SourGrapes:
I only update this thread as I have things to update. I only add answers to questions I have answers to.
You will notice I made no derogatory comment regarding your posts in here. I believe you had inquired about your adding to this thread, and I said (on the previous page) "No worries on the info you're providing - it's mapping out the rabbit hole I will eventually go down. And somebody years from now might be going down the same path, so make sure you don't leave us hanging with whatever you post." But now you've deleted all your posts, so people's responses no longer make sense to comments and questions that no longer exist - so, in essence, you've deleted your contribution (and left us hanging) to the rabbit hole that future people may go down.
I don't really give a rat's patootie either way if people add to this or not. I cherish information, and I want to learn as much as I can before I blaze my own trail on a subject. If you can add to the discussion, freaking add to the discussion. If you are feeling self-conscious about adding to this discussion, start your own thread on your own project.
If you DM me (and you're always welcome to), sign it so I know who you are.
I would NOT change the front sway bar on this car for any reason; just leave it stock, or even go to the smallest front bar you can.
I would DEFINITELY add rear bar.
In reply to SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) :
ok cool. now I have to Apologize for removing things.. :( lol
In reply to SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) :
i am not going up in front bar size on my car, I was originally just going to do the 24mm front bar and steering bits plus shocks but then started going through the car and as more parts were required to fix it I just said fk it and replaced everything including pretty much every bolt.
now I have that ultra racing rear 16mm bar plus I want to keep my stock 22mm with energy suspension bushings and full Siberian bushings for the whole car. I went with Moog tie rods and ball joins as they were the only ties and joints that were made outside of china, I think the ties were manufactured in korea and the ball joints in the USA or vice versa. everything is also greasable for whatever that means or does now days, I guess it can make me feel better when I am doing an oil change that I am pumping in red and tacky, or something. lol
I went with these sway bar endlinks as they were the beefiest ones I could find without going to full adjustables, the bar is twice as thick or more than the stock unit and the joint is larger. (MEVOTECH TXMS90893) it's a Mevotech TTX , it's their version of the moog problem solver line. they are a Canadian based company and I will have to check to see where the part was manufactured.
https://www.mevotech.com/brands/ttx/
the part
https://www.mevotech.com/part//TXMS90893
I also picked up a set of these wheels, the solid spoke versions and dropped 4.5-5lbs per wheel and gained .5 inch width over the stock steel wheels. you could drop another 1-3lbs if you could find the hollow spoke, polished or BBS Mazda miata wheels. I paid $25 for 4 wheels so I am not complaining about the $ per lbs lol
https://www.miata.net/garage/mx5wheels/index.html
honestly these are the lightest oems that i could find the mazda BBS or polished spokes/ hollow spokes but i can never seem to find them for sale and I am not looking to drop $1000 plus on wheels for this car.
https://www.miata.net/faq/wheel_weights.html
i don't think you can go wider and even stay this light in anything cheap from an oem
maybe you could find some retro wheels from the 90s? but those might cost alot if someone knows what they have.
I forgot to add that If anyone is ever in a pick and pull looking for parts to check under the hood as DC racing offered a Strut tower brace for these cars from Hyundai and near the end of this cars line they were giving them away so someone somewhere has to have used them in their car.
Dc racing doesn't have any left I checked lol
https://hyundai.oempartsonline.com/oem-parts/hyundai-front-strut-tower-brace-3-and-4-u89731e300
In my opinion, those strut towers are so close to the firewall, I don't believe there will be a noticeable gain in adding a strut tower bar. I fabricate a ton of parts, I'm not fabricating one of those.
In other news, I made the parts for sway bar #3. This time it's 3/4" SCH40 (1.053" OD), which should be 30% stiffer than the 7/8" bar.
Raw parts fabricated:
In reply to SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) :
agreed. The XD Elantra (01-06) was the same style. I spent an entire Test and Tune autocross day (50+ runs) trying with and without the bar. Once you averaged out the variances of the driver there was statistically zero change in times and zero change in vehicle feel. If the back of the strut tower is connected to the firewall, you'll get diddly squat from a strut brace other than adding pounds.
In reply to SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) :
i was going to buy one of the ultra racing strut tower bars off ebay but the sellers there were only interested in coming down like $5.50, I even asked or suggested to them how many people do you think are going to be making offers on a 2010 kia/accent strut tower bar in 10 years? its not a civic, I don't think many people are going to be rebuilding 2008 rio's in 2035 lol. I am not paying more for a strut tower bar for this car then some current car that has $100 strut tower bars online, I am not sure how much of a difference it would have made but for $125 or even $150 i might have bought one, I am not dropping $200 US on one thats for sure.
how stiff should these endlinks be? I was shocked that I could move the joint on the new endlink if I pushed hard with both my thumbs? the other or old link i can move like a stick on a PlayStation controller but my other ball joints and ties i couldn't do that???
edit
also that endlink may be all for show , it could be the same size of ball joint inside the rubber seal and it could be made of a lower quality metal or something so its the same stiffness.. I am not cutting it apart to see if the joints are the same size internaly,I will take their word for it being a problem sovled part as this is the only TTX item they sell for our cars .
In reply to bobzilla :
i am not sure about that, I know it would help with rigidity. everything with this cars is so loose.. I wish I knew how to weld ID just seam weld the car and fab my own versions of the ultra racing braces..
In reply to SourGrapes :
I mean I did the testing, and the work. You want to ignore it and do your own go for it. I'm not the only one. Back when vehicle specific boards were common there were several of us trying and testing different things.
For the rear strut cars (2nd gen accent hatch, elantra hatch, tiburons) the biggest improvement was a rear strut bar. Unlike the sedans those cars had literally nothing from the roof to the rear tail panel holding the two sides together. Unfortunately the 3rd gen accents have a completely different rear suspension setup.
When I autocrossed a B13 Sentra, I found next to no improvement with an upper strut bar - same issue - the struts are pretty close to the firewall. With a lower bar, however, I had to relearn the car, it improved dramatically. With the Accent's engine cradle, I see no point to a lower bar.
Your biggest gain in two words: "Fat Rear Bar!"
Also, unless you're running stiff spring coilovers and wide fat tires on wide fat wheels, you're not really feeling chassis flex. Suspension and tire flex yes. It took 10k/8k springs, 22mm rear bar and 245's to find the Tiburon's chassis flex and that was on track. Autox you didn't notice it.
With that said, if I was building a 3rd gen car I'd start with the sedan.... but I'd also be running coilovers and big fat wide tires and wheels.
Dang it.
I beautifully welded two sway bar right arms instead of a right and a left.
Back to the CNC tomorrow and make two more, and then weld two lefts.
Sure hope this bar will be noticeable.
Failing that, the second arms with 1" solid will be 30% stiffer than the 3/4"SCH40 pipe (70% stiffer than the 7/8" bar).
3/4"SCH40 sway bar primed. Paint tomorrow.
would there be any reason I couldn't use the power rack out of a sports version of this car in my base model? fyi there are 4 racks now I guess for out cars, the manual rack, the base models power steering rack the power steering rack in the sports models and the rio5's and the brand new model that replaces all the other powering steering racks. like you guys don't have any kind of electronic sports mode like the new hyundais and kias do that seems to make steering quicker? 
if you notice the second rack is for the cars with wider tires but both were replaced by the same rack
You need to find out what the actual differences are.
The manual rack will very likely be slower, since you need mechanical advantage to offset the lack of assist.
It could be the wider tire rack has a larger piston for more power assist. And the same replacement for both might likely be just a cost-savings measure.
In reply to SourGrapes :
None of my new Kia's change steering settings.
In reply to SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) :
do you think its worth bothering to go with the "sports" model? I mean if I have to replace the thing I may as well try to ? they have to mount up the same as there aren't extra holes in the frame on this engine cradle and they are showing the same mounting parts etc..
I was thinking about going manual and deleting everything but as you said they are gear differently to make up for the lack of power assist.
i am also really tempted to just buy this from hyundai
https://www.hyundaipartspro.com/p/Hyundai__/Rack-and-Pinion-Assembly/48370355/577001E000.html
as its the price of the remaned ones from rock auto when you factor in shipping etc
In reply to bobzilla :
I am pretty sure it does something with the steering, I never use it as I don't need the revs to stay so high all the time.
https://www.krioyb.com/sport_mode_integrated_control_system-226.html
but if those older Hyundai's don't then I am golden
this guy talks about it here
https://youtu.be/gM6fZGkzfk0?t=67
In reply to SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) :
I forgot to say that this looks awesome.
In reply to SourGrapes :
It doesn't. The wife's second gen forte did but it was just a change in assist. Was still really numb. Not nearly as sharp as the current gen cars or the older hydraulic racks
Do you need to replace the rack? If not adding caster will give it a much better feel over stock. Leave the assist the same and add caster/camber.
In reply to bobzilla :
I have to replace the rack the tie rod boot was full of steering fluid. I was going to get those super pro bushings that alter caster but cheaped out and went with the siberian bushings and maybe should have "splurged" on them I guess but I was trying to keep costs down.
I got this response from one of the reaman companies
Service Request # 0000525271
Hello and thank you for your interest in our products. the different between the 2 units is the hose connection , one uses Orings and the other one does not
that was in regard to a inquiry I did to BBB regarding their parts #'s for the sports model rack and the base model. I asked if they were different in anyway like a different ratio or anything..
SourGrapes said:
In reply to SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) :
do you think its worth bothering to go with the "sports" model?
Permission to speak freely, Sir?
I teach high school shop. I tell kids "Some students seem to naturally gravitate to the most difficult way of doing things. Try not to be that kid."
There are mods you can do that will be significant gains - those caster bushings, GOOD shocks, decent spring rates, BIG rear sway bar, sticky tires.
There are mods you can do that will be minimal gains, if anything. I would not, in any way, change the steering rack in a car for any reason, unless I was after the absolute lightest version of that car, and even then, a manual rack is going to be disappointingly slow by comparison. One of the things I love about the Accent is the quickness of the steering. You're going to lose that going manual. And I would not -ever- change to any different rack in the hopes that there is a performance benefit. It is a lot of work for probably zero gain.
Your biggest bang for your buck? Two things: (1) Quaife sells a torsen limited slip for this chassis. It costs half what I paid for the car, but a desperately want one and the car desperately needs one; I just can't justify such a heavy financial cost on a turd that will never, ever, win. Buy the Quaife. (2) Get a rear sway bar. Drive faster.
