I softend my rear swaybar tonight..... need advice.

I have a Cusco rear bar (22mm/ 23mm/ 24mm) that has been on stiff forever. I also have a whiteline front bar that I got from a friend a couple of years ago. I don't know the diameter but it's not a 27mm that's for sure.

Anyway, the car has been alot of fun to drive but lately I have been thinking that it could be faster through the corners so I put the rear bar at the softest setting just to try something else. Not too sure what difference it will make.

Anyone have any advice on this setup?

I've seen alot of auto-x'ers that run a stiff bar up front and unlink their rear bar. I'm thinking that may be a lil too extreme for my upcoming track day.

Thanks,

 

Well my understanding is that the thinner you get away from even (lets say 26 F and 26 R is even) the more you tend towards understeer. That's if you lower the rear bar to say 22 or as some might call it two steps down. You can sense the change to 24 but it's somewhat slight to people who are less experienced (including me). 26 and 30 would probably be oversteery!

Drastic changes like 29 up front and 20 in the rear would be a whole different ballgame though. Because you start getting into load this and camber that... I don't really understand it. But these guys seem to... check out what nhluhr had to say about it:

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=879235

 

There are 2 reasons to have no rear bar:

1. If you are lifting the inside rear wheel and the bar is not allowing enough droop travel to stay on the ground.

2. If your front and rear spring rates justify not having/needing a rear (or front or both) bar.


On my RS, with 750lb front springs, and 700 lb rear with 250 lb helper springs, I do NOT need the rear bar on race tires. The inside rear comes up about 3 inches with race tires. With street tires, the rear bar proves useful. However, overall, I dont need it. On the street durng normal use, the overall stiffness of the car is too stiff when going over large elevation changes entering/exiting gas stations...etc...so w/out the rear bar, all my tires stay on the ground.

IMO, anything with springrates softer than 500lbs, you need the bars, unles you get lift problems on race tires.

 

^^^ ^^^ ^^^

I have that one wheel coming off the ground all the time! Ha ha. People look at me like WOAH!

 

I dunno what my tires are doing when I'm driving, ie auto-x or track days but I do know that when I jack the front wheel, the rear one comes off the ground as well. It's really stiff.

I'll drive it for a week and see how she goes.

Thanks for the input.

 

I have ProDrive springs, 22mm adjustable front and rear. When I ran 22mm front and 26mm rear, I had some tricky understeer. It was tricky, because 22f/24r could be made to oversteer on acceleration. 22f/26r couldn't. I was so disappointed with the results that I backed off within the week and went to 22f/24r.

When I next autocross or do a track day, I'll use 24f/26r. That setup is a little firmer than I want when taking corners at traffic speeds.

DD

 

Shouldn't the front be stiffer? Every STi I've seen is setup that way, some auto-x guys run a 29 or 32 front and no bar in the rear.

 

Every setup is diffrent, its not that hard to change at the track, I would just take youre tools with you and try some diffrent settings.

Matt

 

It just depends on the setup you want. You can have the front of the car turn around the corner or you can have the back end whip around the corner. Both will get you turned in the direction that you want to travel. I feel that for tighter autox courses its better to have the rear come around fast than try to drive the front end around the corner, so there you would want stiff rear. If you are at the track, you definitely want the front to turn you around the corner, so get a stiffer front. Having the stiff front will allow you to keep that negative camber throughout the entire corner instead of the tire just rolling on itself.

 

It all comes down to how you work best. I may have a bias towards a loose tail. I grew up in snow country.

 

:keke:

 

I got to push the car a lil today and it'sanice! I like it. Turn in has improved.

 

:hsnono:

Guess I better not run for public office, eh?

 

So, what's the setup that'sanice?

(If I say any more, I'm gonna get another smiley)

DD

 

Front bar is Whiteline, dunno the diameter, rear bar is cusco set at soft (22mm). JIC FLAs, I forget the adjustment, 7 in the front and 9 in the rear, I can't remember. I guess I'll know for sure after this weekend at RA. I can always mess with the settings between runs if need be.

 

wont having stiffer FSB get the rear to whip around cuz your back end will be affected more when you shift the weight? anyways, i want to set up a wrx that has a high entry speed (although i know AWD's nature is lower entry speed and quick exit speed) and maintain the speed throughout the corner. I wont be doing auto-x, but i plan on doing a lot of mountain runs, and i dont think snap-oversteer on a local road is such a good idea.

so on the street, having stiffer FSB is faster right? weird how i heard that setting the front to be stiffer will allow our cars to power-over.

 

My car is faster and more stable (flat) through the corners now than before I changed my rear swaybar setting. I have gained back the confidance I've been searching for and over the past few days have enjoyed my car moreso than the past couple of years. It's like a new car. With my rear bar at full stiff the car pushed more than I liked.

 

wut`s this friday?

 

No to the first question. Stiff FSB only tightens down the front end suspension, not the rear. The rear is still sloppy and can roll back and forth. You have to wait for the car to roll and load the weight to the turning side, then it will start to turn. If you can make the rear of the car stay planted (with a RSB), the rear slides flat and faster, no more waiting for the car to shift weight.

Yes to the second question, its only because you can maintain camber in the front wheels throughout the entire corner. Stiff FSB is for fast corners (track or street), stiff RSB is for slow corners (autox).

 

would initating a turn at 40 mph be counted as a slow corner or fast corner? i know it depends on the degree of the turn, so lets suppose it's almost a 90 degree turn going in at 40., and the width is about 20 feet (the road).

 

^ Touch the brakes to push the weight forward, then steer. IMO, a sluicy tail causes the whole chassis to twist and front end becomes unpredictable. When everything is stiff, the weight transition is everything you need.

Of course, I'm no expert. I just stayed in a Holiday Inn Express.

 

what i learned today was also very helpful! i lift when i want to tighten the steering, and then i press the go pedal when the car is at an angle i like. i do this simultaneously (about 4-5 times during a turn), and i initiate a turn with heel-and-toe (really affective to shift weght).

btw, i must say that those whiteline bushings are a HUGE improvement for only $35...!!!

 

I love this stuff. They don't teach you this in driver's ed. Watch the in-car vid's of a WRC driver's feet.

A guy across the street tells me that you drive a Porsche 911 with the throttle.