[Tim Kish]

The "traction bar" setup you reference as seen on a Neon (likely SRT-4) ties the control arms to the core support to reduce control arm deflection under load. The Honda guys do the same thing but deflection of the a-arms and chassis on the mid-late 90's Civics were pretty bad. What they are trying to do is reduce control arm, control arm bushing and cross member deflection which results in negative changes in alignment as well as contributes to wheel hop if it unloads. Installing solid bushings / heim joints in place of the rubber bushings takes care of much of the deflection issues.

I've run a spool in my car since last spring. Yes its hard to manuever low speed, damn hard to push around corners but maneuvers fine on track.