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Considering Progress RSB for 3G 6MT with TL-S suspension
Hey all, first post and trying to pick peoples brains on this. I've read a fair number of the older posts about the Progress RSB (24mm, adjustable), but still wanted to ask my question more directly due to my car being not quite stock anymore.
These sorts of mods are a new thing to me, so prefer to learn a fair bit before messing with my vehicle. From the older posts, I've encountered the issue about the rear subframe RSB mounts cracking due to the added stress of a thicker RSB. One of the general thoughts is that this is more prone to softer/stock suspension on base models where the stress of driving with the thicker RSB ends up going to the mounts (but I believe I read of someone with Progress RSB (on softer, street setting) and A-spec suspension having the same issue with the mounts cracking, so that is counter to the soft suspension logic). Not looking to mess up my rear subframe, so want to learn more about (like if a reinforcement kit for the mounts was ever available...?). Car is my daily drive and no plans to track it, but do enjoy some every day levels of spirited driving. And being a daily driver, I know it will inevitably encounter uneven lateral surfaces (driveways, speed humps, pot holes) where one side of suspension load is different than the other, which I under will contribute to the chances of cracking a mount.
My car:
2004 Base with 6MT
Changed to TL-S struts in all 4 corners
Changed to PCI compliance bushings (don't believe this would have any impact in the RSB mount issue, but figured I'd mention)
Stock FSB and RSB from Base 6MT
Are you looking to track your TL? Do you have another comfortable car as daily driven? if not just leave the front and rsb as is since your model is a MT. Type S suspension is good but be mindful that you will feel all the road imperfection, I would go with stock LCA bushing trust me these guy taken thousand of hours to engineer these components.
The older I become that now I am starting to understand the concept of "Weekend car and daily car"
Are you looking to track your TL? Do you have another comfortable car as daily driven? if not just leave the front and rsb as is since your model is a MT. Type S suspension is good but be mindful that you will feel all the road imperfection, I would go with stock LCA bushing trust me these guy taken thousand of hours to engineer these components.
The older I become that now I am starting to understand the concept of "Weekend car and daily car"
No intentions of tracking the car! You make a good point, to not go so far as to lose the TL's strengths - it is a comfortable car that has a fun element to the driving. I do try to keep this in mind, not wanting to go too far and make the ride harsh through modifications. May be better idea to save some dollars towards a second "fun car" and keep the TL the more day to day appealing vehicle, it has definitely been an idea for quite some time to go this route...
The difference in having the Type S struts has been nice, I didn't find much of an additional harshness in the ride from swapping out the base MT struts...but as the base struts had 160,000 miles on them at the time, they also may have been riding a bit rougher themselves. I admit that I still debate whether I'll keep the PCI bushings in place for the LCA longterm, even after 6 months driven. While the immediate response in the steering is nice, I definitely feel road imperfections more noticeably now. Not awful, but it does detract from the car's original purpose and I miss some of that smoothness. The factory bushings were both torn and needed to go, and the temptation of "moar!" convinced me to try the PCI bushings. On a perfect stretch of pavement they are great, but that of course isn't something you can rely on!
I'll be moving back up to Maine likely in the next year and may decide to swap in a new set of factory bushings then, as the road quality in much of Maine isn't so great. I'll also have a large garage space once again to do some more work on the car in. Thankfully I have all the pieces of the DIY bushing replacement tool (a good write-up from the forums!), so would be more a matter of a taking a few hours to swap out the bushings myself rather than too much of a cost.
My TL has A-spec suspension with a 24mm progressive RSB. The Aspec has a slightly higher spring rates but not much compared to the TL-S, the springs are shorter due to the lower ride height. I haven't had any cracks, but I haven't used my car for AutoX or a Track day since I installed it, I also use the reduced rate setting on the RSB.
I am not aware of any off the shelf fix for the mounting points cracking or further reinforce the rear mounts.
As long as it's just spirited driving you should be ok.
My TL has A-spec suspension with a 24mm progressive RSB. The Aspec has a slightly higher spring rates but not much compared to the TL-S, the springs are shorter due to the lower ride height. I haven't had any cracks, but I haven't used my car for AutoX or a Track day since I installed it, I also use the reduced rate setting on the RSB.
I am not aware of any off the shelf fix for the mounting points cracking or further reinforce the rear mounts.
As long as it's just spirited driving you should be ok.
Thanks for the welcome, and thanks for the input!
Sounds like your setup isn't too far off from where I am and what I am considering doing then, good point of comparison. If I could have bought the A-spec suspension new I'd have gone that route as well (I'm sure you can find some out there somewhere, but was a lot easier to order the TL-S suspension off the shelf). As it is, I am happy with the TL-S suspension and nice to know I've a fresh set on the car. Plan to keep it for quite a while, it is in great shape for the age. I'm only the second owner, first kept it for nearly 15 years and 160,000+ miles and was pretty good about keeping up on maintenance, I've full records from the dealership right up until I purchased it.
Yeah, definitely just spirited driving on the back roads, no interest in forcing the car out of its natural habitat and onto a track. How many years/miles have you had the Progress RSB on your car now, just to have some perspective?
I should also ask, what is your take on the Progress RSB? Pretty happy with the purchase?
From my understanding, a thicker RSB shouldn't negatively impact typical ride quality (outside of uneven road surfaces where leaving the suspension more independent from the other side would be smoother), so guessing no complaints overall in how it affected comfort when cruising along?
I had a Progress RSB on my previous Honda CR-Z 6MT and it made the car pretty fun on the right road, could get it to oversteer very predictably when flicked into a turn. Do you have the stock 6MT FSB still, found the car's handling to be not overly tail happy with this setup?
Sounds like your setup isn't too far off from where I am and what I am considering doing then, good point of comparison. If I could have bought the A-spec suspension new I'd have gone that route as well (I'm sure you can find some out there somewhere, but was a lot easier to order the TL-S suspension off the shelf). As it is, I am happy with the TL-S suspension and nice to know I've a fresh set on the car. Plan to keep it for quite a while, it is in great shape for the age. I'm only the second owner, first kept it for nearly 15 years and 160,000+ miles and was pretty good about keeping up on maintenance, I've full records from the dealership right up until I purchased it.
Yeah, definitely just spirited driving on the back roads, no interest in forcing the car out of its natural habitat and onto a track. How many years/miles have you had the Progress RSB on your car now, just to have some perspective?
Originally Posted by AnthraMetallic04
I should also ask, what is your take on the Progress RSB? Pretty happy with the purchase?
From my understanding, a thicker RSB shouldn't negatively impact typical ride quality (outside of uneven road surfaces where leaving the suspension more independent from the other side would be smoother), so guessing no complaints overall in how it affected comfort when cruising along?
I had a Progress RSB on my previous Honda CR-Z 6MT and it made the car pretty fun on the right road, could get it to oversteer very predictably when flicked into a turn. Do you have the stock 6MT FSB still, found the car's handling to be not overly tail happy with this setup?
No Problem. I scooped my stuff up years ago knowing that the production of Aspec items wasn't going to be forever. My shocks were done with over 100k on them.
No complaints from the addition of the RSB to ride quality just going down the road and I am in the Detroit Metro area, roads are in rough shape. It's been on for 3 years.
Yes stock 6MT FSB, I replaced bushings and end links on the FSB when I replaced my clutch. The car is very neutral all around and it's a noticeable improvement in roll, not overly tail happy like my Integra.
No Problem. I scooped my stuff up years ago knowing that the production of Aspec items wasn't going to be forever. My shocks were done with over 100k on them.
No complaints from the addition of the RSB to ride quality just going down the road and I am in the Detroit Metro area, roads are in rough shape. It's been on for 3 years.
Yes stock 6MT FSB, I replaced bushings and end links on the FSB when I replaced my clutch. The car is very neutral all around and it's a noticeable improvement in roll, not overly tail happy like my Integra.
01-05-2019, 12:42 PM
