Originally Posted by stembridge

"Down" as opposed to "Super Down."

es

Originally Posted by 1speedbike

Just wanted to add my two cents to this thread. I have no interest in lowering my Fit. The roads are absolute sh*t by me, and I've had enough headaches with a lowered car.

For a while I was upset I didn't get a Fiesta ST. Unfortunately I needed a usable back seat, and as much cargo room as I could, and I didn't fit (no pun intended) in the Fiestas back seats without some severe hunching over and my knees digging into the front (I'm 6'1"). But man the Fiesta was so fun to test drive! I even considered trading in my 6 month old Fit and taking a pretty heavy financial loss.

That said, I've done a few easy mods that really changed the character of the car without the need to lower.

The rear sway bar made an immediate difference in corners without compromising rise quality. Weird how the previous generation Fit Sport had one, but none are available from Honda for this generation.

I also installed a strut tower brace to slightly balance out the rear sway bar (and to supposedly improve the steering feel, which I can't tell if it actually affects or I'm just experiencing a placebo effect). Now that awful understeer is toned down significantly, with very little propensity to oversteer.

I also upgraded my wheels and tires. I'm running lightweight enkei race wheels, which are significantly lighter than stock despite being half an inch wider and the same diameter. They're wearing relatively lightweight Yokohama S.Drive summer performance tires. The improvement in outright grip is amazing. The car is also much more spirited accelerating off the line thanks to the decrease in unsprung weight. It really feels very nimble and athletic now.

The stock clutch and shifter are so incredibly light in action (a Honda trademark), but I liked the heavier and more purposeful feel of the ST transmission. I couldn't do anything for the light clutch pedal, but a titanium shift knob from WC Latheworks completely changed the character of the shifter itself. I didn't go for a stainless steel knob as I felt I would be TOO heavy, and I think the titanium is a great middle ground. Shifts now have a deliberate weight to them, and it's just so much more fun to move around than the featherweight stock knob. Only caution is that the stock boot doesn't clip to the knob and looks kind of cruddy in that way (the knob itself is gorgeous), and the finish is a little prone to scratching.

Finally, a real exhaust (in my case the Tanabe Medalion) really made the car feel like a real car. I know the Medalion is heavier than stock, but I love actually being able to hear the exhaust note and not just the winding of the I4 engine. Just being able to hear that throaty yet smooth sound coming out of the car definitely makes a difference to me. If you do want to upgrade the exhaust, I personally recommend spending the extra cash on the Tanabe versus other lower cost options. The workmanship is definitely superior. There's no "typical" JDM rasp or fart sound associated with the single cylindrical style muffler exhausts, and it just looks so much better.

Up next I'm looking into the ktuner flash. Peak gains are minimal but it seems the flash really improves the drivability and smooths out the powerband.

All of these relatively simple mods have made a surprisingly big difference in my day to day driving, without the need to lower my daily driver. I'm sure a good set of Springs + shocks or quality coilovers would make a big difference too, definitely bigger than just some sway / strut bars, but for those like me who don't want to go down that road due to practicality or comfort considerations, I'm happy with what I have, even though it's still not in the same league as the Fiesta ST.

Originally Posted by Nedpoins

How difficult was it to install the strut tower brace? I am looking at the Tanabe Sustec. I looking at where it is supposed to attach, I can't see how it would help since it does not attach to the top of the front struts at all.

Originally Posted by 1speedbike

The hardest part was actually figuring out WHERE to bolt the thing on. You are correct that there is no place on the actual strut towers for the brace. Once I figured that out it was relatively easy as far as bolt on mods go.

The brace comes with these two black metal curved plates. The brace attaches to raised points / docks on the metal plates, and then the plates themselves bolt into spots against the firewall and against some other braces on the side of the engine bay using the silver OEM bolts that are already installed there.

I took some pictures to try and illustrate this. If you look past the ridiculous amount of salty crud that got into the engine bay, you can see the red strut bar attached to the raised dock or whatever on the curved black plate.

Behind the dock you can see a bolt peeking out resting horizontally on the flat side of the plate in the first pic. You can also see two smaller bolts side by side more clearly where the curved plate attaches to the side of the engine bay. Same deal on the passenger side.

Once you get those plates bolted in, then it's just a matter of centering the strut bar by spinning the threads on either end, and tightening it into what I'm calling the dock after its centered.