You actually won't want a thicker front bar, it will cause increased understeer (plowing) entering and exiting a corner. The Progree bar really balances the car out and gives you a hint of oversteer if driven correctly.

 

Hmmmm good to know, I've always been told differently - oh well - more money towards subframe and coilovers!!!!!

 

hahaha, well after farting with it for awhile, and being lazy and not jacking the car up, I got the bar on! OMG im taking corners faster and harder than i thought possible, and the only thing that slips now, besides my shitty continental winter tires is me in the seat, awesome upgrade, pairs very well with the front strut tb and SS/SC sway bar, oh man, thanks TTR great upgrade!

 

I installed mine today. I must say it took a little time but only because i didnt have jackstands which wouldve made this install go a hell of a lot faster. Anyways I did notice an improvement with this installed. The rear suspension is stiffer and the body roll is reduced by at least 50% if not as much as 75% which makes taking corners a lot easier at higher speed. I dont think the base models come with a front sway bar so i think most of the body roll that is left is from the front end and it feels like it as well. I do have the DC Sport upper strut bar which helps some. Overall this is a great upgrade for the price.

Can anyone confirm if the base model has a front sway bar or not. I am too lazy to go back into the cold and crawl under the car again and look. If it doesn't does anyone know if the SS sway bar will bolt up?

 

base models do come with a front bar but its tiny compared to the ss/sc, which i prefer. it shifts the balance of the car to the loose side when pushed.

 

yes the ss/ac bar will fit, and is a great upgrade.

 

what is the size of the ss compared to the base models bar. Like what is the size of both in mm.

 

if i remember right the ss/sc is 19mm and just taking a guess after using the laser calibrated eye tool the base model is about 14-15mm

 

Wow, that was the easiest install ever. I didn't even jack the car up.

For all of you not jacking the car up, I have some pointers...here's what I did.

1. Take all hardware out of the bag and place it on the proper side of the rear axle (beam). Make sure you put the washers on the bolts.
2. Slide nut plate into end of beam, make sure the "longer end" is coming out of the beam like a handle.
3. Put bolts into plate and hand tighten
4. Take out the bolt that is towards the rear of the car (if you're upsdie down, this would be the bolt closest to your feet). What this will do is hold the plate in place so you can attach the bar.
5. Put bolt in the hole of the bar and hold it there. Use your other arm to lift the bar up. You will find that you can wrap your hand around the beam/stock sway bar to take some of the preasure off your shoulder and arm.
6. Now that your holding it up, but the bolt in just a few turns so it holds.
7. Do the other side the same way.
8. Take the top bolt out now on both sides
9. Lift bar up again flush and put the upper bolt through the bar and into the plate and hand tighten.
10. Do the other side.
11. Break out your rachet and tighten down

All in all with unpacking, breaking out the trouble light and scratching my ass, i got this done in 30 minutes.

Driving impressions to come in a little.

 

got mine on last night...and wow. i didn't realize how sloppy the rear end felt until i put this bar on. You really can feel the difference, even in just going around corners in intersections. The whole back end of the car feels under my control and ready for anything. It's great, thanks TTR!

 

To clear some things up a little bit, I have the FE5 front sway installed, and yes the base models have a front sway, not much of one but yes we have one, it is only 19mm, so the FE5 is a big improvement over that with a 24mm bar. It does bolt right in but I took it to the dealer to get done when I had to get my balljoints replaced, I think it is a pretty tricky install which is why I let them do it. I would suggest going this route as it was a pretty big improvement over the factory front sway, and the FE5 is bigger than any aftermarket ones out there......there is a site that all of this info was found from if you want to check it out, lists a lot of good info.....

http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z9895/default.aspx

Hope that helps some

 

do you know what the part number is for the FE5 front sway bar? I would like to look into getting one of these installed. Just out of curiosity how much did the dealership charge you to install it on your car.

 

after nearly getting blown off my motorcycle today, i think its time to play with the real sway bar....anyone else autocrossing with this, is the strut bar up front a good combo with this?

 

I just went through CED to get it and its under the performance parts section, not sure of the part number sorry man, and as far as the install costs, I think it was around 100 bucks cuz its all labor costs, i also had it in for warranty work so i cant remember if the total was just for the sway bar stuff, but definetely check it out since its a GM part it shouldnt be a prob for them to do it, hope that helps man..

 

sweet, its on...it was hard for me to get under my ss/sc...and im 5'1....thx for the advice on whomever put up about those not jackin the car up....i think that was a lllottt easier

 

to seoulgirl7 -


i have the jbp front strut bar. and the progress rear sway.

and yea. it helps ALOT. it's kind of wierd, it almost "shimmies" when you come around the corner, the front is tight and full of understreer, and the back is tight and makes it have a little oversteer and it feels like they fight each other for like a second when exiting hard out of a turn.


or maybe i'm just not used to any oversteer at all..

 

The shimmy you feel can be attributed to one of two things: A very well balanced setup that doesn't give you oversteer or understeer or your plowing a little bit and you just feel the tires at their limit.

For auto-xing I'd suggest not using a strut bar and seeing what happens. Each driver likes to set their car up differently, I love just running the rear sway with no other mods, some others feel they need more bracing front and rear. Try it out and see what you like. You're better off running what you got and seeing how it feels before going out and spending more money.

 

i think it's my tires, theyre pretty much dead. but in march im getting coilovers, so we'll see how tight the entire thing gets.

"That thing is going to ride like it's on rails" - friend says :P

 

This thing rocks. Talk about a big difference. Much better cornering. Thanks to turbotech, they did one hell of a job on this GB!!!

Art

 

this is going to be my next suspension purchase

 

well, im runnin my first auto-x of the season Sat...so we shall see how is w/o the strut bar

 

Hey TTR, I did go ahead and order one of these yesterday. I know that GB price is out of the question, but any idea when you will be getting more?

I am anxious to get it on my car!

 

You may have to wait a little while. In one of their posts on this thread they stated that they pretty much wiped out the stock. Hopefully they will chime in and let you know.

Art

 

As soon as Progress makes more, we wiped out their inventory We had 25 come in this time, and have a bunch more on order.

 

Any idea on when you guys might get them?