As we all know, handling is one of the low points on our beloved RA. Now i was wondering what is the best way to improve (cheaply if possible). Since i am a bit of a noob, I was wondering if you guys could help me out.

First of all, sway bars, would they help more than say lowering springs and how much do they cost normally?

Second question is, tires. Would just buying a stickier set of tires that fit stock (so 215s) significantly improve handling? If not what's the cheapest setup i could do with new rims and tires?

Third question basically ties back to the first. Lowering springs or coilovers which is better and would they offer a better result than sway bars?

Thanks for any information you guys can give me.

 

I think somebody on here got both lowering springs and sway bars from robispec (?) and it made a huge difference. But that might get expensive. I recall seeing a price of 200 for springs but I could be totally wrong.
So are tires, but if I were you that would be my first choice. I plan on getting better tires after these bad boys wear out. Try getting some 225s or squeezing 235s on if you can.

And I have no idea on #3.

 

rear sway and alignment.... did WONDERS to my evo.. has to do alot with ur RA i would assume

 

Thanks, what do you mean by alignment? (noob i know)

What's the difference between strut bar and sway bars? From what i gather strut is in front in engine bay and sway is in rear?

 

Strut tower bars can go in the front or the rear (depending on the car's suspension design). They basically connect the top of the strut towers so that there is less flexing of the car's chassis during hard cornering.

Anti-Sway bars (commonly called "Sway bars") are totally different. They can also be on the front or rear but they connect the bottom of a car's chassis to the suspension. Think of it as a bar that is attached to the right wheel, the right side of the chassis, the left side of the chassis and then the left wheel. When the car turns hard, these bars have to flex in order for the car to lean so they create resistance to sway. And that is why they are called "anti-sway" bars.

Also, the thicker the bar, the less sway. If you go too thick on the rear bar however, you begin to loose some of the advantage of independent rear suspension and the car can start feeling like it has a solid rear axle (i.e. when one of the rear wheels hits a bump/hole, the shock of the impact can "upset" the other rear wheel which could be really bad if you were in the middle of a high speed turn).

 

coilovers are better

sway bars can still be added to the car. so i would say coilovers + sway bars + better tires + alignment = significant handling improvement.

an alignment is when you have to re align your wheels so that your steering wheel is straight and the car drives straight giving your tires the longest lifespan possible. whenever doing anything to your suspension an alignment is necessary

 

sway bars are nice to have... i have the robispecs. definitely improved cornering. they are $350/set (front and rear)

 

are they FOR the RA ? or are they evo sway bars ?

i was just on the website and i only see the ones for evo

 

they are specifically for the RA... prob not on the site yet... i would call them and see whats up.

 

would i still see improvement with just, say, a rear sway bar? Yeah I also went to the Robispec website, guess i'd have to e-mail as well. If sway bars are going to give increased handling over lowering than that's probably what i will do.

 

Maybe a bit,
better tires #1 and wider wheels, coilovers #2 (including alignment, firestone's lifetime), sways bars #3 (front PITA, and rear easy as pie), and #4 misc parts like strut bars and other stiffening parts.

 

A full spring and sway combo will be night and day to the old car. I suggest doing both springs and sway bars. Either alone will only help some. If you want to maximize your setup - both.

Tires also make a big difference. Go to an extreme summer set (Z1*'s, RE11's, NT05's).

Coil overs are not immediately better. A proper set of springs (Swift, RobiSpec, etc) setup with a good alignment will make for a well handling car. Low range (even some high range) coil overs and elements do not mix. I have one friend who killed a set of Ohlins from a winters worth of driving.

 

If your going to lower your car i would wait and save up for some coilovers, they ride AWSOME! even when the car is 2 inchs off the ground. New tires would also help out.

 

This is the correct answer.

 

+1 for coilovers.. i rocked springs in my last car.. and when i upgraded to coilovers it was a world of difference.. especially when you can adjust the damper and camber.. w00t