Using A Smaller Front Sway Bar

[Polygon]

I was thinking of going to smaller front sway bar in order to combat understeer. I currently have a 1.25" front sway bar. So, do you guys think going to a smaller front bar would be a good idea?

[BadAssPerformance]

yeah, a smaller front bar or more rear roll stiffness will do that. I'm not a fan of going smaller tho.

Whats the rest of your suspension components and setup as?

[turbovanman²]

Whats your alignment set too? That will make it understeer badly if set up to factory specs, which is what most alignment shops use.

[Polygon]

Yeah, right now the car is at stock settings. I'm going to be putting on the suspension in the spring which will consist of Konis, Eibach Pro Kit, CS Racer track bar, front sway bar, and PolyBushings all around.

[GLHNSLHT2]

hehe, don't bother with a smaller sway bar till you get a real alignment. If you're still having problems with understeer then you've got something way wrong. Get the Energy Suspension Lower Control arm poly bushings. They rock and are fairly inexpensive.

[inmyshadow]

I'd suggest not worrying about oversteer until you get your suspension parts installed.

Autocrossing my datyona iroc for several years, I found the best setup for off throttle oversteer.

My daytona was setup using 15in wheels using Yoko AVS intermediates. Tires and tire pressures are very important. I used kumho tires once, but they just didn't have the sidewall to handle the daytona's heavier weight.

I had Eibach shadow springs and konis. I had the front konis full hard with 1/2 towards soft. The rears were setup half firm in the rear. I tried full hard in the rear, but the car was very twitchie in fast transitions.

I aligned the rear end for zero camber and zero toe. The front alignment was -2 degress of camber and 1/8 degree toe out.

I never needed bigger swaybars then the stock IROC pieces. I had some polyurethane front swaybar bushings. I was still on OEM bushings all around but for front sway bar. I never lightened my daytona the the limits of the rules either. My A/C system worked just fine, so I didn't remove it.

If you use autocross tires, then an add on rear swaybar will be advised. My shadow on autocross tires never handled as well as my daytona on street tires. I had a hard time getting it to rotate. I also didn't have as much time to setup the suspension the shadow due to early retirement due to rust.

I also had a custom front strut tower bar made. It helped keep my datyona from tearing itself apart. I had ideas of adapting a VW Golf rear strut tower bar since it ties in the hard points for the seats. It was the best option since out suspension points don't enter the cab of the car to tie together.

All said and done. That car would hang its rear end out on demand and was fun to drive.

By the time I retired the daytona, alot of people were totally surprised how well I could handle my heavy daytona in Street Touring so well. I've got alot of video with people making surprising comments.

[GLHNSLHT2]

Like I said, A real alignment does wonders One thing to note, the stiffer the LCA bushings are the less Camber you need (should be obvious but get's overlooked). I've been running -1.5 for years up front with poly. When I went to my stainless steel with spherical bushings the thing now wants to skip just a hair and you can tell the tires are riding too much on the inside edge now. I need to dial it out to -1.2 so the tires bite like they used to again.

[Polygon]

Very good advice guys, thanks! Now, about a rear away bar. I had asked CS Racer about that when I bought the track bar from him and he said I shouldn't need it with the solid track bar.

[turbovanman²]

Very good advice guys, thanks! Now, about a rear away bar. I had asked CS Racer about that when I bought the track bar from him and he said I shouldn't need it with the solid track bar.

Only if your autocrossing like Dempsey suggested.

[GLHNSLHT2]

Very good advice guys, thanks! Now, about a rear away bar. I had asked CS Racer about that when I bought the track bar from him and he said I shouldn't need it with the solid track bar.

+1 to that. Totally un-needed AutoX or not IMHO.

[thefitisgay]

what about the front strut tower bar. are those still being made or are they a fab your own type of thing

[inmyshadow]

Here is my rule of thumb for swaybars.

The best swaybar combo is the factory solid rear bar and biggest front bar. It works great for street, autocross or track.

If you are running a hollow rear bar, keep the smaller swaybar. Then try out the polybushing rear swaybar. If the car it too twitchie, then upgrade to the biggest OEM bar.

If you are autocrossing with autocross tires with either solid or hollow rear bar, then upgrade to polybushing rear bar. Street tires will break loose just fine with the best OEM swaybars. If you have a hollow rear bar, adjust your tire pressures down to help break loose the rear tires.

There is awhole lot of factors in making one of your cars handle better. You won't get the best out of the car unless you can find Grant's coilover kits, use CSracers rear track bar and polybushing rear bar.

Just remember, demand on a car's suspension is completely different from autocross and track.

I've moved up to a neon for autocrossing. The car is alot easier to toss around then my old daytona or shadow.

The downside our cars will never handle as good as needed to be competitive in autocross. An omni would, but its outclassed and replacement suspension parts are nearing impossible to get.

+1 to that. Totally un-needed AutoX or not IMHO.

[Murphy]

for a strut tower bar, you just use one form a 95-99 neon. you will need to redrill the holes on the mounting plates, but other than that its a direct fit

[86trbolancer]

fwdp sells strut tower bars....

[Murphy]

yes they do, but they are $90. the neon bars you can get on ebay for about 20. I believe FWDP's is a much nicer piece, but I am cheap

[thefitisgay]

the megan one looks real nice... the ebay ones... idk how much it would do if it flexes itself aka not enough tube wall thickness

[Johnny]

These tips may also help.....

http://polybushings.com/pages/handlingtips.html

[Vigo]

when i was autocrossing my dynasty, i welded a bar to the bottom of the rear axle to box it in and increase the torsional stiffness and i think it was a fantastic mod for the price.

However, from my experience on various k-cars, i believe the #1 key thing to get the car to rotate is to get a MUCH STIFFER track bar that doesnt bend, and stiffer bushings for it.

[Polygon]

Yeah, the stocker is a wet noodle. The one I got from CS Racer is solid, and adjustable with good rod ends.