Go with the Progress 25mm...AWESOME setup, reasonable price, works VERY well, comes in dark grey, and has all mounting and bushings included.

 

ok so what size is stock 22mm??? what sizes do they make in aftermarket and why are they that size? also with just upgraded springs what would be the right size to get?? keeping in mind the springs you have are for improvment not looks. like swift if for improvment and tein is for looks. get what im saying

 

There's a lot of different sizes available....a good range seems to be from 24 to 26mm.

Most are adjustable, and thats a good thing, so you can fine tune it to your driving style.

For most cars, street and track, 24 or 25 mm is good. Auto-x i would go bigger if possible. For your swifts, I would stick with the Whiteline bar.


- andrew

 

I got the progress 25mm bar and it made a difference in how easy it is to off throttle rotate the car, and I like the way the car acts when powering back out of a corner. Since I autox on small tight courses, I think going with the 27mm bar would have made a bigger difference, but its an all around good bar. running around at the top of 3rd the car is much more capable, and you have to be ready when it tries to step out on you.

 

Is it that much predictable with 25MM bar in the rear? I understand that stiffer rear sway bar can reduce body roll and understeer. But it would also reduce compression on outer corner and increase rebound on inner corner, which stock shocks might not be able to handle as Mitsu Engineers did not design for such sway bar. What I am saying is it could also worsen the traction. Matter of fact, car could slide more often than having more grip on tires with thicker rear sway bar. It would be a different story if the shocks were stiffened up on the REBOUND to help hold the outer side flattened.

I understand AUTOX is more on turn-turn kind of situation where you need more of oversteer to do better... However, I am afraid that I can not agree with the notion one can turn better with thicker rear sway bar in an EVO. I just don't want anyone to be stupid enough to speed on the public road and think that they can exit corner at high speed with this upgrade. That's how you would flip your EVO and get seriously hurt..... There has to be a fine tune of your suspension for your purpose rather than getting directly quoted from an internet... Not that anyone would do that but just another cautionary opinion to think about...

Just my 2 cents.

 

Nothing wrong with a voice of restraint.....

A 25mm bar is not quite a huge difference over stock, big enough to be noticeable at the limit, but it will not turn your car into an oversteering, unwieldy, monster. It will reduce roll, and it's debateable as to whether or not it reduces rear grip. The increased weight transfer back there is part of it, and the reduction in body roll is another. Both contribute in their own way to the grip in the rear. It certainly does increase front grip, and you're right....you better be prepared for it and not overestimate yourself. Overall grip however, is definitely improved. That is, put the car on a skidpad before and after and you will see higher lateral grip with the rear sway bar on. BUT you should still work up to the limit in a safe environment (i.e. not the street). The balance of the car does indeed change.

With regards as to how the swaybar affects the strut/shock....the only real thing to worry about is lifting an inside rear wheel, and in this case you will still have plenty of droop travel. On stock springs it might be a problem on the tightest of auto-x corners, but on a good set of springs, i wouldn't worry about it too much.

I will agree that on a public road, those 27mm and up bars can be a bit of handful....but the auto-x guys tend to like their cars to be a bit of a handful. I like to keep it tidy though. Front and rear swaybars for me.


- andrew


EDIT: and it goes without saying that with any modificiation, whether it's to the suspension or the motor, you have to work up to it slowly and get a feel for it. some mods change the behavior of the car that you can't just jump in and drive 10/10ths and not expect to get hurt.

 

Good stuff here guys.

I know a lot of people add rear sways (as mentioned in this thread) with springs. I don't want to do springs/coilovers in my situation, at least not at this point. I like to track the car a little, and thought a rear sway would be a beneficial suspension mod. The car is mostly for street, so plz factor that in.
In my situation, would a rear sway still be beneficial on stock suspension on a IX?

 

I'll answer my own question here.

I bought the Hotchkis rearsway and like alot. Car feels more clamped down to the road, and definitely more stable on the track. No negatives though - ride isn't rougher, car doesn't snap oversteer or anything.
I am running it on the middle setting... stock springs.

I'm curious if upgrading any bushings or endlinks would be beneficial at my stage of tune? (mods listed in sig).

 

I have a follow-up question for GTWorks: is the lifting of a rear wheel a bad thing? My local autox's, for better or worse, are of the very tight variety. On simple street tires (Kumho 711's) and on sealed blacktop ( for traction ) Im able to keep a rear tire a couple of inches off the ground. pic for reference:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/solo2ph...7594358162573/



Im going to be upgrading rubber next year, but probably wont be able to afford coilovers til late next year. and what should be my next step? upgrade the front bar, or springs/coilovers? thanks

 

bushings would help anyone. they are just a pain in the a$$ to change.

as far as the endlinks go, you dont need them yet, since you still have the "stiff setting" hole to use on the hotchkis.

btw, that is what i had on my 04, stock suspension, hotchkis rear sway(middle hole) and energy susp bushing kit. i loved it.

 

Ok, thanks.

Wondering if I should check out the stiff setting on the swarbar...

 

The car a you all know tends to understeer from the factory like most cars because it is safer for the majority of people who do mostly street driving. Most people have not had the training or education to counter steer the car should the tail come out a bit. And for the majority of people who don't know what they are doing step on the brakes when the rear comes out which just speeds up the spin.

So your best bet is to go to autox or hpde and see how the car reacts both before and after to determine whether your driving style benefits from this modification or not. For many people it may not be the right mod.

 

youre asking if there is more traction on two tires as opposed to one?

 

Well put .

Lifting of the inside rear wheel is certainly not ideal, but it's something you just have to live with.

Increasing roll resistance will help, all other things being equal. Be careful with JDM style coilovers, as most have very little droop travel. If you ever see a picture of a car jacked up on....umm certain JDM coilovers....you'll notice the wheels barely droop at ALL. They try and make up for it with very low ride heights and very high spring rates. Which is why you won't find them on my street car .

A front bar will help with that issue, increasing spring rate with Swifts, or good coilovers will also help. For the front bar though....a lot people think it does more harm then good. I am not one of them though .



- Andrew....who has a Forester with so much droop travel he really needs to take it off some sweet jumps.

 

I guess that is worded incorrectly, I understand the loss of traction issue, I thought he was implying a mechanical problem with letting things droop fully due to the wheel being lifted.