this might be a newbie question,

what exactly does a Strut bar do.

whats the difference between a strut and sway bar.

instead of going the performance route. for now i think i will work on the suspension and being ive never done this before, i want to do it properly and not just put things on the car cuz it can be put on.

i want a proper return on investment other then aesthetics.

how is the stock front strut bar? is it worth to upgrade it?

use the search next time..

a strut bar simply connects the top of the strut towers, a point prone to chassis flex in unibody cars. in reality, it's all for looks unless you have very high spring rates and wide tires.

a sway bar (aka, anti-sway bar, anti-roll bar, stablizer bar) limits wheels on the same 'axle' in their opposite verticle motion. in other words, the bar provides 0 resistance when BOTH wheels move up or down, but attempts to equlize them when one goes up and the other goes down, such as in a turn. this effetively reduces body roll dramatically without a harsh ride.

IMO as long as the chassis can handle it, a sway bar upgrade is a great investment. just be careful, i had one tear out of my chassis on my civic. if youre looking to greatly enhance the car's already gret handling, i'd go for a set of coilovers first

I recently spoke my peace here (http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20438).

In my opinion, if the car needs support in that area, then a proper strut bar (one that is effective, as opposed to being a shiny piece that serves little more than to dress up an engine bay) will be effective, even with a stock suspension.

---jps