Installed Stillen RSTB and Love It!
#1
I Know Kwaliti
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1,441
Installed Stillen RSTB and Love It!
Rear Strut Tower Bar:
So my final Maxi mod made its way into my trunk and on top of rear struts. I felt immediate improvement in cornering, especially on turns where road is flat or with strong crown. There is a wide left and flat hwy on-ramp that I take daily that rear end would slide in (oversteeer) when accelerating on and now it stays tight on it, no oversteer. Another sharp road turn I also take daily is a left 90 deg uphill turn with so slight road crown and I used to also feel rear end slide on if I took it faster. Now I feel that I can take on corners much faster and handling is better, almost got a feel of understeer and oversteer is now gone!
My car has following: stock SE suspension, Volks rims front are 18x8 with 235/45R18, rears are 18x8.5 with 255/40R18, FSTB, poly sway bar bushings, RSB, lighter rear beam, and now RSTB...
Installation difficulty I'd rank as easy, was actually fun laying in trunk and working it Instructions came with the parts. I got the bar during Stillen's web sale a few weeks ago so a great price. Would recommend it as an upgrade...
So my final Maxi mod made its way into my trunk and on top of rear struts. I felt immediate improvement in cornering, especially on turns where road is flat or with strong crown. There is a wide left and flat hwy on-ramp that I take daily that rear end would slide in (oversteeer) when accelerating on and now it stays tight on it, no oversteer. Another sharp road turn I also take daily is a left 90 deg uphill turn with so slight road crown and I used to also feel rear end slide on if I took it faster. Now I feel that I can take on corners much faster and handling is better, almost got a feel of understeer and oversteer is now gone!
My car has following: stock SE suspension, Volks rims front are 18x8 with 235/45R18, rears are 18x8.5 with 255/40R18, FSTB, poly sway bar bushings, RSB, lighter rear beam, and now RSTB...
Installation difficulty I'd rank as easy, was actually fun laying in trunk and working it Instructions came with the parts. I got the bar during Stillen's web sale a few weeks ago so a great price. Would recommend it as an upgrade...
Last edited by igzy; 06-03-2008 at 06:57 PM.
#4
#5
I do have to wonder why you haven't switched to at least a mild drop (eibachs, perhaps), which will CONSIDERABLY improve your handling...more than anything else.
H&R or Eibachs aren't very low and have good (near SE stock) ride quality. H&R might actually be a better ride than stock!
H&R or Eibachs aren't very low and have good (near SE stock) ride quality. H&R might actually be a better ride than stock!
#8
^
Yay!
A H&R picture thread lol we're still OT!
BTW a Stillen FSTB is great along with a Progress RSB If you want the riding on rails feeling coilovers give you lots of control.
I love the color of the H&R more than any other spring setup for the 5th gen lol yea must be the girly side of me or that it's actually my favorite color.
Yay!
A H&R picture thread lol we're still OT!
BTW a Stillen FSTB is great along with a Progress RSB If you want the riding on rails feeling coilovers give you lots of control.
I love the color of the H&R more than any other spring setup for the 5th gen lol yea must be the girly side of me or that it's actually my favorite color.
#10
#11
I Know Kwaliti
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Thanks for the feedback Perhaps on a dropped ride it does not help as much or with other susp upgrades but on mine I felt the improvement right away. Any of susp gurus are welcome to test drive it too (I could disconnect it and then connect it to demonstrate the improvement )
This is one of the reasons I did not drop it yet (as improvement would be only marginal). The others are: my stock set up is still stiff, I heard complaints from many that their dropped shocks start leaking after a short while (even after markets), police in ON after passing of the street racing law are more inclined to pull over a dropped car rather than a stock-looking one, this is my daily work commuter so don't quite need better suspension. Finally, I decided that when my stock suspension goes that then I will drop it and do the whole shabang
This is one of the reasons I did not drop it yet (as improvement would be only marginal). The others are: my stock set up is still stiff, I heard complaints from many that their dropped shocks start leaking after a short while (even after markets), police in ON after passing of the street racing law are more inclined to pull over a dropped car rather than a stock-looking one, this is my daily work commuter so don't quite need better suspension. Finally, I decided that when my stock suspension goes that then I will drop it and do the whole shabang
#13
#15
There is a wide left and flat hwy on-ramp that I take daily that rear end would slide in (oversteeer) when accelerating on and now it stays tight on it, no oversteer. Another sharp road turn I also take daily is a left 90 deg uphill turn with so slight road crown and I used to also feel rear end slide on if I took it faster. Now I feel that I can take on corners much faster and handling is better, almost got a feel of understeer and oversteer is now gone!
Any don't listen to anyone who says something "doesn't do anything." If you're on stock suspension it's a lot easier to notice small changes like that.
#16
to the OP: heres my story..had a 00 max on vogtland.. like 1.8 drop cosmo fstb and RSB... rode like a dream.. never thought RSTB did anything from all the BS talk on here... well.. i bought one for the hell of it for my car.. and i totaled my 00 max.. so a week later i bought a 02 6mt SE.. for suspension mods all i have is.. FSTB and RSTB.. i dont care what anyone says it so night and day difference as of how the car rides.. its still not as good/noticable as the springs vs stock.. but i would bet the title of my car that u can feel the difference lol..... end of rant..
#17
Police in ON after passing of the street racing law are more inclined to pull over a dropped car rather than a stock-looking one
this is my daily work commuter so don't quite need better suspension.
Finally, I decided that when my stock suspension goes that then I will drop it and do the whole shabang
#18
igzy, congrats on the rsb. By the time I got mine, my car was already dropped as well (and everything else was done), so I didn't notice much of the difference, but during cornering/highway on ramp, the car stays put very well. As for noticing a dropped ride, most people who don't turn a 2nd eye to a maxima will never be able to tell my car is lowered. Even with the lip kit, several people have told me I should lower the car, but for myself, I won't go lower b/c I drive in the winter. It sounds like an ok idea to wait till your stock suspension craps out, but don't let the idea of cops noticing stray you away..if it was a car that already came reasonably low and it was very noticeable that the car would be dropped, or you were going with the s-techs or something, I'd understand.
#20
Supporting Maxima.org Member
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Location: the OC & Silicon Valley
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I used to preach how the front wheel well was LARGER than the rear and so that simply measuring from the ground to the middle/top of the wheel well was not the best way to measure drop and evenness of wheel gaps (between the F/R of course). I was only met w/ scoffing ignorance. Thanks Knight for posting that pic up. Maybe the douchebags that gave me a hard time about it will remember and STFU.
#21
I used to preach how the front wheel well was LARGER than the rear and so that simply measuring from the ground to the middle/top of the wheel well was not the best way to measure drop and evenness of wheel gaps (between the F/R of course). I was only met w/ scoffing ignorance. Thanks Knight for posting that pic up. Maybe the douchebags that gave me a hard time about it will remember and STFU.
Aren't you supposed to measure wheel gap by the wheel gap?
Meaning...measure from the top of the tire to the bottom lip of the fender? Duh...
#25
My first suspension mod was a Stillen FSTB. I could definitely tell a difference...the front end felt a lot more solid, especially when turning. On Wednesday 5/28 I installed my Illuminas and H&R springs that had been sitting in my garage for a month. Other than the obvious improvement in looks, the car definitely rode much better...not as floaty, turns much better. When researching struts/springs, I saw a lot of people saying nothing is as comfortable as stock suspension. But I have to say, I believe my Illuminas on 2F/3R with the H&Rs are more comfortable that the stock setup. Last night (6/1) I installed my Progress RSB when I got home from work. All I have to say is WOW...I took it for a drive afterwards and ripped around some turns in my neighborhood and it was awesome...like a totally different car. I will definitely be using my brakes a lot less during turns. If I could do everything over again, I would have done the RSB before anything else. I don't plan on buying a RSTB.
#26
I used to preach how the front wheel well was LARGER than the rear and so that simply measuring from the ground to the middle/top of the wheel well was not the best way to measure drop and evenness of wheel gaps (between the F/R of course). I was only met w/ scoffing ignorance. Thanks Knight for posting that pic up. Maybe the douchebags that gave me a hard time about it will remember and STFU.
Hope I'm this happy with my 3 Gen's Suspension Techniques springs/sway bars and GR2's!!!!
#29
I Know Kwaliti
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iTrader: (18)
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1,441
Thanks to all contributors!! I understand that more is needed to make these cars handle better due to limitations of rear beam. However, I like the set up as is now and enjoy it as a daily 60-miles commuter. Next mod to suspension will be either coil-overs or a vehicle with double-wishbone rear suspension
#31
Rear Strut Tower Bar:
So my final Maxi mod made its way into my trunk and on top of rear struts. I felt immediate improvement in cornering, especially on turns where road is flat or with strong crown. There is a wide left and flat hwy on-ramp that I take daily that rear end would slide in (oversteeer) when accelerating on and now it stays tight on it, no oversteer. Another sharp road turn I also take daily is a left 90 deg uphill turn with so slight road crown and I used to also feel rear end slide on if I took it faster. Now I feel that I can take on corners much faster and handling is better, almost got a feel of understeer and oversteer is now gone!
My car has following: stock SE suspension, Volks rims front are 18x8 with 235/45R18, rears are 18x8.5 with 255/40R18, FSTB, poly sway bar bushings, RSB, lighter rear beam, and now RSTB...
Installation difficulty I'd rank as easy, was actually fun laying in trunk and working it Instructions came with the parts. I got the bar during Stillen's web sale a few weeks ago so a great price. Would recommend it as an upgrade...
So my final Maxi mod made its way into my trunk and on top of rear struts. I felt immediate improvement in cornering, especially on turns where road is flat or with strong crown. There is a wide left and flat hwy on-ramp that I take daily that rear end would slide in (oversteeer) when accelerating on and now it stays tight on it, no oversteer. Another sharp road turn I also take daily is a left 90 deg uphill turn with so slight road crown and I used to also feel rear end slide on if I took it faster. Now I feel that I can take on corners much faster and handling is better, almost got a feel of understeer and oversteer is now gone!
My car has following: stock SE suspension, Volks rims front are 18x8 with 235/45R18, rears are 18x8.5 with 255/40R18, FSTB, poly sway bar bushings, RSB, lighter rear beam, and now RSTB...
Installation difficulty I'd rank as easy, was actually fun laying in trunk and working it Instructions came with the parts. I got the bar during Stillen's web sale a few weeks ago so a great price. Would recommend it as an upgrade...
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