Which lowering springs will work with it?

 

Any springs should work.

 

According the thread below, there are fitment issues:

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...e-opinion.html


Post #1 in the above thread states this:

"progress rear sway bar - cojaro - but, according to downest, there appears to be a quality control issue and it also appears one should expect fitment issues if running particular brands of aftermarket springs."

 

From what I've read the sway bar only makes a slight difference in the stiffness of rear suspension because it essentially links the rear suspension together. If one rear wheel hits a pot hole...the other rear wheel will now feel a jolt from it only because the of the connection with the rear sway. I agree the sway bar shouldn't change the way car travels down the freeway in any other way. Like i've said before (see prior post) and what you just said it DOES make the vehicle more planted in the corners for sure.

"The new sway bar results in far less body roll and much less understeer. The rear ride is a bit firmer (over one-wheel bumps the effective rear suspension rate is now higher) but the overall improvement is absolutely dramatic"
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Mabey it was ment cornering at the higher freeway speeds? I was thinking about doing this but I'm not sure is it worth the money I drive 99% on the freeway and very curvy roads and always at night for work should I spend the money or save it for another mod?I'm not stingy with my money for the car but I want to make shure there is a benifet from adding the bar

 

If the swaybar mod is a waste of money, then you should check out how little is gained by adding an intake and an exhaust.

It seems like the only real gain is a new set of light weight wheels and tires but you need BIG MONEY for quality built stylish light weight wheels and good tires.

 

My best mods to date was lowering and buying the rear sway. I personally don't think the rear sway was a waste. I notice a big improvement on cornering even compared to being "just" lowered.

I agree the next best mods would be some light wheels. Intake is kind of a waste if you ask me. Esp. for $250+ and all you get is maybe 1-2hp and some more noise. That is just my opinion though. To each his own.

 

Axle back exhaust will cost you $375-$700 for 1-2 hp and a lot of noise.

 

I also don't understand the positive effects of this bar.
If the spring action is affected in any way, I would consider this undesirable since that would alter the original suspension geometry and performance, which I assume is combination of desired stiffness and shock absorbing qualities, for the majority of people.

The old cars like the one I used to have (1989 Pontiac 6000) had a solid read axle and the handling of that car was terrible. So I don't see how making an independent suspension more like a solid axle improves handling.

If someone can, please explain.

 

As much as I want a rear anti roll bar, I am also a bit skeptical on how this bar works. If there were bushings holding the center of the bar in place, to allow the bar to rotate along the axis of the center of those bushings, it would allow the bar to transfer torsional force from side to side, which is how most anti roll bars that I've seen work.

On a side note, looking at the DIY, why was there only that rubber mount thing in the way on the passenger side? Just curious.

And from what it seems, the GD generation Fits don't come with a rear bar at all, correct? If that's the case, then I'll really start looking for one because I hate the understeer.

 

Because of the torsion beam setup, the bar itself acts as another torsion bar. Keeps one side help down when the other side is compressed by cornering load, therefore keeping he inside tire down on the road. If the car was IRS, you would need inner bushings and brackets. But due to the design it doesn't need it. Ordered this last thursday from Progress along with sport springs. Sway bars make some of the biggest difference in handling. In fact, it can help cornering more than springs in some cases.

 

The fit uses torsion beam suspension in the rear, so it has an anti-sway effect already. The progress bar just stiffens it up a little more. Its not like a solid rear axle. A swaybar is a small improvement for a torsion rear, but for an independent suspension car the effect is dramatic because it prevents too much weight transfer.

If you put too much weight one side of the car you overload the tires and loose traction on that side and in extreme cases you can actually lift the inside tire, by trying to keep the weight of the car distributed towards the middle you maximize traction by utilizing all tires on the car as much as possible.

The problem with the 6000 is that it was a GM and the concern was for comfort not handling (seriously, don't laugh). This is my first foreign car so I know the domestic GM market all too well.

 

Sorry to drag up an old thread but I'm wondering the same thing. In the posted pics, where is the stock ARB located?

As a side note, I upgraded the rear bar on my 1997 SAAB 900 turbo, which has basically the same rear setup as the Fit, and it was the biggest bang for the buck upgrade I made next to a manual boost controller. But the 900's suspension was a bit squishy so the difference was quite noticeable. The Fit is a very planted car to begin with...

 

The making a torsion beam stiffer isn't quite like making it solid axle. In a solid axle, upward force applied to one side (in a cornering or bump situation) translates to a rotational force about a longitudinal axis. This means that if the right wheel moves up, the left wheel moves down.

A torsion beam is exactly the opposite: the same upward force to one side translates to a rotational force about a lateral axis. This means that when the right wheel moves up, the left one wants to also. (Imagine holding a staple across the top: as you move one end, the other end moves in the same direction. Your wheels are attached to the ends of the staple.

And as for anyone on the fence about buying a sway bar, it's the single best suspension mod you can do. They improve handling response without sacrificing ground clearance or ride quality. Your Honda will turn in sharper, understeer less, and you might even be able to get it to rotate under braking. Tire wear will also improve, except that you'll drive it harder and make it worse.

I used to have a Civic with full Tokico shocks and H&R springs. It wasn't until I installed the sway bars could I take advantage of them. If I ever did it again, I would keep the stock ride height and just do sway bars.

But since then, I've been lured to the dark side. I6, RWD.

 

Did this mod to my Fit, my experience was just as described in the OP. Thanks for the write-up! I can feel the difference =D

 

Did this mod to my otherwise stock fit sport, and don't notice any improvement. On my previous honda/acura and suby wrx (all independent) and even on my old muscle cars, the rear sway was a night/day improvement, but I believe it to be a waste on the fit sport torsion beam. I believe the rear bushing play negates any possible gain.

 

Did you replace your stock anti-roll bar? AFAIK Fit Sports come stock with a 17 mm rear anti-roll bar.

 

the stock anti-sway is integrated and can not be removed from inside the torsion beam.

 

Looks like from another thread (here) that the new 19mm bar has a fitment issue with 2011s. I ordered about 2 weeks ago and will try to contact Progress about it. I wanted to see if there are others who have run into problems with part #62.1062

Thanks.

 

Still don't see how this works! In order for it to provide twist/torsion resistance, there needs to be third point of contact to act as the fulcrum/pivot. This is a standard installation from a link above:



See how it's connected to the axle in the middle? This is the pivot point, so when one side is pushed, the bar twists (torsion is applied), which applies the same force to the opposite wheel. It basically fights against a difference in compression/extension between connected wheels - So when you have steady-state loading (sweeping corner), the outside [compressed] pushes the bar up, which also compresses the inside suspension... causing the car to sit more flat.


As it's installed in the OP, where it's only connected at the spring seats, how is any force transferred to the opposite side? To visualize this, grab both ends of a ruler/pencil/whatever. When you move one side up or down, there isn't much force transfered to the other side. There's absolutely no torsion.