Sway bars worth it?

[Matt Fojtik]

I am trying to decide if sway bars are worth it. I heard TC Kline doesn’t like them since they induce mid corner understeer…
But then others say just do the front, and the rest say do both! I also contacted schimer to see what they do.
I have KW V3’s with full BW spherical arms/bushings. I plan on doing the subframe bushings somewhat soon so I’d throw in the rear bar if that was what I wanted to go with.
Thanks!

[leftfootbr8king]

Where to start here….

There are questions that should be asked before one can say “don’t do them” “do them” “do just the front” or “they introduce mid corner understeer”

Imo anyone who just gives you a blanket recommendation is not worth asking for any further advice.

Sway bars are just one part of the suspension. What bars are you looking at?which spring rates are they accompanied by? What is the cars primary use? What kind of rubber do you run?

Since you’re on v3’s I’m going to guess the car spends a decent amount of time on public roads, but I don’t want to assume anything.

[leftfootbr8king]

I run mildly aggressive spring rates (672f/784r) on a non aero car paired with adjustable bars front and rear. It works well for me.

Fwiw, there’s a TST podcast interview with Steve Dinan where he said they set up their race cars with spring rates as soft as they can go until the driver starts to complain because they are looking to let the suspension “suspend” (and get as much mechanical grip as possible)

Of course on a race car they have bladed adjustable sway bars to counteract body roll.

While we can’t have trick in-cabin ARB adjustability, it’s a lot easier to adjust a sway bar end link than to swap a spring.

I wonder if sometimes people who suggest to only run a front bar are trying to justify to themselves that it’s not worth dropping the rear subframe for the install/eventual uninstall. And I get that. If you might sell your car in a year or two, it may not make sense to have a bar in the back that is a pain in the ass to both install and remove.

My thinking was: If I give myself adjustibility on one end of the lever, I want to make sure I can adjust the other end of the lever as well.

If that doesn’t work for you, consider staying on oem bars and upping the coil spring rates (as long as your dampers can handle it)

There might be a reason hotchkis only sells their adjustable sway bars for the e9x in a front/rear package.

[Matt Fojtik]

It’s on pilot super sports and spends majority of the time on the road. Although I am thinking of getting AD09’s and potentially (when they need a rebuild) getting slightly stiffer swift springs. I’m just worried about making the car drive “worse” that would be on both the street and the track. I plan on doing rear subframe bushings so it’s not much of a deal to put the rear one in too.
Do you have upgraded swaybars?

[leftfootbr8king]

Yes. As I mentioned I went with adjustable bars on both ends. Hotchkis is the manufacturer I went with.

[Matt Fojtik]

Originally Posted by leftfootbr8king

Yes. As I mentioned I went with adjustable bars on both ends. Hotchkis is the manufacturer I went with.

Was it a good jump performance wise?

[leftfootbr8king]

Hard to say, since it was done with a whole host of other upgrades at the same time (subframe was dropped so all the while you’re there piled up ).

New remote res dampers, solid everything, wider tires.

I started with both bars on the softest setting which is still a bit stiffer than oem, but after a few days have moved them to the next stiffest setting to control some more body roll.