Some are adjustable, some aren't. Some are 3-point. Cusco has one that goes at the very back of the car in the trunk.

I have an '03 w/rear sway and Eibach lowering kit. I'm going to be remodeling the trunk for sound and wanted to get the bar in now. Autocrossing now and some road racing in the future.

Opinions?

Thanks!

 

Cusco OS is the best bang for the buck.

Don't get this confused with the Cusco trunk bar, which is the one that's on the end of the trunk and not on the towers...

Additionally, all the 3 point mounts should offer better rigidity like the Mine's crossend bar...but might get in the way of your future trunk mods...or you can mount it and mod around the bar...

 

just installed the cusco you mentioned, strut plus the v-brace (attaches to the trunk) and the chassis rigidity is definetly increased. i already had the trunk and rear sways; the cusco set increased the 'flickability' at the limits of handling, i love it.

 

Thanks - anyone else?

 

+1 for the Cusco OS with the V-Bar. I'm a huge fan of Cusco. I had the OS with the V-bar in my car. Had the same delightful experience as mifesto. i also had the Cusco 23mm rear sway bar. this definitely enhanced the flickability of the car and understeer was just a memory. I had the trunk bar too. i'm not sure if it did anything but i guess it didnt hurt for the $75 i paid for it. it mounts over the spare tire well, it looked like it might make getting the spare tire out a little harder but it didnt you just have to pull the trunk liner up a little higher to get the spare out.

 

btw i pulled all the liner out of the trunk shortly after installing th trunk bar. it didnt look right otherwise. plus i probably saved some weight!

 

dc sports makes the cheapest ti one and i think it's a good design. keep in mind that most of the force that you see on the powers is a tension force. as in the tower tries to move towards the outside of the car (not what most people think) so under tension a bar of metal is usually enough, cuz tension strength is always more than compression strength. as for having an extra point in the trunk floor... it would give you the shifting parallelogram typd rigidity, but is there that kind of force? prolly, is it important? maybe not... if you are going all out you can get the mines trunk bar which ties to teh towers and the rs trunk bar location.

 

I have the Cusco "strut" bar but I don't know that it's really worthwhile. First, the rear doesn't have a strut suspension so (most of?) the lateral loads are taken at the control arm attachment points (and their rubber bushings). The top mounts should see only vertical loads. And the loads back there are pretty low compared to the front. Second, any bolt-on bar is going to have some slop. As Scott Griffith of the old Fordnatics list pointed out, once your suspension geometry is set correctly, the real benefit of any chassis stiffening is to prevent the first millimeter of deflection, not the last!

Maybe some of the really fast track drivers can say if it makes a significant difference.

Dave

 

good points