide out in certain turns. I don't know if the handling is 'better', skidpad wise or anything, but the bar makes the car more 'fun' with no ride quality penalty.
Handling is great, sometimes I have to remind myself the car is FWD, the way the rear will gently start to slide out in certain turns. I don't know if the handling is 'better', skidpad wise or anything, but the bar makes the car more 'fun' with no ride quality penalty.