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Location:
Perth
Registered:
October 2004
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Which swaybar?
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Thu, 10 March 2005 09:44
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I've got a set of custom coilovers for my Celica on their way from the Netherlands. They should be arriving late March and I plan to fit them early April. The setup includes Koni Yellow adjustable shocks and Ground Control springs, weighed for the ST162.
When they're going in, I've been considering fitting front and rear sway bars at the same time. I've looked into Whiteline and K-Mac bars and have got the following prices:
Whiteline
22mm front bar $207.27
18mm rear bar $166.36
K-Mac
24mm front bar $245
16mm rear bar $165
In my understanding of the function of a swaybar, a thicker item promotes stiffness, which affects under/oversteering characteristics. Why have K-Mac opted to go for a smaller diameter rear bar? I would have assumed that a thicker bar would have been of more benefit to a FWD car.
Which brand should I go with? Price isn't the main issue, I'm more interested in the differing sizes and performance of the products.
The car may see some track-type weekend use, but is primarily a daily driver. Lastly, are there grounds for forgoing aftermarket swaybars? What kind of applications are better without them?
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Registered:
November 2002
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Re: Which swaybar?
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Thu, 10 March 2005 11:34
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K-mac and Whiteline have both selected their rear bar thickness on what they believe the majority of drivers/buyers will prefer in the back of their ST162. Thicker is not necessarily better or worse, especially on the rear, and it will depend upon your total suspension package and your driving style as to which bar works best in your circumstances.
If you are doing track work and don't mind adjusting your cars suspension (and by the sound of it, with coil overs and Koni adjustables, you don't) I would save up a few more sheckles and get the Whiteline adj. front sway bar and test and tune your ride on the fly.
I think Whiteline have some other trick suspension bits for the 162 as well, so I would be tempted to get it all from them in a package and ask for a lower price to boot.
Swaybars will always improve the handling of a car, up to a point where you are running complete track suspension with 500 lbs plus springs and Bilstein's, for example.
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Location:
Perth
Registered:
October 2004
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Re: Which swaybar?
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Thu, 10 March 2005 18:00
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Thanks for the response Mitch.
Unfortunatly Whiteline doesn't seem to make an adjustable front ST162 bar. Only an adjustable rear ST165 bar. Whiteline's other options seem to be camber/castor kits, full bush kits and strut tower braces for the ST165 - I wonder if these (both front and rear) would fit the ST162?
I've looked into camber kits and K-Mac's seem to be a better product, although they are 3x the price ($610 for front and rear).
Sadly there doesn't seem to be much support for the ST162, now going on 20 years old, which was never a pure performance platform.
Come April, I'll go with the K-Mac swaybars.
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Location:
Madrid - Spain
Registered:
August 2002
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Re: Which swaybar?
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Fri, 11 March 2005 00:22
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The bar diameter is only one factor that affects teh final stiffness. Look at the length of the arms and how they are attached to the chassis and suspension components.
Either way, they would have been designed as a matched set, so my advice is don't mix brands.
Really you only need one of the bars to be adjustable, ie use one to trim it. Having two adjustable bars just gives you more to play with. If they are well matched you shouldn't need both adjustable.
If you are uping the spring rates of your coil springs, you may find that uber big anti roll bars are unnecessary. I would put your springs/shocks in then see if it needs extra roll stiffness.
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