Well I would like to keep this thread going because it's a good place to consolidate the vast information/ opinions out there.
Here are the parts I'm going to focus on:
1) Progress Rear Sway Bar:
- No need to comment further, it's proven worthy. The bar helps the car rotate much better through corner.
- As you can see, the rear is very stable during hard cornering. You lose a bit of traction in the rear and the rear will swing out, but a bit of throttle control and left-foot braking will keep the rear in check.
- Another note is that the stock tires sucks, the sidewall is too soft and you lose all traction after 3-4 sessions of 20-min track time. Notice the front driver side tire, it's about to come off the rim.
2) DC Sports Shorty Header, K&N drop-in filter, Megan Racing mid-pipe:
- I put all three together because I installed them within one week of each other and I don't have enough data to comment on each individually.
- These three parts netted me a healthy ~12 HP to the hub.
- I did not have a baseline run on the Fit when it was stock, but it's an 5AT w/ paddles. Since the 5MT Fits averaged about 82 HP, I expect my AT to be 79-80 hp stock, if not worse. The green coded numbers are the peak numbers, the yellow is the dip numbers (first dyno pull, baseline run). Peak Hp is 91.9, peak Tq is 83.3
- The A/C was on during the first run because I wanted real-life driving condition numbers.
- I kept the stock muffler so I don't attract attention from cops, but I could gain a little bit more with a more free-flowing muffler.
3) Vertex Racing C-Pillar:
- I installed this part before the Progress Tech sway bar and I truly believe that the bar works. The key is to really tighten the bar and "pre-load" it by tightly adjust the middle bar so that it "pulls" the frame together like |-><-|
4) Tanabe Front Lower Tie Bar:
- This is the second suspension mod I put on the Fit after the C-Pillar and it delivers much tighter turn-in and steering response. I can change lanes at high speed with very minimal steering input. Low-speed evasive maneuvers are really easy to perform due to the sharp steering response.
5) Nagisa Fender Braces: Or T1R's Fender Braces
- The braces greatly increases the rigidity (its only purpose) of the front of the car, I feel a lot more road feedback. The ride is harsher on rough terrain or damaged freeway sections than stock, but the stability in corners is excellent. It gives you a lot of confidence to push the car harder in corner without giving up.
- The fender brace installation is time-consuming but it's straight forward. The only thing is that your fender liner will hit the diagonal part of the brace and won't sit flush with the wheel well; no problem arrived from that though, even with a CAI, water still can't get to the filter.
- Also, wrap the four small tabs (that sticks out so you can hold it while tightening the bolts) with double sided tape before installation so that they don't tap against the frame of the car when you accelerate. The ticking sound is very loud and annoying.
- Another thing about the installation of the braces, make sure you hold the doors up (you have to remove the door hinges to install) and don't let go before you really tightened the bolts or your door will not close properly. A friend is recommended when installing the braces.
- The T1R/J's braces are flat and the Nagisa's are rectangular hollow-tube design. Both serve the same purpose.
I'll revisit this post and add more reviews of the mods I'm putting in the car.
These are just my personal observations, i'm by no mean an expert. Do your research on the parts you want to buy before shelling out the dough.