so here is my question. which 200-300$ mod helps handling and body roll the most?

i ask because i want a ride with less body roll but not necc. a stiffer ride. i would go ahead and buy new springs but i do not want to risk the trouble of scraping every where i go. so i see 3 option: springs, sway bar, or tower braces.

ive driven a friends tC with tower braces and it seemed to have little or no effect in comparison to my stock tc. the sway bar seems to me to have the better effect.

i'm not wanting to replace every component of my suspension and i'm not going to look into coilovers mainly b/c of cost.

so i need some opinions from ppl who've driven all types. when springs run at 200$, braces at 250$ and rear sway bars at 160$, which has the most effect when installed by itself?

thanks guy,
daniel

 

sways...

get the hotchkis front and rear sway bar set...

280 shipped at trdsparks.com

 

The TRD rear sway bar would be a great option as well.

 

rear sway bars are more responsive than rear struts from what i notice

 

Struts or strut bars? A rear sway will make a more noticeable impact on handling than a rear strut bar.

 

I suggest the Ingall's 4-Point Rear Strut Brace w/ Prgoss Rear Sway bar!!

That be around $300 total...

http://www.corsporttusa.com

 

These are all good upgrades, but if you are still on your OEM tires you will only get about $50 worth out of the $200-$300 you spend.

If you are still on your stock wheels you need to look at least at a 225/45 or 225/40 tire. If your tC is going to see snow buy a cheap set of 17s to put your OEM tires on for snow stuff. Then get a set of High Performance Summer tires for your current wheels once the temps get back above 40-50 degrees. If you don't get any snow just go straight for the HP Summer tires on your current wheels.

Yes this is a little more depending on what kind of weather you get but there is a night and day difference in the OEM tires and the "good stuff".

 

you will notice the most difference in the sway bars, particularly the hotchkis set. Tires would be a big difference too, but the sway bars dont wear down like tires do

 

tires dont fix body roll either

 

Sways are best for body roll (strut ties do nothing for it). You can also help prevent it with springs, but to get the same effect as a sway, you will need super stiff springs, which is not good on the street. Get either the TRD rear or the hotchkis set.

 

i vote the TRD rear sway bar as well- i have it on my tC-- makes a big difference from stock feel

 

I get the Progress Rear Sway Bar...The TRD uses Stock Endlinks..Blahhh!.....
Progress one comes w/ Beefy Endlinks!! and another Inner hole setting...
My 2 cents

 

I have autox'd my tC at about 8 - 9 events so far and driven it about 10,000 miles with the TRD and stock endlinks.. there is no reason for beefy endlinks with the TRD sway. If you want beefy ones, you can get the parts to build a set from McMaster Carr or a similar hardware supplier for around $60 or so.

 

yea true that
hotckis is the only sway bars that need better endlinks
theyre just soo stiff

 

Thats what she said!...LMAO!!

 

I guess in this case I am guilty of thinking in autocross/track terms where time is the real measure of performance.

Sticky street tires won't help with bodyroll, but they will get you an 1.5-2 seconds on a 60 autocross course compaired to the OEM tires. The sway bar might get you .1-.3 seconds.

So if you are looking for the best overall performance increase for the money sticky tires are almost always a more noticeable change than swaybars.

As far as swaybars go I've got the TRD RSB and I love it.

I've used the Hotchkis FSB which had its +/-. On the + side it really helped on quick transistions (slaloms). The - side it exagerates the lifting of the inside front wheel coming out of turns making even harder for the tC to get power down for the straights.

The end result was the little bit of time I made up in the slalom was lost coming out of the turns.

A complete suspension package that is tuned correctly could minimize this downside. Unfortunatly I'm at the limit of what the class rules allow, so I took the Hotchkis FSB off and put the stock FSB back on.

 

Well, starting from stock, tires are absolutely the first big change to make. I ran a whole season on all season avons, and can tell you that the car is capable of much more than what I was getting out of it due to lack of grip. Next season will be run on azenis, which will tell a different tale I am sure. I think the TRD rear sway has done a good job for me on the course. Keeps body roll somewhat in check, but I dont have too much trouble keeping the front wheels planted, at least as well as can be expected on a front driver.

 

hey scion south,
so you had a hotchkis front and trd rear?
wouldnt that be inducing more understeer?

 

It had more understeer than running only the TRD RSB. However it was still a lot less understeer than stock sways all the way around. I've never had the TRD on anything but "track".

The car was pretty neutral on corner entry and mid corner in sweepers but the big FSB wouldn't let it put down much power on corner exit. The Hotchkis has 2 setting on the front bar I've tried both and still prefer the stock front bar with the TRD on the rear.

As it sits right now the car gets kind of sloppy in quick transistions (slaloms) but it recovers pretty well. It also does a much better job on corner exit which allows me to carry more speed on to the straights.

 

With the TRD rear on track setting and stock front sway, I agree it is fairly neutral for a front driver. It can get out from under you and spin out if you upset it too much on a slalom, but typically you can keep it in control with a little effort. On the longer corners, the tC will trail brake quite well if you do it right. You just have to learn to get on the brakes hard and quick and get back off of them quickly.