ok im thinking about getting new sway bars. i read the other post and it seemed confsing everyone thought something different..i want better grip and less body roll and i think i want to go whitelines..i want to car to have both good cornering in and corner out characteristics..what size bars F/R do you think i should go with..?
+1 for whitelines. I don't havew them, but everyone I've spoken to says they're great. Maybe....20mm? I think it really depends on what you're wanting from them. Too big and you'll have a harsh ride.
There is no straight up answer. If you have very stiff springs, you don't need big sway bars. If you have stock or other relatively soft springs, you can use very large swaybars. I would recommend the Whiteline 22mm adjustable Rear Sway and the 24mm adjustable Front Sway However there are a LOT of different setups, some people like big front bars, some like big rear bars, read the stickies in this forum and others and learn more about how these bars actually work, and then you'll know why its difficult to give an easy answer.
most people go for a BIG sway bar in the front.. 27-29,mm front and stay stock in the rear( going bigger really causes snap oversteer)
I'm very happy with my matched bars. I have a 22mm adjust in front (supposedly adjusts to 24, dunno) and a 22 adjust in back as well. I left the front on 22, and currently have the rear on the middle setting (or ~23). My car is significantly more neutral than stock. It still under steers some, especially if you just chuck it into a corner, but power through the corner and its surprisingly neutral. Also helped noticeably in changing direction quickly. My car never has snap oversteer and when it does step out its easily controllable. I dunno why many people here tend to like the bigass front bars. I'm under the impression that just makes the rear rotate oddly.
I got the same info from other sources as well, basically saying the same thing. GOOD Article. Is there a link to this article in the stickies already?
You don't have to stick with stock in the rear. Going with a bigger bar there will help also. I am running 32mm front and 26mm rear.
I would definitely recommend Whiteline. I've got one of their rear sway bars on my car and it made a world of difference.
just went with Cobb stage 2 suspension setup including f/r sways...world of difference and the car handles so much better! Good luck on your journey! Let us know what you end up going with!
Snap oversteer in a STI is a total farse, you would have to align the car so out of wack that it would be hard to drive. With the big bars front and rear on my car and Stiff springs on the coilovers...with Toe out in the back the car still doesn't snap oversteer.
I have the WL 27-29 front bar and the 22-26 rear bar. I have the front bar set on the 29mm setting and the rear on the 24mm (middle) setting. Handling is GREATLY improved over stock and feels very neutral to me.