Sway Bars 101
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 4,386
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From: SoCal
St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05
Sway Bars 101
Can someone explain sway bars and how they affect handling and ride? Specifically, while allowing cornering without body roll, does a fatter sway bar compromise any aspect of the ride quality?
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 104
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Re: Sway Bars 101 (FNC80)
Can someone explain sway bars and how they affect handling and ride? Specifically, while allowing cornering without body roll, does a fatter sway bar compromise any aspect of the ride quality?
Understeer ("push" or "tight") or oversteer ("loose") can be adjusted by how much of the roll resistance is done by the front suspension and how much by the rear.
Anti-roll bars, popularly called sway bars, are used for tuning the handling by adding roll stiffness to front and or rear. Using A/R bars allows softer springs.
Bigger (stiffer) A/R bar in front increases the % of front roll couple and tends to make the car "push" or be "tight" or understeer. Bigger rear tends to "loose" or oversteer. It's important to have a balance, and to have understeer at the traction limit.
Because the A/R bar interconnects left and right wheels, there is some reaction over one-wheel bumps. Most OEM or even aftermarket bars are not stiff enough to make the ride very bad, but you may feel them.
No such thing as no body roll in almost any production or even race car. Stiffer springs and A/R bars reduce roll, but don't eliminate it. Cornering at 1g in a stiff car could give maybe 3 degrees of roll. Obviously .5 g on ramp driving would be half of that, which feels pretty flat.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 869
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From: Nashville TN
Re: Sway Bars 101 (FNC80)
I have Hotchkiss bars and love them! :yesnod: Yes the "ride" is just a little bit stiffer -- but to me it really needed to be much stiffer than the stock setup anyway. I hate a mushy ride, but at the same time I didn't want it so stiff that it jarred creaks into the car. The Hotchkiss bars were perfect for me. My advice -- get some aftermarket bars unless you have a Z06. :cheers:
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 4,386
Likes: 1
From: SoCal
St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05
Re: Sway Bars 101 (OldSStroker)
Because the A/R bar interconnects left and right wheels, there is some reaction over one-wheel bumps. Most OEM or even aftermarket bars are not stiff enough to make the ride very bad, but you may feel them.
:cheers:
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 4,386
Likes: 1
From: SoCal
St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05
Re: Sway Bars 101 (1g1yy)
I have Hotchkiss bars and love them!
What's the difference between Z06 sways and Hotchkiss? Why did you go with Hotchkiss over other brands?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 2,096
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From: Size Does Matter CA
Re: Sway Bars 101 (FNC80)
This might help.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=730617 :cheers:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=730617 :cheers:
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Verdad Gallardo
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 23,283
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From: Lake Elsinore, CA
Re: Sway Bars 101 (FNC80)
Alex, I have the Hotchkis with the metal endlinks and it is an awesome setup with the F45 for very spirited driving with no compromise in ride. It corners beautifully. My coupe is lowered 1" as well.