Has anybody tried and recommend the Hotchkis rear sway bar with the stock front sway bar?

 

any upgraded rear sway bar is a big help, had the above setup, was decent, added springs, now even better.

 

thats what i have right now till i get the time to put the front one on. its better than before but will probaly be better w/ the front

 

i have just the rear too.. i love it. the only thing that's holding me back now is my tires (which are still stock.. )

 

With that stiff a rear bar in extreme situations you could have a bit more rotation from the rear of the car than you would want.

Put another way, I ran mine in the rear only for awhile, huge improvement over the stock rear bar, car handeled far better.

BUT, in the middle setting, pushing really hard through some tight and bumpy mountain roads the rear end snapped around rather abruptly a few times.

Not to worry if you are used to it and can automatically correct appropriately as you do not have time to think in such a situation. I have decades of experience but that does not mean you need that much bu tyou better have some;)

So, my recommendation , run the bar on the softest setting, when things get a bit extreme, back off a touch to your confort and knowledge level and enjoy.

(If you have really sticky wide tires your car will be faster than is reasonably safe on public roads anyway, start autocrossing)

Rick

 

what kind of improvement would i see with stock tires and suspension and no mods with this installed?

 

I am looking for something that will definitely help swing my rear around. Currently I have Tein SS-p and the car still pushes a lot. I'm trying to balance it out with a fairly aggressive rear sway bar. I'm considering the Progress rear sway bar and the Hotchkis. I'm just concerned the Hotchkis may be too aggressive alone without the accompanying front sway bar. In light of the feedback, do you know anyone who sells just the rear Hotchkis bar?

On a side note, has anybody heard of too aggressive sway bars tearing apart the subframe? And does this Hotchkis bar run the slightest risk of that?

 

ohh.. you'll notice the difference the instant you go into a turn knowing you can go faster

 

^^ 1 up. I just got my springs and rear sway bar installed. Let me tell you, the moment I drove around a corner like it was stock suspension, OH MAN was I amazed at the fact I wanted to (and could!) go faster. I tried to stay relax'd but I couldn't help the fact I wanted to hit the twisties, so i went to the twisties.

OK maybe the springs help'd on the ride but still, I'm pretty sure the rear swaybar contributed as much (if not more) as the springs did.
Happy Tuning!

 

someone please comment. i never thought or heard of that happening.

 

Never heard of it... But I use to beat the crap out of the suspension racing and just having fun.

Let it be known I do not condon aggresive driving...

Nothing but bad comes out of it... Believe me I know... to many stories...

 

If all you're lloking for is the rear then why not go with the TRD? It's made by hotchkis. Just a thought.

 

uhh.. i don't think the TRD sway bar is made by hotchki's.... it think it's more the strut bar.

the TRD's sway bar is much more similar to Progress's

 

What is the difference in stiffness between the trd and the hotchkis?

 

There is a huge difference between the TRD and the Hotchkis setup. TRD is sporty, Hotchkis is completely flat. I would recommend everyone swing by my review of the two here... https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=95887

Also, if you have any questions about either just let me know. I can go into more detail if need be, since I have now been on my current setup for about 6 months.

Lastly, raam is spot on. I personally can not recommend the Hotchkis in the rear only.... maybe if set to 1 but I would still be leary. It could easily pop around on you since it is so much stiffer then the front.

My opinion is buy both, install both, be happy.

 

Ive run both the Hotchkis rear only with stock front bar and hotchkis front and rear bar on track within 2 weeks of each other. When I had the Hotchkis rear only I ran it on the softest setting and had the slightest amount of oversteer when pushed hard. With front and rear Hotchkis bars, I ran the front bar soft and the rear bar stiff and got quite a bit more oversteer but it was very controllable and came on slowly. Being that I am on TRD shock and springs, my suspension isnt all that stiff and I have very sticky tires which help to control the car. On stiffer springs and lesser tires, I can see how snap oversteer with that setup could be a possibility. Either way, the Hotchkis rear only bar on the softest setting is a huge improvement over the TRD bar which I have also used in the past. The car stays much flatter and has better turn in which IMO opinion makes the Hotchkis setup in and combination the best.

 

The TRD rear sway bar IS made by Hotchkis. That wasn't a best guess. That's why Hotchkis only sells theirs as a set.

The full Hotchkis set up is definitely the better route to go. But if you're not going to install the front sway why spend the money? The advantage the Hotchkis sway has is the 3 levels of adjustment instead of only 2 like the TRD. Unless you're planning on doing auto-X you'll be perfectly fine with the TRD sway.

 

The reason why I wouldn't go with the TRD rear is because it isn't very aggressive. As I explained earlier, I would like something fairly aggressive in the rear the compensate for the major understeer I am getting. It seems as if a lot of people who really drive their cars hard come to the conclusion that the trd rear sway bar isn't aggressive enough for their style of driving.

% stiffer over stock
----------
Hotchkis (27mm hollow w/ polyurethane bushings) - 273% / 304% / 338%

TRD (22mm solid w/ stock bushings) - 39% / 64%

Progress (22 mm solid w/ polyurethane bushings) - 120% / 150% / 180% <- Estimated number by Progress

Just by the numbers, we can see that the Hotchkis rear and the TRD rear are different bars. It's besides the fact who TRD OEM's, their bar is a lot less aggressive. Let's not argue about that.

Now can anybody give advice on Hotchkis rear only vs. Progress rear. As you can see I'm really opposed to doing the front sway bar if possible.

 

Set your rear camber as close to straight up as you can, that will help alot with the understeer as well;)

Rick

 

Well as you put it just by the numbers the hotchkiss is way stiffer then the progress, so if you are only going to do the front the progress seems to be a happy medium. The stiffest setting on the progress is still softer then the softest setting on the hotchkis.