Sways vs STBs, searched but still confused

[STIJibz]

okkkkk i need some expert explanation on this . ive searched and read alot of threads about sway bars and strut tower bars, but i am still confused about the differences they make on the behavior of the car in turns. My question is, with the LGT in particular, say u get 2 sways, front and back, and the rest of ur suspension is stock. then u have another LGT with 2 strut tower bars, front and back, and the rest of the suspension is stock. what kind of differences will these 2 cars show in handling? i am reallyyyyyy confused now lol. i think reading all these various threads has made me more confused haha. i thought i had a decent understanding but i guess not . one last thing, on either one of these cars, what differences would a coilover system, say like Tein Flex make in ADDITION to the previous mods?

 

thanks to anyone who takes the time to explain this to me

[BoxerGT2.5]

okkkkk i need some expert explanation on this . ive searched and read alot of threads about sway bars and strut tower bars, but i am still confused about the differences they make on the behavior of the car in turns. My question is, with the LGT in particular, say u get 2 sways, front and back, and the rest of ur suspension is stock. then u have another LGT with 2 strut tower bars, front and back, and the rest of the suspension is stock. what kind of differences will these 2 cars show in handling? i am reallyyyyyy confused now lol. i think reading all these various threads has made me more confused haha. i thought i had a decent understanding but i guess not . one last thing, on either one of these cars, what differences would a coilover system, say like Tein Flex make in ADDITION to the previous mods?

 

thanks to anyone who takes the time to explain this to me

 

 

STB is going to increase chassis rigidity. May help with better turn it but you will hardly feel it. You would be better off to go with an underbrace (connects to 4 points and helps with better turn in more so) as opposed to a STB (2 points). I know I know...STB is bling, looks good when you open the hood. With a STB you really arn't gonna feel any negative effects to the ride per say.

 

Bigger sway bars are going to reduce the amount of body roll felt in the car around corners (keep it flatter). The downside is you are now gonna feel a bump on the right side of the car when the left rolls over one (common with bigger sway bars).

 

Simply, if you take 2 stock LGT's, one with STB's and one with sways, the one with the sways is gonna handle better.

 

To answer your last question, coilovers are gonna be a dramatic improvement on any car. Pairing them with sways will make a bigger impact on handling than with the STB.

 

If you are gonna improve handling based on the components your asking about I would do it in this order:

 

1. Tires

2. Coilovers (ideally, but can do springs)

3. Performance Alignment

4. Sway bars (what size and front and/or rear is up to your tastes)

5. Underbrace (more effective than STB's).

 

Lastly, rear training arms would also help big time with reponsiveness.

[STIJibz]

wow boxergt thanks for the comprehensive response. just a few questions. first, in ur list u mention a "performance alignment"...not sure what this means...camber adjustment . also, this 4 point brace u are talking about, does any company make them currently for the LGT?

 

while ur response was very easy to understand, i was also wondering in terms of oversteer/understeer...what effects sways/STBs will have on those aspects?

 

thanks in advance for your time

[BoxerGT2.5]

wow boxergt thanks for the comprehensive response. just a few questions. first, in ur list u mention a "performance alignment"...not sure what this means...camber adjustment . also, this 4 point brace u are talking about, does any company make them currently for the LGT?

 

while ur response was very easy to understand, i was also wondering in terms of oversteer/understeer...what effects sways/STBs will have on those aspects?

 

thanks in advance for your time

 

 

Typically a performance alignment involves more negative camber than what would typically be applied and some adjustments to toe in. You can find the cusco front and rear underbrace at http://www.fastwrx.com

 

STB's will not affect oversteer and understeer, sway bars on the other hand will. A larger rear bar will produce more oversteer (tail happy), inversly a larger front sway bar will promote more understeer (pushing). Really it depends upon what "feel" you want out of the car.

[STIJibz]

exactly what i wanted to know, thank you very much