Has anyone with installed Hotchkis Sway bars had any problems with oversteer or understeer on their tC?

And someone told me that Hotchkis Sway bars are not recommended for Autocrossing... Can someone with experience in autocross or with more info on hotchkis sway's help me out. The search didnt really do much. Thanks.

 

If you stiffen the rear only, you increase oversteer (not a bad thing in a car that understeers to start with). If you stiffen the front only you increase understeer. So it is a balancing act. If you run the hotchkis rear, then I reccomend the front just going from the percentage of increase in stiffness with the Hotchkis.

I have never heard of anyone having trouble auto-xing with the hotchkis setup. I have the TRD rear, and it is perfect for balancing out with the stock front sway if set on race all the time.

So I cant say anything about the Hotchkis set from experience, but I havent heard anything bad about them handling wise.

 

any sway bar setup will drastically change the car's handling..

in upgrading to a stiffer setup.. the difference is amazing. installing a stiffer rear sway bar will cause the car's balance from it's stock tendency to understeer, to oversteer.. along with reducing roll...

having both the front and back of the hotchki's will be fine, and would do well on the track or auto-x...

through from my experience and other friend's recommendations... a rear sway bar is good enough, and for the most part better to just have a nice rear sway bar (progress being my current suggestion to people looking to get a good sway bar, and it comes with new endlinks) than worrying about both sway bars in the hotchki's set.

i have hotchki's personally.. and have had no issues.

 

We must have literally click "submit" at the same time Squall

 

yeah.. i probably started typing a little before you though.. i had to think alittle to write out the post..

 

Thanks guys, I was going to purchase them and mentioned it to someone who said... "I've heard that they cause alot of oversteer and/or understeer and are not recommended for auto-x. But then again, it's what he heard, and the person he heard it from probably didn't have them setup properly...

So you guys are saying that I should just get a rear sway bar in the mean time and see how I like it? Then maybe upgrade to a front sway bar?

 

well.. most companies don't make a front sway bar for a reason..

that should give you an idea

 

If you go with the current rear only options (TRD, Progress) then it balances the car out nicely. If you went stiffer in the rear, you will want stiffer up front to keep it balanced (like the hotchkis). But, on rougher city streets or highways, you will lose handling in the bumpier corners due to the reduction in suspension independence if you get too stiff. So as always, it is a give and take sorta thing. So if you drive it all the time on city streets, I would go with a rear that is not overly stiff.

 

^Noted... thanks alot. And thanks to you too Trung. I'll repost when I adjust it wrong and get some input again.