DRAG

iTrader: (3)

I am wanting to purchase some swaybars today as a short term remedy to some of this body roll. I have to do something for the next couple auto x events until I save up the half a million bucks it costs to buy some real coilovers and a few sets of springs I'm sometimes loosing composure trying to keep up with a couple guys in my region through slaloms and any abrupt transitions. We are all on similar spring rates and the same tires, and we are all competitive, but they run huge bars and are able to carry more speed through these transitions. Looking at data and photos, they are very flat and my car is about to roll over

I'm looking at the Cobb and Hotchkis bars, and the Cobb stuff looks super nice. I like the increased spring rate up front (+108% and +125%). The rear on the Cobb is (+106, +132, and +176).

The Hotchkis is a larger 32mm bar front and rear, but I'm confused why the rear spring rate is higher, and the front is rated much lower. Front (+50%, +70%) Rear (+155, +195, +245). Does this mean they used a different wall thickness on the front and rear bar? I find that unlikely and wondered if anyone had tried them or could have anything to say to help me make a decision

When I get them I will do some datalogs through a few different slalom spacings of stock vs sways to see if I can carry more speed. Maybe I'll post that data up if I'm feeling friendly.

Thanks in advance.

Here are some body roll pics for fun

Stock Suspension


More stock suspension....ahhh...don't flip over!


Winged Warrior, stock tires, Eibach springs. The springs suprisingly eliminated a lot of roll and helped the car in transitions. I was pretty suprised given the very slight increase in spring rate.


Stock suspension and Dunlops. Now with the sticky Dunlops she is back to rolling a lot. My competitors are all very flat through the same sections with similar spring rates, just larger bars. When I try to carry a couple extra MPH through these same sections to match them, I can't transition as quickly regardless of how I drive it


Also, here is a pretty non-scientific video of before and after on the Hotchkis from their site. A real slalom with some hard data like what I will do could be helpful
http://videos.streetfire.net/video/E...-Vs_202150.htm


So I guess my main question is, why do you think the Hotchkis front bar offers less spring rate increase given its larger size when the rear offers so much more? I could understand if it were just a thinner wall thickness, but I wouldn't guess them to use a different tubing on the front and rear bar if they are the same size.

DRAG

iTrader: (3)

I thought the same thing. 150 instead of 50.

Having the rear so stiff like they have it and the front soft like that would be silly.

GSXR

iTrader: (3)

Hahaha, that video was funny. They obviously drove the stock X harder. If you look carefully, you'll see way more of the side of the car, meaning that they turned the stock one harder. I'm not doubting the sway bars helped, it's just the video is a little deceiving.

I think Hotchkis calculated their stiffness wrong. It doesn't sound right to be so much stiffer on the rear.

BTW, winged warriors car still has a decent amount of body roll. Just look at the angle of his front lip.

Personally, I wouldn't go too stiff with the sway bars. It limits your individual wheel travel and it also doesn't help with weight transfer when braking or accelerating. You'll still need springs to help with that.

DRAG

iTrader: (3)

Yes the vid was pretty funny. That is my car at the Winged Warrior charity event, and that pic was actually taken after I came off of a "jump" and the car was sitting down after. I used to pick up a rear tires on every hard corner and the springs all but eliminated that.

I agree with you on the spring stiffness, but as I'm setup at the moment I think I need the bars and probably will after a stiff spring as well. Gotta try it....Enlightened trial and error wins over the planning of flawless intellect

I bought the Cobb bars yesterday and I'm going to go ahead and order the Hotchkis bars today. Gotta see for myself.

GSXR

iTrader: (3)

Really? Have you seen how hard it is to install the front bar? If I put that in, it's never coming out!

I've been eyeing the Cobb bars but the front bar install - Yikes. And that's the one I want. The rear bar for me can wait. Slap on a set of springs and I'm done. I don't autox the X. I have an 89 Civic for that.

abu

iTrader: (3)

Haha, agree. That's why I am paying someone to do it. Hey what happened to my reply earlier.

DRAG

iTrader: (3)

Thanks to STU rules, I have to replace the stock clutch with nearly every oil change Putting the front swaybar in is a walk in the park.

Clipse3GT

iTrader: (10)

Yes, keep this thread updated with the COBB vs. Hotchkis vs. WORKS as well. I think for the price, COBB has the best deal and they are nearly identical to the other two.

I am very interested in this. I am looking for a set for my X. I would love to know, which work better.

I think I will stay with the stock shocks and springs and just install a set of KW3's eventually.
I know that a few people blew their shocks already with aftermarket springs. The best ones were the .5" WORKS springs, which they stopped making sadly. Since those did not affect the dampering of the stock shocks.

smgevo

iTrader: (1)

Cobb and Hotchkis are both 32mm front and the same stiffness. Both companies I will assume are utilizing a different method of calculating bar stiffness. The Cobb rear bar is 28mm and the Hotchkis is 32mm. The posted rates are different, but again their method of calculation may be different. Safe to say the Hotchkis makes a stiffer rear bar.

Clipse3GT

iTrader: (10)

I agree. Plus they have a video to boot how the EVO X looks stock vs. with Hotchkis Sway Bars...noticeable difference for sure.

You can find the Hotchkis bars for around $340

Clipse3GT

iTrader: (10)

Any updates?

DRAG

iTrader: (3)

Just got the Cobb bars yesterday. I measured them with my calipers since I had seen some conflicting sizes posted for these ranging from 30-32 for the front and 27-30 for the back.

Front: 32.xx mm
Rear: 29.xx mm

I'm not sure how much of that is powder coat, but it appears to be pretty thin. I'm hoping to install them next weekend.

Clipse3GT

iTrader: (10)

Any info on the Hotchkis bars?

Thanks for the numbers on the COBB bars.

Clipse3GT

iTrader: (10)

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