I don't know much about suspenssion. What do these bars do, and which one is best for cornering? would they work against each other of you got all of them?

im not big on suspension either but ima take a shot, no they wouldnt work against each other. these bars keep chassi flex to a minimum and help the car become more responsive and corner better. i have two of the bars you listen i just need the stress bar. i had my sways installed first it helped alot but not enough and after my strut was installed it felt more like what everyone said *riding on rails* hopes this helps some

thanks it does :D

I don't know much about suspenssion. What do these bars do, and which one is best for cornering? would they work against each other of you got all of them?


strut bar ties the front strut towers together. The strut towers is the top mounting point for your front struts. If they move around, the tire moves around, and thats bad. I don't know if the stock strut towers move around at all or not, if they do, then a strut bar would help prevent some of that flex.

swaybars resist the rolling motion of the car. The will make the car roll dramatically less when cornering, which is good. They will also in some cases slightly reduce the grip as they get stiffer by increase weight transfer. They also make the suspension less independant as they get stiffer.

a strut bar you would likely notice no difference in handling.

stiffer swaybars would make the car feel DRAMATICALLY different.

No one has addressed the stress bar yet. I fabricated one for my Xa to brace the rear of the engine/suspension cradle to the subframe. I noticed a slightly more "planted" feel during extreem cornering but not much, certainly not worth the $150-$200 for a comercial lower stress bar. You can see what I fabricated at my website http://myspot.neteze.com/~kdanielson .

I think there is more to gain from a front subframe to engine/suspension cradle brace, the front of the car seems to be very unsupported to me. Next time I put my car on a drive on lift I will check it out and see what I can do to improve that situation.

I also feel the rear suspension needs some added support and have a plan for that already.

ken

On my eclipse with my strut tower bars they dont help in terms of handling but they take ALOT of vibration and movement out of the suspension when going over bumps or holes....makes your car feel more solid....and I like it

The suspension kinda hangs off the bottom of the car with the mounting points at the edges of the unibody (code for frame made of the body). The struts (front shocks, dampers) are mounted to the front independent suspension (independent means the wheels can move freely of each other) and the upper fixed point on these are at the edges of the unibody. Swaybars connect the left and right side suspension and balance forces. Basically, when you corner left, the car dives to the right front, but the sway bar pushes and trys to level it out without sacraficing much striaght like comfort. A stress bar will strengthen lower suspension and tighten up the lower frame, and a strut bar will tighten the upper suspension. You're ride quality will not be stiffined but the presicion of the handling will be, as the suspension doesnt have flex in the system. The sway bars will allow you to corner flatter. Basically, if you add all 3 items, the suspension will do its job better, and you should get much more precise handling.