Could anyone give me some insight on the pros and cons of the Progress RSB compared to the Stillen RSB?

 

I believe the Stillen is more easily adjusted, although both are adjustable... not that this is something you'll be likely to tweak. Both come with a powder-coated black bar. The Progress brackets are gold colored or nickle-plated or something, and will turn a nice shade of rust pretty quickly. The Stillen brackets look anodized blue.

The biggest difference is that Stillen wants 2X the price of the Progress bar. (In approximate dollars, that's $320 vs. $160, or thereabouts.) And while sometimes top-dollar means top quality, in this particular case I can't see how it would matter.

 

Ok so looks like I will be going with a Progress unit. Second question would be, why would I want to adjust it? I guess my question is what would I be adjusting?

 

The brackets are designed so that you can move the anchor points on the bar a few inches +/-, thereby tweaking how much flex the bar has. I thought about it when the bar was new, then came to the (untested) conclusion that it just doesn't matter.

In the end, the RSB is a must-have suspension mod for the 5th gen, regardless which one you get, or whether or not you get jiggy with the adjustments. Practicality has me recommending you get the Progress bar, install it and call it a day.

Then all that's left is to decide where to put your decal.

 

hey rochester did u ever upgrade from the tokico blues if not did u make a review on them sorry for the inconvenience before hand

 

they both do the same thing progress

 

It's not meant to be adjustable "on the go". Basically you can set it up really stiff or semi stiff at install and then forget about it. You could change it later if you desire, but it isn't a 5 minute thing.

The progress uses a solid thin bar, the stillen uses a thicker hollow bar.
Another alternative is addco. identical to the progress, but not sure if they are still made. Actually you may have a problem buying the progress new as well.

 

Bought mine from Cattman, back when he used to stock inventory of stuff like that.

 

last time I asked about a progress item i was told 6 weeks wait. They make them in batches when they receive a minimum order. Not sure what the number is.

 

Thats why I went with Stillen....more $$$$ but whatever...it works!

 

There's something sad about that, people getting gouged with unreasonable prices on items that could and should cost half as much... simply because the competition barely exists. I didn't realize the Progress RSB was no longer an easy purchase. That sucks.

I wish there were a company (Racingline? NWP?) who would make a quality RSB, FSTB and RSTB that doesn't cost an arm & leg.

 

Jegs, is selling addco RSB's for 169. They are almost identical to the progress bar.

 

Thanks! I will be buying it along with a FSTB... Any quality FSTB that you guys know about that dont cost an arm and a leg? I was looking at ebay units but wasnt really sure if they do what they are supposed to...

Rochester - Your damn right, I cant wait until I minimize body roll

 

Racingline, if they have any to sell these days.

Here's a thought: you could go nuts researching every tiny, incremental suspension mod there is, from bars to bushings to springs... the whole shebang. And you could have loads of fun buying things over time, getting them installed on the car, and assessing each little change.

Or you could buy a set of coilovers and call it a day. Done. And 2X better than anything else you could ever do to the car.

 

The only thing that comes to mind that you can use to compliment coil over's are front and rear strut bars.

 

The biggest reason NWP doesn't make those is that they are already made and produced by other companies. I like to concentrate on designing new products that have never been made before in order to increase the amount of performance parts that are on the market for the Maxima.

 

That used to be a fair statement, however retail options have narrowed considerably for the 5th gen Maxima. Even more so now that Cattman's future is up in the air. As of 2011, it's getting so you either buy Stillen directly for outrageous prices, or you buy questionable crap through eBay. NWP would be the only player in today's market that could offer high quality for reasonable pricing. I would think well-designed bars, brackets and hardware would be right up your alley.

Just some food for thought, buddy.

 

Thanks. I thought you still had several options when it came to front and rear strut braces and sway bars. I will look into it then.

 

What we don't have many options on is the rear strut and rear antisway. Only vendor I know for the rear strut is Stillen and they are too expensive. Front strut has many options from ebay to name brands. There is also a higher strut bar that not many people know about which would be cool to have also. I think the 6th gen's have a user making them.

 

For the FSTB, you're thinking of Racingline. And yes, they make great stuff. Actually getting them to manufacture and inventory great stuff, however... that's something else entirely. The only other option is eBay and Made-in-China crap; (subsequently sold by Custom Maxima, but let's not go there. Seriously. Don't go there.) The days of Otto, and the Cattman Ti-bar... they're long gone.

For the RSB, there's Progress or Stillen. From what I understand, finding a Progress bar these days is not an easy task. And the Stillen bar... unless it's freaking dipped in gold and custom installed by Danika Patrick in the nude (), it's just not worth the price.

For the RSTB, there's Stillen. Period. Racingline may be making one, someday. But like I said, their R&D is, um, let's say glacial.

BTW, I have no skin in this. My car is modded, done, over. And I'm moving on to another car next year.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong. But I've read elsewhere that the biggest contributor to body roll on our cars is due to the transverse link, giving the cars a very high roll center. So RSB's only help to increase roll stiffness, coilovers/lowering just changes the roll center/link geometry by the amount of drop. Basically masking the cause of the problem, a poorly designed lateral link?

 

I agree man...VERY hard finding people to make stuff for 5.5GEN...everything have to be custom....or ONE company make them and you get raped. I was going to buy the PROGRESS BAR but they said they don't know when they going to make another batch......so STILLEN got the sale.....its a good bar...just about 2x as much as the other one.


How about some true bolt on NON MODIFYING(HACK CUTTING CRAP OFF)headers and a TRUE 3" catback since cattman is gone now.......we stuck with OBX Heard their piping was smaller too.....less power.

 

That is why I was STRONGLY considering buying a G35 or 350z.....TONS of aftermarket support........tired of SCROUNGING around for performance parts......its ashame the 5.5Gen MAXIMA is such an AWESOME CAR too!!

 

I can't answer your questions, Bob. I'm neither a mechanic nor an engineer. All I can say for certain is that the RSB on the 5th gen makes a significant difference in handling.

I'm sure someone else has an explanation.

 

I agree that an RSB is the best solution. Also that for the price Stillen wants it'd have to be "custom installed by Danika Patrick in the nude". I'm considering looking into the "ADDCO" They've been around a long time and are probably as reputable, affordable, and still available alternative out there.

 

I did a lot of online searching and found out "ADDCO" hasn't made a RSB for the 5Gen Maximas in a while. Knowing the Progress RSB was out of production, I jumped on the WWW, warmed up the credit card and ordered the ONLY "1 in stock", Progress RSB I found after extensive searching.

I installed it today, and all I can say is WOW! What a difference, the back of the car used to feel "twitchy" in turns and I'd have to ease it through until the rear suspension would "set" to give solid grip. Now, the rear feels solidly stuck to the pavement. And the car "attacks corners" without the "Shimmy Shimmy Shake" rear axle dance. Many thanks for the "Heads Up" recommendation Rochester!

 

Glad you're happy, Bob.

Ramping is so-o-o much more fun now, I'm sure.

 

hmm... silly me. i thought she was racing NASCAR now.

 

Oh yeah! I especially like the way the car now transitions SMOOTHLY from a slight initial oversteer to understeer. As the lateral G force/speed increases in corners. VERY confidence inspiring, allows using the throttle to control the car. Vs. rear end "twitching" under the same conditions and "I've got a bad feeling about this!" apprehension, when approaching the adhesion limit.

 

Now that you're RSB is in place, consider getting a RSTB, and you'll flatten out even more on those high-speed corners. (Which, for us daily drivers, basically means on/off ramps.) The RSTB delivers very small improvements; some even say "none", but I feel they are there nonetheless. If you're going for the incremental changes, it's a good option.

If you're going for the transformational kind of changes... coilovers.

Well, you've got new limits, is all.

 

CO's not only lower the roll center and GG but the stiffer spring rates also increase roll resistance. Given enough spring rate you can remove both the RSB and FSB and eliminate most body roll (though not ideal for street driving)

 

Actually after looking at my rusty beat up (the top of one is actually mushroomed from the previous owner repeatedly hitting the bump stop) rear struts. I think Eibach springs and Tokiko Blue or KYB GR-2 struts (if I can find a definitive answer on which has better damping characteristics). Is the next logical suspension mod, after the ES FSB bushings and Moog end links.

As far as new limits, the RSB is confidence vs. fear at the limit where the front tires start sliding. I can feather the gas to get some front grip, without the rear feeling like it's going to snap loose!

 

I got myself a stillen for my 4th gen in a scrap yard for 20 bucks. best deal ever. it really helps alot

 

That's a GREAT deal! Nice find.