quoted for truth, and something IMO that deserves to be repeated and a myth that needs to be de-bunked from the get-go! ARB's have little to no function in straight line performance (unless on an uneven surface), straight out of RCVD.

 

how come no one really puts on a FRONT SWAY BAR? I bought the set of Swift swaybars but have yet to install the front because it really seems like a PITA. However i'm guessing having the front def. helps instead of just having the back correct!?

 

IMHO i believe that sway bars strut bars and lower arm bars will help and not cost to much btw sti killer why replace the original strut bar that comes on the car dont see the point in spending that much for something you already have?

 

Unfortunately, many Evo noobs think the same thing, which is why they buy all those cheap parts but end up with a car that doesn't handle as well as stock.

 

i like the aftermarket front swaybar i just installed. a little less body roll. the steering feels more flat around corners. the ride does not feel horrible like one racer suggested. i mean it feels a little more sporty, barely. there's not much change really. it seems one racers "handles awesome" seems to be another racers "handling sucks"

 

How has that affected the understeer already built into the evo?

 

it feels like it understeers less but i haven't autox'd. i have -1.5 cember in front and -1.2 camber in rear. basicly stock everything for a-stock autox. it feels like the bar holds the alignment in check.

 

Swaybars FTW on a street driven EVO that you just want to reduce body roll on. I used to be into the "no front bar because it will increase understeer" category until I learned more about suspension and spent more time trying different setups.

Think about this - STI's understeer pretty bad. The #1 mod to make them handle better on stock suspension is a fat front swaybar. By limiting front body roll and suspension compression you will keep the outside front tire from gaining too much positive camber. This will keep your tire contact patch more optimal and give you more front traction.

Also, ponder this fact -- EVO rally cars run only medium spring rates compared to what U.S. Evo road racers are using, but run HUGE front sway bars on their tarmac setups.

Here is my suggestion:
-- Keep the stock shocks AND springs
-- Tanabe front swaybar (hollow, light)
-- Hotchkis rear swaybar (hollow also)
-- Whiteline roll center adjustment kit

From there you can play around with rear bar settings and tire pressures to get the car to handle like you want. Good luck, and don't let yourself get talked into buying something that may be more than you need.

EVOlutionary

 

"..., because we don't have rear struts"

?wtf?

strut---
A structural element used to brace or strengthen a framework by resisting longitudinal compression

 

Man I could go to town on many statements made in this thread---but I'll wait on those...

For the record though...increasing stiffness in a front sway bar has the tendency to increase understeer; while increasing the stiffness of a rear sway will have the tendency to increase oversteer.

The roll center correction kit is one of the best things that can be done to reduce understeer on the car because it reduces the roll couple length which naturally reduces roll.

 

You're talking about a "strut" as referred to in building and engineering terms. "strut" in terms of a car is referred to the damper when it also serves to locate the suspension, and is the main load-bearing component of the suspension. On short-long-arm suspension such as what the Evo has in the rear, there is no strut, the arms connect to the hub.

 

He meant to say " . . . we don't have rear MacPherson struts . . ."

Just saying rear strut is not very specific. That could be many things -- strut tower, strut tower brace, strut tower bar, etc.

Technically the rear should be called "shock tower" since it's not a strut suspension in the rear . . . but common language is to call it a strut tower. . .

EVOlutionary

 

The bold part is key -- the average car has a tendancy to react this way. . . but not always.

Let's take a stock EVO and take the front bar off and use that as a baseline. Now you continue to test stiffer and stiffer front sway bars.

What I suspect you'll find is that initially you will gain more traction and the car will be faster around a course. This will continue until you reach the point where the increase in traction from keeping the front dynamic camber in it's happy spot becomes LESS than the decrease in traction from weight transfer to the outside tire. From that point on -- going stiffer on the sway bar will cause more and more understeer.

A stiffer front bar should also help to keep the inside rear wheel on the ground.

EVOlutionary

 

Glad you caught that. That's the reason why I placed those words there. Generally, that is the result. What I would like to know is at what point (relevant to our stock configuration) that happy point lies with our sway bars (on both front and rear). Going from a stock sway bar / endlinks to say a 2mm over -- in general have most people been experiencing understeer? I suppose warr would be a good source for this considering he races in many different venues.

I'm stock all the way around in terms of sway bars. First thing I would do for front end roll is the correction kit.

 

I have stock sways, too, but I would love to test some FSBs. However, I would not love to do that install several times. Evolutionary is already doing testing for this anyway, so he's a good resource.