Progress Technology Rear Sway Bar for 02-06 RSX/01-05 Civic

Progress Technology Rear Sway Bar - 2002-2006 Acura RSX & 2001-2005 Honda Civic

Honda builds these cars to understeer. It's the safe setup, and it means the front pushes wide before the rear does anything. A bigger rear bar is the most effective correction available, and it's why this is usually the first suspension part people buy for a DC5 or an EP3. More rear roll stiffness shifts the balance rearward, the nose stops washing out, and the car actually rotates. You feel it on the first corner.

Find Your Variant First

Three options here, and the split isn't obvious, so start with your car and year:

The important thing to notice: the 2004-2005 Civic takes a different bar than the 2001-2003 cars, even though both are 22mm. Honda changed things partway through, so check your model year rather than assuming any 7th gen bar fits.

22mm Or 24mm?

If you're in an RSX or an 01-03 Civic, you've got a real choice to make.

22mm non-adjustable is the straightforward pick. A substantial step up from the factory bar, one fixed rate, and nothing to fuss with. If you want the balance fixed and you're not planning to tune it, this does the job and costs less.

24mm adjustable gives you more roll stiffness plus the ability to change it. Set it softer for street driving, stiffen it for a track day or autocross. It also includes adjustable end links, which matters more than it sounds if your car is lowered, since they let you dial out sway bar preload rather than living with it.

Honest guidance: if the car is a daily and you just want it to turn properly, the 22mm is plenty. If you're autocrossing, tracking it, or the car is lowered and you want it set up correctly, the 24mm with its included links is the better buy.

No Factory Rear Bar? You Need The Adapter Kit

Read this if you're in a base Civic. Plenty of 7th gen Civics came without a rear sway bar at all, and those cars have no mounting provision on the rear lower control arms for end links.

If that's your car, you'll also need the Progress rear sway bar adapter kit (PRT-651006), which bolts to your existing control arms and creates the mounting point. Without it, you'll have a bar and nowhere to attach it.

Not sure whether you have a factory bar? Look under the back of the car. If there's a bar spanning between the rear control arms, you're set. If there isn't, add the adapter kit.

The Chassis Brace Is Included

Worth calling out because it's a genuine value add. Each rear bar ships with a chassis brace, which stiffens the mounting area so the bar has something solid to work against.

That matters more than people expect. A sway bar can only resist roll if its mounting points don't move, and bolting a much stiffer bar to unbraced sheet metal means part of your gain disappears into chassis flex. Progress includes the brace rather than selling it separately, which is how it should be done.

Made Properly, Made In The USA

These are cold-formed on precision CNC bending equipment, with laser-cut or machined ends MIG welded in place using fixtures so the geometry is right. Progress develops and manufactures them in-house in the USA.

The bar is alloy steel and it comes with polyurethane bushings rather than the soft rubber Honda used. Those bushings do real work: factory rubber deflects under load, so the bar starts resisting late and part of your input goes into squishing rubber. Polyurethane barely compresses, so the bar works the instant the chassis loads up.

Grease The Bushings

The one piece of advice that decides whether you're happy in a month. Polyurethane bushings need proper lubrication where the bar rotates. Use the supplied grease or a quality poly-specific product, and be generous with it.

Skip it and you'll get a squeak a few weeks later that never resolves on its own. Most common complaint with any poly bushing, entirely avoidable in two minutes.

Fitment

2002-2006 Acura RSX and RSX Type-S
2001-2003 Honda Civic and 2002-2003 Civic Si
2004-2005 Honda Civic and Civic Si

Select the variant matching your exact year. Cars without a factory rear sway bar also require the adapter kit.

Who Should Run This Bar

This is for the RSX or 7th gen Civic owner tired of the front end pushing wide, whether that's on an autocross course, a track day, or a good road. It's the highest-value handling change available on these chassis, it bolts on in an afternoon, and the difference is immediate. Match your year, decide whether you want adjustability, grease the bushings properly, and go find a corner.

Fits: 2002-2006 Acura RSX and RSX Type-S, 2001-2005 Honda Civic and Civic Si, see the variant table above. Diameters: 22mm non-adjustable or 24mm adjustable. Material: cold-formed alloy steel, laser-cut and MIG welded ends. Includes: chassis brace on all variants, plus adjustable end links on the 24mm. Also required: adapter kit PRT-651006 for cars without a factory rear sway bar. Made in the USA.