[CL9] Progress rear sway bar review/impressions
As I've never really seen a review of the progress RSB on this site, here's a quick post of my impressions after installing it on my '07 Lux Auto. Got the bar from Heeltoe Auto - the bar itself costs around $250USD shipped. For the record, the rest of my suspension is stock (with 77k km's on it), with the exception of an eBay strut tower bar and Ultra Racing lower arm bar.
Firstly, the Progress rear sway is a 22mm adjustable bar, as opposed to the stock 15mm non-adjustable item. Weight wise it is much heavier too - I suspect the Progress may be a solid bar whilst the stock bar is hollow. I dropped the Progress bar on my thumb whilst getting it into position - it still feels sore 2 hours later. This means that compared to stock, this bar is definitely a lot stiffer, which reduces body roll in the rear end, causing less tendency to understeer.
Installation wise it was a breeze - just follow any of the CL9 or TSX RSB DIY's that you can find on this site or many others. I chose to jack up the car and put it on stands, but opted not to remove the rear wheels. Many Americans have suggested that the sway bar end links are usually seized on, but this was not the case for me, thanks to our sunny weather. Didn't even need to get the WD-40 out! Hardest part was manoeuvring the old bar out from under the car and getting the new bar in - would have been a much easier job had I not been lazy and removed one of the wheels. I found it easiest to remove/reinstall the bar on the passenger side of the exhaust. Torque settings are 28lb.ft on the endlinks and 33lb.ft on the bushing brackets. Took me around 40 minutes in total (taking it slowly) - I consider myself to be a fairly novice backyard mechanic.
I set the bar to the "soft" setting - this is done by attaching the endlinks to the holes nearest to the front of the car. Took it for a spin and my first impressions was "holy f*** the car turns in so much sharper". I personally reckon that the steering now feels a lot more direct than before. Body roll is definitely reduced when cornering, as is understeer. In general, the car feels more balanced when driving in a spirited manner. Whilst I can't yet comment on lift-off oversteer (which would be less pronounced in an auto than a manual due to the smaller degree of weight transfer on throttle lift-off), on the soft setting it is still possible to provoke the car into a slight oversteer in dry weather. Ride comfort is still good - I've been deliberately trying to drive the car over uneven bumps, and I honestly cannot really tell a difference in ride comfort compared to stock. Personally, I'm happy with the "soft" setting on the bar and most probably would not bother with the stiffer one - no need to go any stiffer on a daily driver, especially as I am quite happy with the balance of the car as is.
I'd say that this is one of the best mods that I've done on the car so far - in fact, I wish I'd spent my money on this first. It even looks pretty stock for those of you who are worried about insurance implications (not an issue here as NRMA allow unlimited legal mods). All in all, I'd highly recommended it!
