I recently just installed my new Comptech/CT Engineering Rear Sway Bar.

I didn't really notice a big difference, but i AM noticing a bigger difference in Steering response. I guess i am noticing a small difference in body roll as well.

This is normal right?

 

well the front does not have to take as much of the body roll now do to the stiffer rear bar
but yeah you will notice the things you said very slightly, but now if you try to actually push it through a courner, you will notice the front hold better (due to the rear taking some of the load/body roll off of it), but the big thing is that the rear will come around easier; so just be careful till you get use to it

 

oh i see

 

push it a bit on one of those highway entrances where you have to turn a lot...it will feel much more planted.

 

would replacing the front bar help the rear sway be better?

 

would kinda go back to stock like handleing if the new front bar is stronger then the stock one (only issue is that i think the stock one is the stongest or almost is; cause aftermarket ones are the same diameter as the stock one, but might have thicker walls though idk) but with less body roll

so i am just running my stock one with urethane bushings that i ordered, to help stiffen it up, up front (eibach rear)

 

is the eibach rear sway bar as good as the progress one?

 

yes aftermarket front bars are the same diameter but are solid metal. The oem ones look like they are hollow and are pinched on the sides.

I think Eibach and Progress are the two biggest bars. 24mm??

 

Congratulations on your 1,000th post

 

i got it the eibach with my car, but has held up just fine, with 50k miles on it or so
and no they are not solid for the fronts, look at eibach's front (give me a sec to find it for ya)
and yes the stock one is hollow

ours are 27mm iirc (at least for the type-s, not so sure about the tl-p, or cl-p)

 

1000! Alright! what do i win? a lipkit??

I was talking about the rear bar diameter. Yes the front is 27 i believe.
i bought the front and rear eibach bars used and sold the front bar for what i paid for both

 

http://www.drivewire.com/vehicle/acura-cl/sway-bars/ for the tubalur aspect, but it says it is adjustable, so might have to rethink about getting one

 

for buyer but on dealing,

also do you remember if the front had been adjustable


and rear says 23mm

 

If coming from stock to a bigger rear bar you should experiance significantly flatter cornering and, as said above, the rear should come around better.

Does your Comptech come w/ the rubber bushings? I believe Comptech changed to rubber from polyurethane to reduce squeaks/creaks.

I went from stock to urethane bushings on the stock bar and the handling improvement was noticeable. Then I switched to the Comptech bar w/ rubber bushings and it seemed like there was a bit more roll than using stock bar /urethane combo. Finally went w/ the Progress w/ urethane bushings and have it on the stiffer setting and there is the least body lean and best rotation w/ this setup. If I lived in a wetter climate I might be less inclined to use the stiffer setting on the Progress in fear of ending up ass backwards due to unexpected oversteer.

If I were to do it over again I would have stopped at the Comptechs and just got some urethane bushings for it. Of course the best bet would be to just get a bar like the Progress that comes w/ the urethane bushings in the first place.

The front stock bar was kept, but the bushings switched to urethane resulting in improved turn-in response.

Front lower frame bar (DIY) also helped improve turn-in.

Additional upper front strut bar didn't seem to add anything.

Rear lower strut bar seemed to add nothing.

And after all the bars and other suspension work, the CL-S will still never handle like a sports car, dang it. But at least my car feels pretty safe when cornering or transitioning enthusiastically as opposed to when it was stock.

 

reason for being careful when first starting to push it, but yeah got snow to deal with here, so part of the reason for me also wanting the front stiffer (just bushings for me though) to reduce the likihood of unexpected oversteer

PICS , i don't like the swivel points on the cusco one

 

also i don't like on our cars how the back end seems to lift up when you start pushing it around courners

 

Now that i drove it again, i'd say i now see a bigger difference. I pushed it on corners and it drives like a dream. The rear end hasn't broke loose yet, but we'll see.

 

WOW. Forget everything i said.

Just took my car out for a night drive. I pushed it as much as it could be pushed.

Taking very sharp turns at 60mph at the maximum 7,200rpm redline with EASE.

I previously could only take those turns at 55mph with screachy noises from the tires.

I also took a very sharp U turn and the back end gave out and oversteer was greatly improved.

Probably one of my favorate mods now.

Amazing

 

5mph faster is it :shakehead

yeah i got one long courner near me that is nice and open, that i can normally do like 80 around (proably could go faster, but have not tried though, but most people only do like 60 around that courner max

 

Well this corner is very sharp. I can take some turns at 85-90 but i don't really do that anymore it gets way sketchy. Are you 6-Speed or Triptronic?

 

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...06518&t=h&z=18


don't know how to get it to show on here, so just look at link

 

sadly the slush-o-matic, hopefully 6-speed one day

 

to be able to take a turn at a small higher speed is a significant difference considering their is no aerodynamic improvement! to take a turn from 74 to 81, for example, is HUGE! when pushing the limit, 1-3 mph is the difference between negotiating the turn or kissing a tree.

 

Hey friesm2000 if by the 'Cusco' one you mean the lower front frame bar then yes I enthusiastically agree that the mounting points and the whole bar hangs too low unless you want to be a street sweeper.

Sorry I don't have any pics of my DIYer as my family says I'm retarded/resistant that way.
But as I recall, I got some channel steel from OSH or Home Depot.
Then comparing it to mounted pics of the cusco bar, I approximated appropriate mounting places on the frame then I slightly bent the channel steel to clear the exhaust pipe.
Then I cut the channel to the right length, drilled a mounting hole into each end of the channel bar and then drilled correlating holes in the frame. Grade 8 bolts, nuts and lock washers were used to secure bar to frame.

I just went to the garage to look under my car and the lowest points at the middle of the bar and the heads of the large bolts are only about 3/4 " lower than the exhaust collector.
Might be a fun and low cost project for some. And as stated above it was the only bar install or replacement other than the larger rear sway bar that gave a noticeable improvement in handling. This mod helped turn-in feel about as much again as the change to front sway bar urethane bushings. Not huge, but I feel it helps. In fact it may have helped me swerve around a lady who drove out into the intersection against a red light and just froze there in front of me at 6:15 this morning.

 

Nice

 

The better rear bar makes for improved cornering because the rear inside tire cannot lift as much; therefore more grip from more rubber kept on the road. The reduced body roll also keeps the front inside tire planted resulting in the better steering feel. The guy that taught me this stuff raced for ten years at Summit Point, W. VA. SCCA class. Good stuff.

 

i just got the 3rd gen tl progress rear swaybar and love it. 24mm, adjustable. i have it on stiff and love the feel. the car is so predictable now.

 

yes i was refering to the "cusco" lower frame bar, me no likey the pivots

then maybe at least of a pic or two of your bar then, even having it mounted is fine

also i did notice a improvemant when i did my upper strut bar, but i also got a comptech one, but the f***er won't let me do the MDX spacer mod easiler

 

could not use better word to describe the feeling of that mod

 

I need some sway bars, next mod I hope.

 

And here she is:

 

, but the b-pipe , so you need this
https://acurazine.com/forums/car-parts-sale-361/comptech-b-pipe-02-03-acura-tl-s-brand-new-756522/
to match your CT axlebacks

 

Does the CT bar have poly or rubber bushings?

 

The Comptech rear sway I had came with rubber bushings, so I replaced it w/ the Progress bar. In retrospect I could have just got polyurethane bushings for the Comptech.

 

Thanks. And as far as the B-Pipe goes, it's underneith the car and is original, so im not gonna bother replacing that. Plus, all cars have rust like that somewhere underneith

 

can still be seen from behind


ummmm...... NO, not if you wash it off on a regular basis, and live in a fairly dry enviroment (ie: arizonia)(even colorado is fairly dry [let alone no salt in the air from the ocean, like cali], so you can set something outside for months unpainted and only have very light surface rust on it

 

i guess. I DID get the car shipped down to California from New Jersey, so i guess thats why. But the car still looks perfect

 

that definetly does not help it at all, with there salted roads there

 

mines from Florida so there is little to no rust on it

 

proably still some but not nearly as much as a northeast car