whats the difference between the two? and the difference between a front and rear sway bar, and upper and lower tie bar? is anyone better than the other. looking for my first mod. and has anyone tried the comptech brake pads and/or brake lines?

 

i think a tie bar attaches to certain parts of the frame. so yes, a tie bar would be better but no ones makes it for us

sway bars are under the car. upper front/rear are 'on top' of the car. you have a factory upper front bar. no one gets a rear upper bar because youll have to give up trunk space

 

A sway is an anti-roll bar...it keeps the car level through turns. The you can create oversteer in a traditionally understeering car with the use of sways...a rear sway that is bigger than the front can cause oversteer(?) <--or it could be the other way around. This is not necessarily a good thing as FWD cars with too much oversteer like to plow, especially with stock Michelins...
The upper tie bar is more commonly referred to as a strut tower...as it usually mounts around or on the strut tower mounting points. This stiffens the chassis and removes more of the slop in the car. On hatchbacks and some cars with low strut towers, a rear strut bar can be added.
Tie bars are used to tighten up the frame of the car at certain weak points....these are usually only used on cheaper cars...ie integras and civics...because their frames are weaker...and twist and torsion are problems.

 

agreed, but u're not supposed to really compare them, more like think of them complementing each other...sways underneath help with stability on the lower half of the car, and the upperstrut tie bar will help weight distribution on the top front half...the factory bar was designed to do that...people who add on another bar/replace the stock bar with a bigger, stronger bar, will enhance the amount of weight distributed from one side of the car to the other, thus giving u more of an ability to make a controlled turn/sharper turn.

bottom line is if u have the money, get sways and the upperstrut bar, otherwise get the upperstrut bar...b/c u WILL feel a difference.