rear sway bars
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 353
Likes: 0
From: boulogne buenos aires
rear sway bars
Hi guys, I wanted to know is it worth installing rear sway bars to my weekend driver vette. Will I feel any big diference in handling? I have standard suspension with kyb gas shocks.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 2,317
Likes: 111
From: St Louis MO
When a sway bar is added or made larger, it reduces the down force on the inside tire and increases it on the outside tire. If the outside tire is near its maximum friction, it will not increase its force linearly as the turn is tightened and overall traction (friction) at this axle will no longer increase, leading to understeer if the larger bar is at the front, or understeer if at the rear.
When a car is balanced, it will not understeer (plow), nor oversteer (loose), and both axles will start to diminish at the same time as the turn is tightened to the car's limit without any directional problems.
When adding a rear bar, the trend will be to reduce understeer and move toward oversteer. The larger the rear bar, the more noticeable this becomes. Eventually, the car will become so loose, that even moderate turns will cause very noticeable looseness and require a counter-steer to avoid a spinout.
To determine your car's balance, run in an autocross and see how the car handles. To do a comparison, install the rear bar and do a run with one of the link bars disconnected, say, on the left side, then do another run with that link connected to compare the difference. The difference will be obvious, but the result may be better or worse.
If one does not have an autocross event, one can drive in a constant radius circle on a deserted parking lot and up the speed until the understeer/oversteer difference is noted. Try it both with and without one of the bar's 2 links hooked up.
In your case, I'll guess that there is probably some stock understeer, although it will depend an many factors such as engine size (weight distribution), suspension and tire health. If you over do it, it will be VERY noticeable, and even scary in maneuvering, but when it's right, and in balance, it's enjoyable and nice to know that you've improved your ride.
When a car is balanced, it will not understeer (plow), nor oversteer (loose), and both axles will start to diminish at the same time as the turn is tightened to the car's limit without any directional problems.
When adding a rear bar, the trend will be to reduce understeer and move toward oversteer. The larger the rear bar, the more noticeable this becomes. Eventually, the car will become so loose, that even moderate turns will cause very noticeable looseness and require a counter-steer to avoid a spinout.
To determine your car's balance, run in an autocross and see how the car handles. To do a comparison, install the rear bar and do a run with one of the link bars disconnected, say, on the left side, then do another run with that link connected to compare the difference. The difference will be obvious, but the result may be better or worse.
If one does not have an autocross event, one can drive in a constant radius circle on a deserted parking lot and up the speed until the understeer/oversteer difference is noted. Try it both with and without one of the bar's 2 links hooked up.
In your case, I'll guess that there is probably some stock understeer, although it will depend an many factors such as engine size (weight distribution), suspension and tire health. If you over do it, it will be VERY noticeable, and even scary in maneuvering, but when it's right, and in balance, it's enjoyable and nice to know that you've improved your ride.
