Sway bars are part of your suspension, one in the front, one in the rear. They act like giant springs keeping your car level during hard cornering.

 

Please read through the stickied threads in each category. They will help you better understand your car and what different modifications do. I recommend Suspension 2.0, the stuff on CAI vs. SRI (intakes) and exhaust ..... maybe some stuff on general maintenance, HID-s and detailing too if that interests you.

 

Well... Acura parts = Acura dealer. I'm sure you could weasle them through a Honda dealer, but its just easier at Acura. And I agree with what everyone else is saying, you have a lot of reading to do. Why don't you spend a few months researching, mainly the "Suspension FAQ 2.0", and all the while save up so you can buy some quality parts when you feel comfortable knowing exactly what each part does.

I can see this thread turning into the last HID thread very quickly, so reading would be good and then asking more specific questions later on would be best.

And if you decided to just order those parts and jump into the install, make sure you have the whole rear end off the ground to take all of the tension off the stock sway. I sent a brake rotor into my face not to long ago being careless and left one wheel on the ground.

 

Adding to this... theyre more of a torsion bar than a "spring" necessarily, just so you dont go thinking they have coils and are bouncy. Theyre main purpose is when you are in a corner and the weight of the car transfers to the outside of the corner and compresses the outer 2 wheels' suspension, that compressed energy is transferred down the bar and forces the inner wheels to the ground in order to maintain as much traction as possible.

Different thicknesses of bars have different effects, for example the stock rear sway you have now is 17mm thick, the TL-S one is 19mm(?) and your front one seems to be somewhere around 23-24mm, I havent measured it. After I added the rear sway on a stock suspension the car liked to take corners a lot quicker at any speed, but its hard to explain. Thats what I meant by oversteer, Aaron, not that it technically is oversteering, but in corners it feels like the rear end is swinging out and the car rotates much faster.

 

The reason why Acura TL parts are recommended are for two reasons

1) TL-S (performance-based luxury sedan) chassis is compatible to the Accord (6G, 7G)
2) Since it is a performance-based vehicle, the bars are a bit wider => stiffer suspension => better cornering...to an extent. Rear sway makes more difference than front sway for our FWD brethern (counters understeer). Front sway is if you want the complete package, but aftermarket/TL-S front sways aren't that much wider (maybe a couple of mms...at least for the 7G).

 

The whole reason of tuning. Seriously. Low-profile is key. No cops will be on your BRIGHT NEON 2F2F paintjob, FARTCAN muffler, BUILDING-size decals, etc.

 

Sleeper, are you saying that the TL-S bar is wider (end to end) than the stock one or just wider as in thickness?

6th Gen OEM rear = 17mm
2004-2007 TL-S rear = 19mm

They are exactly the same length, but shaped a littler differently, but still bolt right up without any issues.

 

Just to add one point about the sway bars .... the location of the holes has a dramatic effect .... differences in hole placement can have more of an effect than bar thickness or solid vs. hollow. Look at the percentage stiffness increase ratings of the bars.

 

well looks like it wont turn into the HID thread...lol...you all gave me plenty of good advice so i think i got it now...thanks

 

thickness.

hollow is much stronger/lighter/better than solid and it has to be adjustable. my two cents.