i just got a 09 tC (like 99% the same as the 08...) whats a nice Swaybars to get?

also will the strut bar give me any kind of noticeable performance boost? or is it not worth the money?

 

A front strut bar will give you a very tiny difference in the chassis stiffness because of where the strut towers are placed on our car. A rear strut bar and rear sway bar will definitely give you a greater response in handling and control. Someone just did a review on rear strut with install pics

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...light=#3489453

 

man im hearing different opinions and experiences from different people....

i guess i'll just save up and get the whole set and see which makes the most difference.

 

You have to realize some people are more observant than others. Some who mod, know their car inside n' out while others have never popped the hood. Suspension is a great investment otherwise.

 

And yet, they all have an opinion and a keyboard.

A front strut tower bar looks very nice in your engine bay, but only affects your chassis stiffness a negligible amount. A rear swaybar, conversely, will provide for a modest handling improvement while remaining mostly invisible.

 

Even IF a rear strut bar did.. the flex in the rear is a tini.. tiny concern for handling on this car. Some will swear that rear floor bars helped too.. but they slapped them on.. drive on the street pay closer attention than before the bar and convince themselves of this.

Largest improvement in handling on this car from stock.. besides tires.. which are probably the best upgrade from stock, is a rear sway bar. That of course is if you are not considering a front and rear sway bar set. A rear trd sway on the stiff setting is night and day from stock. Especially once you go out and push the car hard.

If you want the absolute best improvements for handling, get some springs that are no lower than 1.4" off stock, either a trd rear sway or hotchkis sway set and some good tires. I would go for the tires first if you have not already.

 

wow.,,,

where can i get a good rear strut bar?

 

So basically you are saying you disagree? A rear strut bar is about the least effective handling mod. A rear SWAY bar is what you are looking for. .as it is a very significant improvement. A sway reduces body roll and tunes the understeer/oversteer balance of the car. A strut bar can in no way do either of those. And those characteristics are what you need to get in check to make the car handle well.

But hey.. do what you want

 

I will suggest hotchkis sway bars. Sway bars are far more effective than the strut bars. I have rode in a car before and after a front strut bar and i think the difference is mostly mental, like stated before only a real car enthusiast will notice the difference. The sway bars on the other hand definatly make a difference when turning at higher speeds and switching lanes on the high way. I have been in a car with TRD sway and my car has the hotchkis sways. The hotchkis setup is definatly noticable over the TRD sway, but it does require installing the front sway (which isnt very easy) Rear sway is 20min install you can do in your driveway, very easy.

http://customizemyscion.com/store/in...products_id=26

 

whats a good online shop to get it? for a local store in the Bay Area? (san jose, milpitas, fremont) or should i check on craigslist?

 

check out that link I posted above. they are a new sponsor of mine, they are a branch reputable company. I think they have the lowest price I've found for those sway bars. let me know if you need anything else I can talk to themfor you.

 

You can get the hotchkis set for $287 with free shipping from trdsparks.com. The site linked above is $12 cheaper, but if they dont offer free shipping you may come out better on sparks by a little.

 

I would suggest Progress. Why? Solid bar, not hollow like Hotchkis. No need for upgrade (on most) the front bar on a FWD car. The rear alone makes a huge difference on it's own from experience.

Also, the Hotchkis have shown evidence of rusting, breaking and snapping. I would DARE you to break a Progress bar. I can assure you it will not happen being 22mm solid.

http://www.dezod.com/pd_progress_rear_sway_barscion.cfm

 

Only problem with doing just a rear sway is that you can only go so stiff with it before you get oversteer. With hotchkis front and rear you get a perfect balance. My set hasnt rusted at all, and i live less than a mile from the ocean. Up to you. Good luck with the new car

 

If you want to really go stiff and have much less body roll than a trd bar, you HAVE to get a front and rear set unless you want the car to have too much oversteer. Having the TRD bar and autoxing with it.. I like it, but am too the point that I want more roll stiffness. In order to do this, you cant just run a much stiffer rear (which is why they sell the hotchkis as a set) and keep the cars handling balanced. In that case you need a front and rear set.

I too have been watching hotchkis due to issues. However, the real rusting issues I have seen have been with the springs.. which is sad really. I have only heard of one hotchkis bar breaking, and that was a long time ago. They also had rubbing issues on those, but from what I hear they have fixed them.

Now, if I were road racing, I may not want much more stiffness than the TRD rear, since cars tend to oversteer more easilly on long sweepers than autox type transistions.

As far as hollow vs solid.. I have never heard of a trd bar breaking.. or a hollow roll cage bar... IF built of the right metals, they will not break. And if I remember correctly the progress rear sway is pretty close to the trd in stiffness. If that is correct, then the extra metal isnt doing a whole lot other than weighing more :D

 

I have to disagree with that. I'm running a 24mm H&R solid rear bar with Dezod rear endlinks, and oversteer hasn't been an issue in high speed sweepers. Of course, wheel offset , tire width, and rear spring rate plays a role in that equation as well, but a slightly stiffer bar than TRD and Progress won't really induce more oversteer.

 

I agree, all though I am running a 22mm with 215s on it with stock spring-age.

 

A stiffer rear bar will induce more oversteer... that is the purpose of a stiffer rear bar. Maybe it is not too much for your driving style (which is probably what you are trying to say).. I am not arguing that. But if it is stiffer than the TRD, it is inducing more oversteer than the TRD.

And a car does oversteer more easilly on a long sweeping corner than a tight, quick one. Go autox your car and compare the tight, pin corners to how it feels on a road race track. This is why tons of long time autox'rs in FWD cars will run toe settings in the rear of up to 1/2 inch sometimes and super stiff sways in the back (some even remove the front bar) .. just to get it to track wide in the rear. If you take that car, set up like that, at higher speeds on the highway it will scare the crap out of you, since it will be very oversteery and hard to handle. That is a super extreme case, but shows that a car handles much different in high speed corners than it does in tight, sharp ones. The slip angle you apply to the front tires is much more extreme in one case than the other, changing the needs of the suspension.

Again, I am not saying that for your driving style your setup doesnt work. But even Don Gardner (hard to argue what he has done) was running a progress rear bar on his tC and kicking @$$

 

I run 225/45's on mine. If you are racing where you are limited to 225's like I am.. or not racing at all, just hitting the canyons once in a while, cram 245's under it! They will fit, and do a great job!

 

I love my H&R rear sway bar and definitely recommend it.

don't waste your time or money with strut bars.