MY BACKGROUND AND DISCLAIMER
I am the original owner of a 1997 Honda Civic EX Sedan in California. This is my daily driver. Due to financial planning reasons, I will not be buying a new car for another 3 years or so, which means I’m stuck with my civic. My personal goal is to make it more fun to drive in these next 3 years without overly comprimising reliability, utility, safety, and to some degree comfort.
I have never autocrossed, but hope to try this summer. I also don’t go to the drag strip or the track as of now. So, you won’t get good “race” info from me. And even if I did, my crappy driving skills are more the limiting factor than the abilities of my car. I do do karting, but not competitively.
INSTALLATION
Frame Locks are well fabricated and packaged nicely with a clean, clear, well pictured set of instructions. Installation was very straight forward and all steps were described with adequate detail enough that you don’t get stuck at any “glossed over” points. A few things to note before you buy frame locks:
- you’ll need to remove your front bumper cover
- you’ll need to have a socket wrench set with at least a 6” extension. I had a 6” extension, a 3” extension, and a universal swivel socket extender and I used every single one in various combinations.
- you’ll need a torque wrench if you want to tighten the bolts the Korbach specified 20 ft-lbs.
- you’ll have to remove your stock intake resonator unless you have an aftermarket intake. I would have a problem with this if I still had the stock intake.
- you’ll need a good drill to drill 3/8” and 5/8” holes in the tough steel (drill bits provided)
- it takes about 1-2 hours to install (I took 2 hours going really slowly and carefully)
Fit was perfect except that it didn’t lie flush with my bumper beam. At the beam, it didn’t lie flat, although one edge did lie flush. I had a very minor bumper scrape once and wonder if this deformed the bumper enough to cause this. Other than this however, fit was perfect and installation was completed without a problem. Once they are one, you can’t see them because they are completely hidden behind the bumper cover.
THE FRAME LOCK EFFECT
I have no idea what people are talking about when they say “dramatic difference”. Bumps felt the same. Speed bumps felt the same. Rough road the same. On ramps the same. Body roll was pretty much the same. “Squeal point” during hard cornering close or same (I can’t measure actual performance). I honestly couldn’t feel any significant difference in these situations.
What I did feel a difference was the turn in. Steering was more immediate and the dive of the front outer end was slightly reduced. I guess I would describe the chassis to feel “stiffer during the turn in”. But dramatic? No. The feeling I get sounds similar to those who replaced several of their bushings with urethane ones; like the compliance of the chassis was reduced.
After a week of driving, I have gotten completely used to the frame locks and any changes I noticed before is now blended into “how my car handles”. If I pay attention, turn in improvement continues to be the only thing I notice.
Although I have aftermarket springs (H&R OE Sports), they aren’t very aggressive and just a little stiffer than stock. I get the feeling that because I don’t have aggressive springs, because I still have all stock rubber bushings, and because I do not drive my car to the edge on the street, I don’t get to experience the full benefit of Frame Locks.
BOTTOM LINE
Do I feel ripped off? No. At $175 (group buy price), Frame Locks are about as much or less than a strut bar from GReddy, DCSports, Spoon, Neuspeed, or whatever name brand. I feel the chassis stiffening affect is about as much as I could expect as from a strut bar (although in a different form of stiffening). I would neither describe this product as “magic” nor would I call it “crap”.
I think I will keep them. The noticeable improvement on turn in isn’t easily achieved with anything cheaper or lighter. For a daily driver, it’s hard to justify spending almost $200 for a slight improvement… unless it’s a hobby; which this is. If you can buy lower tie bars and strut bars, you can buy Frame Locks.
I’m looking forward to hearing from people using Frame Locks in a track or autox situation.
OH YEAH…
Also, I have no affiliation with Korbach. I organized a group buy simply to get myself a discount on this product. I was requested by Korbach to write a review, but was never given any hints or direction on what to write.
My Car (1997 Civic EX) Modifications that relate to handling:
- 99 Civic Si OEM 15” alloy rims
- Yokohama ES100 195/55/15 tires
- H&R OE Sport Springs
- KYB AGX struts (set at 2/4 front and 4/8 rear)
- 99 Civic Si OEM 13mm rear sway bar with Energy Suspension bushings
- (not a mod, but note) OEM EX front sway bar with stock rubber bushings
- Ebay front strut bar (mounts at stock points: just above the strut tower, not at the strut)
- all other mods are non-handling related
- stock D16Y8 engine with AEM V1 CAI
nOW WE NEED OTHERS TO RELIZE THEY NEED TO BE IN THIS GROUP BUY TOO......