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F" the front sway bar

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#21 ·
my car's right side is [:)][:)][:)][:)][:)][:)] up, i guess previous owner drove over A BIG BIG hole or went on the curb pretty fast, first my right wheel beaing goes down, then my front right spring brakes, then couple weeks later my rear spring breakes, and yesterday when i was under the car changing my suspension, i noticed that the front swaybars brace is covered with some kinda cold weld or something, so im gessing that its [:)][:)][:)][:)][:)][:)] up too, and its only on my right side, the left brace is fine, so i guess ill be ordering a new brace and just replace it for the hell of it with an svt one, + i there was so much greese or like oil on the axcel and like everywhere, but i dont have a leak anywhere... so i dunno
 
#22 ·
Ok guys. There is a HUGE difference between daily driving a car and racing the car around a track like the SPEC guys do. Racing the car I can totally see how a smaller bar up front would be beneficial. Less wheelspin in corners, the ability to keep the front suspension firmly planted on both sides, and the ability to get the car to rotate and manuever quicker through corners and constantly changing twisties. But, and this is a big but, how many of us do this on a daily basis? A huge bar in the rear with a smaller one up front on a street is just asking for trouble IMO. The rear end wants to just rotate the car to all hell and quite honestly on long sweeping turns it gets a bit un-nerving sometimes feeling that rear end want to come around. Let alone if some semi comes out in front of you good luck twisting the wheel around and not having the back end come out.

I guess what I am trying to say is there is a well defined line between a race setup and a good DD setup. You wouldn't go putting full race cams in your car if its just a DD. It would be stupid. The car would have no power below 2-3k RPM and would not be practical for daily use. You wouldn't go putting a full out race brake pad on your DD cause they need lots of heat to actually obtain and keep a good bite. Just cause it works great on a track (which is also made for racing unlike roads around here) doesn't mean it would be ideal for the road.

I for one don't go racing my car around like an idiot all the time and don't really feel the need to.

And thats another thing. A lot of suspension setups are done as a matter of preference from driver to driver. One guy might like that back end feeling loose whereas some of us might like a more neutral setup. Talk to Weeasp. He prefers a more neutral setup and road races his car all the time. Its all about preference and all this talk about "whats best" isn't applicable quite frankly.
 
#23 ·
zx5Ye said:
my car's right side is [:)][:)][:)][:)][:)][:)] up, i guess previous owner drove over A BIG BIG hole or went on the curb pretty fast, first my right wheel beaing goes down, then my front right spring brakes, then couple weeks later my rear spring breakes, and yesterday when i was under the car changing my suspension, i noticed that the front swaybars brace is covered with some kinda cold weld or something, so im gessing that its [:)][:)][:)][:)][:)][:)] up too, and its only on my right side, the left brace is fine, so i guess ill be ordering a new brace and just replace it for the hell of it with an svt one, + i there was so much greese or like oil on the axcel and like everywhere, but i dont have a leak anywhere... so i dunno
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lol dude that sucks. You say it looks like he welded his swaybar back up?
 
#24 ·
no, not the sway bar, but the brace that holds it, both bolts look fine, but right on top of the brace is sitting some kinda mettalic color i guess coldweld, coz it pretty hard, but not really, im just thinking that when he hit it, the bolts didnt let the swaybar go anywhere but the actual brace either cracket on top or something, + i check the swaybar, i didnt take it out, but visually and touched it and didnt really see any bends or anything, im thinking that the bushing could be bad also, if he didnt replace the brace, im pretty sure he didint replace the bushing either AND I GOT THIS CAR OFF OF A BIG DEALERSHIP.....
 
Discussion starter · #26 ·
jetrinka said:
Ok guys. There is a HUGE difference between daily driving a car and racing the car around a track like the SPEC guys do. Racing the car I can totally see how a smaller bar up front would be beneficial. Less wheelspin in corners, the ability to keep the front suspension firmly planted on both sides, and the ability to get the car to rotate and manuever quicker through corners and constantly changing twisties. But, and this is a big but, how many of us do this on a daily basis? A huge bar in the rear with a smaller one up front on a street is just asking for trouble IMO. The rear end wants to just rotate the car to all hell and quite honestly on long sweeping turns it gets a bit un-nerving sometimes feeling that rear end want to come around. Let alone if some semi comes out in front of you good luck twisting the wheel around and not having the back end come out.

I guess what I am trying to say is there is a well defined line between a race setup and a good DD setup. You wouldn't go putting full race cams in your car if its just a DD. It would be stupid. The car would have no power below 2-3k RPM and would not be practical for daily use. You wouldn't go putting a full out race brake pad on your DD cause they need lots of heat to actually obtain and keep a good bite. Just cause it works great on a track (which is also made for racing unlike roads around here) doesn't mean it would be ideal for the road.

I for one don't go racing my car around like an idiot all the time and don't really feel the need to.

And thats another thing. A lot of suspension setups are done as a matter of preference from driver to driver. One guy might like that back end feeling loose whereas some of us might like a more neutral setup. Talk to Weeasp. He prefers a more neutral setup and road races his car all the time. Its all about preference and all this talk about "whats best" isn't applicable quite frankly.
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Very well put justin, I agree 100%. I had a 18f and a 21r for about 4 months and at first it was great but now I perfur a more stiffer feel than feeling like my back end will swing out. I'm not calling any one rite or wrong just saying that I love the set up I got now more than the one I had and it's all thanks to Jetrinka...and Justin nice math skills dude I'm impresed. Did you pick those up in The School For Cool Kids b/c I never herd of that but It's very good info.
 
#31 ·
lol I dunno if its differences in weight, tires, or whatnot but man going over this one overpass at around 70MPH it just seemed like if I pushed it any more the back end would come around. This was when I had the 22 front 25 rear setup. Just didn't like that feeling.
 
#34 ·
that first post was funny. so glad the ST got the 21 in the first place!!
 
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#36 ·
tires

Jetrinka's got it right about sane daily driving. Sometimes a little 'spirited'
mountain twistie drive is fun-easy on the blind corners. My stock o7 se,
18mm front sway bar, got a Steeda 22mm rear bar. A big improvement over no bar at all is one result. Driving the same twisties for 5 months gives some
basis for comparison. The car does rotate much better greatly reducing it's tendency to understeer. This really shows on the very sharp curves. The change toward fr-re neutrality is welcome. When I replace the Hankooks
will the fr-re balance change? What tires, in you guys experience, won't change the balance??
 
#38 ·
now THAT i have to disagree with. some tires are better than others, for what you want. first off, u need to get the right speed rating...an H tire (beginning of performance) will handle significantly better than an S tire. the sidewall strengths are simply different, to better handle twisties. Now, within those ratings, you have different tires engineered for different things. a big example of this is the michelin mxv4 vs. the michelin xgtv4, which come in H or V ratings. the former is a luxury tire, usually put stock on mercedes, some hyundais, bmw, audi, volvo, accords, lexus,the new camrys, etc. it helps to sell the cars, as they give such a soft ride. ive done road tests in them, auto-x'd them for testing, and worked iwth customers to decided the best tire. there is also the symmetry by michelin vs. the agility. both are s or t- rated tires (non-performance) which might go on a corolla or malibu, etc. the agility is a premium tire, but is more for handling...a bit tougher ride tho. the symmetry on the other hand was made specially for a quiet ride (they REALLY eliminate road noise), but they do not handle rain/ice well.

tires play a larger role in the handling/ride than people realize.
 
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#39 ·
jetrinka said:
Tires shouldn't make a difference in the handling of the car at all. Get some good ones on there and the experience should just get better.
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ok, so i'm just now jumping into this and not going to go back and read everything, but i've just gotta comment on that statement.

nemisis is completely right. tires make a big difference. and i'll put it a much shorter way that can be understood even easier...i've just recently gone from running 4 falkens, had mismatched tires, 2 of them were falken azenis st115's, while the other 2 were falken ze912s, both being pretty decent performance tires, especially the azenis. those wore down to nothing, one looking like a racing slick nearly. so anyways, i replaced them with cheap nankang ns-1's, a decent performance tire, it's been out a while and doesn't cost but $65 a peice. used to be a little more expensive but again, lesser known name-brand on top of the fact the tire is a model that came out a few years back. the ride and handling? TOTALLY, COMPLETELY different. the ride is noticeably better. the handling, yeah, i'm lacking a little compared to before. same suspension, have the roush kit my focus. but i immediately noticed the difference as soon as i took this off-ramp loop exiting the interstate near my apartment. i could take it at 45, pulling hard, but had 100% confidence in those falkens. i had no doubt the car would stick, and i swear that corner pulls hard, it's a tight loop. i always felt like i could push it over 50 if i were crazy(dumb) enough, but never did. with the nankangs? 40 doesn't feel as comfortable even.

tires make a huge difference and that's just the most obvious example i've got.
 
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#40 ·
My bad guys I said entirely the wrong thing. What I meant to say is that they won't affect the balance of the car as far as the suspension goes which he asked in his last sentence.

So what I meant to say was tires shouldn't affect the balance of the car. Early in the morning and put handling for some reason.... Of course tires will influence the handling of a car.... By alot.... You would have to be retarded to think otherwise.....
 
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