Post Sikky Sway Bar and Tom's Chassis bracing impressions....
01-23-12, 09:25 AM
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Post Sikky Sway Bar and Tom's Chassis bracing impressions....
So I had my Sikky sway bar and my Tom's chassis bracing parts installed about a week ago, and although I haven't been able to push this setup to extremes.... I can say that it is an improvement in cornering from stock! (no suprise .. I know) I didn't have the F-sport sway bar prior to this so I can't comment on a comparison between the two. Also, both the Sikky say bar, the Tom's chassis bracing and shock tower bar were installed at the same time, so I can't separate the difference in the car's feel between the items... I know ideally, I should have done one first, drive around for a couple of weeks, then had the other installed, but I just wanted it all on the car NOW and didn't want to have to have the hassle to set up another intall date with the shop...
Speaking of intall, I (and the shop) were thinking 2-3 hours or so for the install, but small challenges stretched the total install time to 7.5 hours!!!!
He did only charge me for 6.5 hours of labor which after taxes, etc came to a little over $650... 
Wife of course was not happy.. This was even with me looking over his shoulder and helping out where I could (not very much) and pointing out small problems earlier that probably ended up saving some time... (He forgot to put the large nuts on one of the braces that attatch to the rear lower control arm)
Not sure if he would have caught this prior to handing the car over to me, but this could have been disastrous on the highway when it "came loose".... He also had put on one of the braces on backwards and I had to point this out and some other minor issues... The trapezoidal brace also had to be modified (partially cut/welded) to clear my Joe Z exhaust. For some reason, getting the sway bar "neutral" by adjusting the end links on the passenger side was relatively quick and easy, but took him about 45 min on the driver side to get set right...
Anyway, I really won't know for sure how much of a difference these mods made to the performance of the car till spring when I get the car back out to the track and see how it helped the understeer issues... (although I'll have wider rubber up front... and rear... as I upgrade to PSS tires) so that will help that problem as well. I can say however from the little bit of driving I've done since the install, is that the car feels "more solid" (i know very subjective description) but the ride has not become "stiffer or less comfortable" that I've noticed. Understeer and body roll in turns is definitely less than before, but as I said I've not been able to push it hard yet in a clover leaf on ramp or something similiar yet...
I forgot to mention that I had the Sikky sway bar set to the "middle" setting so supposedly a little stiffer setting than the F-sport one...
I'll also mention that I bought the Tom's chassis bracing from an individual in CA on Craigslist that had it installed on his IS 250 for about a third the cost of retail. He wasn't able to fit the shock tower brace on his car and so was looking to get rid of it all (and the fact he doesn't really drive his car hard from what he says...) You may notice the Tom's shock tower brace is slightly different from the production version and this is because the guys from Tom's (from what I'm told) came from Japan to a "racing shop" and custom fabricated this on a project car IS F and also intalled the chassis bracing kit (wich was later parted out..) I do not have the rear shock tower brace that installs in the trunk btw if someone was wondering...
Well sorry for writing a book.... here's some pics. Sorry for the crappy iphone pics, (I forgot to take my good camera to the shop!
) but at least there's a better pic of the shock tower brace! (not sure if I'm going to modify the plastic side pieces as others have done to put them back on (but probably will eventually)).
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
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Also gonna post a pic of my new ****.. AS I JUST LOVE IT!!
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Speaking of intall, I (and the shop) were thinking 2-3 hours or so for the install, but small challenges stretched the total install time to 7.5 hours!!!!
He did only charge me for 6.5 hours of labor which after taxes, etc came to a little over $650... Wife of course was not happy.. This was even with me looking over his shoulder and helping out where I could (not very much) and pointing out small problems earlier that probably ended up saving some time... (He forgot to put the large nuts on one of the braces that attatch to the rear lower control arm) Not sure if he would have caught this prior to handing the car over to me, but this could have been disastrous on the highway when it "came loose".... He also had put on one of the braces on backwards and I had to point this out and some other minor issues... The trapezoidal brace also had to be modified (partially cut/welded) to clear my Joe Z exhaust. For some reason, getting the sway bar "neutral" by adjusting the end links on the passenger side was relatively quick and easy, but took him about 45 min on the driver side to get set right... Anyway, I really won't know for sure how much of a difference these mods made to the performance of the car till spring when I get the car back out to the track and see how it helped the understeer issues... (although I'll have wider rubber up front... and rear... as I upgrade to PSS tires) so that will help that problem as well. I can say however from the little bit of driving I've done since the install, is that the car feels "more solid" (i know very subjective description) but the ride has not become "stiffer or less comfortable" that I've noticed. Understeer and body roll in turns is definitely less than before, but as I said I've not been able to push it hard yet in a clover leaf on ramp or something similiar yet...
I forgot to mention that I had the Sikky sway bar set to the "middle" setting so supposedly a little stiffer setting than the F-sport one...
I'll also mention that I bought the Tom's chassis bracing from an individual in CA on Craigslist that had it installed on his IS 250 for about a third the cost of retail. He wasn't able to fit the shock tower brace on his car and so was looking to get rid of it all (and the fact he doesn't really drive his car hard from what he says...) You may notice the Tom's shock tower brace is slightly different from the production version and this is because the guys from Tom's (from what I'm told) came from Japan to a "racing shop" and custom fabricated this on a project car IS F and also intalled the chassis bracing kit (wich was later parted out..) I do not have the rear shock tower brace that installs in the trunk btw if someone was wondering...
Well sorry for writing a book.... here's some pics. Sorry for the crappy iphone pics, (I forgot to take my good camera to the shop!
) but at least there's a better pic of the shock tower brace! (not sure if I'm going to modify the plastic side pieces as others have done to put them back on (but probably will eventually)).
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Also gonna post a pic of my new ****.. AS I JUST LOVE IT!!
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Last edited by ERDoc74; 01-23-12 at 09:43 AM.
01-23-12, 09:38 AM
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01-23-12, 09:45 AM
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Too. Many. Changes. At. Once.
You'll never know what works and what doesn't.
God forbid, but what if it's worse (this is frighteningly common)? How will you know what to change back?
You'll never know what works and what doesn't.
God forbid, but what if it's worse (this is frighteningly common)? How will you know what to change back?
01-23-12, 09:47 AM
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01-23-12, 09:54 AM
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It's not that I don't approve. I've spent an alarming amount of money on things to supposedly go faster that ended up being a complete waste of money, not to mention all the time invested in trying to make it work because for sure, I spent this money, now I want to see some benefit from it.
My sig says what it does as a result of a LOT of direct experience with stuff that doesn't do what the manufacturer claimed, and many of them are "big name" companies.
I'm concerned you've made so many changes at one time that you'll have no idea how to correct a problem you won't discover until you're on track and thinking - why is this thing so slow through this section now? Braces? Incorrect settings on the sway bar? Tires? The bean burrito I had for lunch? There's a lot to consider, and you're just making it difficult for yourself.
My sig says what it does as a result of a LOT of direct experience with stuff that doesn't do what the manufacturer claimed, and many of them are "big name" companies.
I'm concerned you've made so many changes at one time that you'll have no idea how to correct a problem you won't discover until you're on track and thinking - why is this thing so slow through this section now? Braces? Incorrect settings on the sway bar? Tires? The bean burrito I had for lunch? There's a lot to consider, and you're just making it difficult for yourself.
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01-23-12, 03:50 PM
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There are a lot of mods at once, but they are nice mods and good quality. 
And although you won't notice which mod did what, I'm sure it's a better ride than before your mods.
And although you won't notice which mod did what, I'm sure it's a better ride than before your mods.
01-24-12, 12:38 PM
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It's not that I don't approve. I've spent an alarming amount of money on things to supposedly go faster that ended up being a complete waste of money, not to mention all the time invested in trying to make it work because for sure, I spent this money, now I want to see some benefit from it.
My sig says what it does as a result of a LOT of direct experience with stuff that doesn't do what the manufacturer claimed, and many of them are "big name" companies.
I'm concerned you've made so many changes at one time that you'll have no idea how to correct a problem you won't discover until you're on track and thinking - why is this thing so slow through this section now? Braces? Incorrect settings on the sway bar? Tires? The bean burrito I had for lunch? There's a lot to consider, and you're just making it difficult for yourself.
My sig says what it does as a result of a LOT of direct experience with stuff that doesn't do what the manufacturer claimed, and many of them are "big name" companies.
I'm concerned you've made so many changes at one time that you'll have no idea how to correct a problem you won't discover until you're on track and thinking - why is this thing so slow through this section now? Braces? Incorrect settings on the sway bar? Tires? The bean burrito I had for lunch? There's a lot to consider, and you're just making it difficult for yourself.
thanks... I have definitely noticed an improvement in "feel" of the car when hitting bumps/variations in the road... the car doesn't "shake" as much and seems to settle more quickly and just feels "more solid".... So far have not noticed a "worsening" in the ride quality what so ever...
01-24-12, 09:12 PM
#10
i am looking foward to the sikky sway bar cause i am goin to get it as well and the front upper and rear upper toms shock tower braces..i have the lower ones already and the cross brace to complete my undercarrage is in i just gotta go pay for it..but once installed i will give some info about the whole set up..hopefully i can get it done sooner then later...but from wut i ahve so have i am not complaining at all
05-23-12, 10:02 AM
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An update of my impression with several months of DD and 2 track days with the current setup (that also includes Michelin PSS's 245 and 275 widths and Carbotech XP 10's and 8's brake pads F&R.) is that I much prefer the handling compared to previous. It DEFINITELY has less body roll and less understeer. In fact it does have slight oversteer at this point, and hopefully it won't get me into trouble on the street or track... I may eventually go to the less aggressive Sikky sway bar setting that is more comparable to the F-sport sway bar, but I'm waiting to see how the Coilovers that I'll hopefully be getting in the next few months affects that first.
05-23-12, 10:35 AM
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The sway bar was relatively easy for him to "intall", but as I say it the first post, it took him about 45 min to "get it neutral" on the driver's side for some reason....
05-23-12, 11:50 AM
#14
I had the opportunity to get the Tom's Bracing Set for a decent price but turned it down after putting some thought into it. First, with the combo of the Fsport Rear bar, BC Coilovers, and larger tires (Nitto INVO 285r/245f) my car handles very nicely...flat cornering, comfortable on the street, and neutral (before I actually had oversteer with the coilover settings being very aggressive, but dialed it down to being more controllable). Oversteer with cars like ours with a lot of torque on tap is very dangerous. I turned down the Tom's bracing because there is no absolute proven evidence that it makes a difference in already very stiff platform like our IS's, and it's a lot of weight...weight more than anything kills performance. My next big handling performance mod will be a decent set of tires with stiff sidewalls...I actually miss my stock Bridgestones that provided much better handling that the POS Nittos that I have on the car...Darshana S...
