Ok, I have a 1992 gs integra. Christmas comes soon and im looking for a front top strut bar. although the ones that i’ve been checking out all seem to be for non-abs model integra’s. I have seen a few here and there, but nothing very eye catching. I would like to get something like the dc sports strut tower bar but dc had to kick abs g2 owners in the balls while designing it. Either way if any of you guys have any sugestions please give me some feedback and maybe links to sites that sell the product or whatever. Or even if anyone can get a non-abs strut bar on there and keep the abs in working condition, any help is appreciated. thanks.:rolleyes:
i agree about the DC bar’s looks. best looking one i’ve seen. and everytime someone says something about it not being as stiff because of the holes in it i want to punch them in the face. anyway i got one of them thinking i could “get it to work” and there’s not a chance in hell. so now i have a $120 strut bar sitting in a box in my room with no purpose at all. i think i mgiht bring it to school and hang it on my wall to prevent wall flex in the case of a drunken bastard running into it 
anyway i now have the tenzo R bar and it works fine. the looks aren’t great, just a plain chrome plated bar with a little feature to it. but it works and doesn’t look chintzy, so i was happy. overall i’d recommend it. though for about another $150 you could get the spoon bar with its nice welds.
I’d say go with the spoon. Try www.prophecyperformance.com they list it, but I’m not sure if they actually have them in stock. As to the DC bars, I don’t think it is the holes that make them structually unsound, I think it their over all construction; the bar just has lots of flex, but your right, it has nothing to do with the holes. They should have just stuck with battery tie downs and headers.
drop by my house sometime and try to flex mine. it’s just as damn stiff as any other bar on the market. i don’t know where this stupid ass rumor propigated but it is totally untrue. it’s also the reason i now cannot sell mine.
on a side note, even if it did flex, that would have little to do with how effective it is. longitudinal stress resistance it what counts here, not bend.
whatever, sorry I said anything. I’ve seen videos of those bars in action, and I think it’s amazing that people still buy the crappy things, you think they are good, lets leave it at that. I didn’t say I could flex it by hand, I said they were flexible. I’m sure that many people find them adiquite for their driving habits.
U can use any bar with the ABS. I used a EF chassis OBX Bar and all u have to do is take off the bracket that holds the connector plugs close to the abs unit. those plugs can just lie right next to the unit no prob and gives u plenty of room for the bar.
That might expand you’re options.
Jim
BTW anyone tried a rear strut or rear lower tie bar? Any difference like how the front feels?
jwork101: that is actually not true. for the neuspeed and dc sports bars they want to occupy the same space as the abs reservior. there’s no way around that unfortunately
buymysoul: i’d love to see those videos. let me know where i can find them. also i’d love to know how the flex affects the lateral stiffness of the bar, which is all that matters.
I tried, but I can’t find it. When you compress a billet bar like that it flexes easier than a tubular bar, that’s just plain physics. I understand that torsional stregth is a big part of what makes a good tie bar, but that is not all that I consider when looking for one. The connection that DC has to the base is a single point and can pivot; it’s a design that I personally don’t like. Like I said before, I’m sure the DCs are perfectly fine for most peoples uses, just not good enough for me, and I think you can find a better bar for $120. The neuspeed one for the RS/LS is far superior in my opinion, and you can find it for $80. If I can find that video again, I will email it too you, I found it a while back while researching the DC bars.
Just to clarify, I would buy a DC bar before that crap people are selling on ebay, but they only cost $30 and you get what you pay for.
So basically what you’re saying is that although the DC bar itself is strong, the way it’s connected to the chassis sucks and it doesn’t stiffen the car. Right?
Cusco makes a NICE tubular bar that’ll run ya cheaper than Spoon. My buddy Nick runs an online “shop” called import-specialists.com and can get ya Cusco stuff. Just give him an e-mail and tell him fatbooty sent ya.
Habitforming: does the OBX bar really work? I always was a bit skeptical of them. I don’t care about cosmetics though so if it stiffens up the car and it’s cheap I might be sold.
MrFatBooty: i wansn’t the one talking about the OBX bar, i have a Tenzo R bar on my car. but it seems great to me. it was kinda hard to tell a difference after having driven around with everything else done to the suspension but that for a year. but there was a slightly noticeable diffference in the speed i was hitting thru my normal “fun” roads around louisville. i was running about 5mph faster. anyway the Tenzo is good enough for me, and it’s the same one Dan (G2Guru) is running. I’m pretty sure the OBX bar is almost exactly the same however, so i’m sure it will work as well.
Buymysoul: just let me know when you find it, i’m interested to see it.
Tenzo, OBX…same thing to me.
Basically I want the front end to feel like a G3 with its OEM strut bar. The wet-noodly G2 body gets on my nerves. A Camry’s stiffer for cryin out loud!
Here’s the run down of strut bars that fit 90-93 Tegs with ABS from most to least expensive.
GAB $200
Lightspeed $160
Spoon $150
Z-Speed $130
Greddy/Trust $100
Momocourse $100
Tenzo R $90
Matrix $75
OBX-R $60
Pilot Motorsports $60
I think I got them all, if not, feel free to add onto the list. These prices are USD. With that said, I personally have the OBX-R bar.
I paid $60 from a local shop here in Portland. During the March Seattle meet last year, we did a side by side “flex” test with the Spoon. They were about the same. As far as handling goes, it’s VERY nice. Ask anyone that has been in my car. Spoon is a great product, I just can’t see spending that much for a strut bar.
The OBX-R and Tenzo bar are not the same, but they are similar. Here’s a shot of Johnny’s Tenzo R Bar.
Let me know if you have any questions.
my bad about the bars. i knew they were at least close. figured they were for the most part the same. (i knew they weren’t identical).
Man, Leave it to Dan to bust out all the bars and prices from memory…Dan you’re our hero…lol…
jim
ya guru thanks for the list and price. i think im gonna look for the obx as well. is 60 going retail rate?
as for the flexing, how can you video or compare them? was there a camera under the hood or did two people stand on them like a teeter totter?
Anyone know if the Tanabe front bar fits?