Which sway bars are better? Hotchki's? or Progress?
And would having a front sway bar make a big difference?
Would I have to worry about hitting curbs when parking and scraping the bottom of the bumper if drop the car 1.25" with TRD springs? What about Hotchki springs (1.7" drop)?
Thanks

 

I have progress springs and there sway bar, and let me tell you I love progress product. They also have awesome customer service. The sway bar is stout. Its a must have. GO PROGRESS TECH!!!!!!!!

 

I have hotchkis drop and it is beautiful....no worries of rubbing and i have 18inch wheels plus no scrapping so far...if you have the lip kit you might be closer to scrapping but i have no worries driving..just take it easy on the bumps....
also i have the sways waiting to be put on and i have heard great things about hotchkis. Any upgrade to the sway will make a major difference becuase our stock sways are crap!!!

 

i might be an idiot, but isn't the hotchkiss sway bars front and rear, and the progress is just rear?

 

Does having a front strut bar help alot?

 

Hotchkis makes the following:
Front upper strut bar
Front Sway bar
Rear Sway bar
Lowering springs

Progress makes the folllowing:
Rear sway bar
lowering springs
Full coilover kit

The FULL Hotchkis setup vs. just the progress springs and rear bar will be close, with the edge to Hotchkis. Progress tuned their rear bar to work with their stock front, so do not under estimate it.

The full coilover system from Progress is currently one of the best systems available for the tC, especially for race use.

As for the bars, Hotchkis is more, because you have two bars, Progress is less, but with only the rear.

 

Does anyone race a tC other than autocross for fun? It's hard to imagine it being competitive with so many better starting points available. When racing motorcycles I learned the hard way: buy the fastest thing in the class, THEN modifiy it. If you don't you're just constantly playing catch up to stay even with other stock machines. It's a real uphill battle that way.

 

well i have TRD springs, so i want what will be best with those springs for Autocrossing cause that's what i wanna build my car towards. So i imagine that the hotchkiss would provide a stiffer chassis therefore a little more traction than the progress could offer. am i wrong?

 

Honestly from what I've learned you do not want it too stiff for low speed racing like auto cross. I remember some guys even removing a bar to help get a little less snap out of the car for low speed transitions.

 

well thanks Joe, but now i dont know what to do. Can anyone throw an answer out there?? AutoX, what's the best setup??

 

I'm not trying to confuse you, but it'd like to point this out...

I really comes down to driving style and personal preference. Have you auto crossed yet? If not, try it stock. Then see if you think the front is spongy or just right. Then see if you think the back is quick enough to transition to the oposite direction, the "snap" factor. You may like stock a lot, you may want the back to kick out a little while you have a smooth transition up front, or you may like the instant switch from left to right, relying on the driver to not over-do it and stay smooth.

Try stock first, then do what you think you'll need.

 

Well me and my friends went to this vocational school parking lot/heaven which is where they hold AutoX races normally, a swapped 5th gen civic hatch, a GTI, and my car with just the springs, and the results: It seems like the front end is really soft because when I would take turns fast the front end would just start sliding and not grip well at all. Now i know that this is 1; because of the stock tires, but 2; there is soo much body roll that both tires arn't gripping at all. So there is work to be done. By the way, his GTI did much better, but he got to the point of sliding too, and the civic with coil overs, sway bars, out performed both of us, he barely had any body roll and not much squeeling from the tires. So I guess the hotchkiss bars might be my choice just because the front end needs some stiffening.

 

Never heard of any complaints about the progress bar. Helped me alot. I think my setup would be perfect with nice dampers and better tires. The Hotch bars seem to move around on some people and rub. Maybe a bad install?

 

dont be fooled

more isnt always better

i've sat in both cars


HOTCHKIS sway and PROGRESS sway.

the hotchkis (rear only) provides a flat ride. and the its stiff. as if there is car feedback.
the hotchkis sway kit (Front and rear) is produces a lil understeer. but its not bodyroll understeer. its because of TO MUCH STIFFNESS understeer.

i have the progress sway set on the stiffest i can be and its smooth, very responsive, made my ride quality 5x better.


i really thing both have there pro's and cons but i highly suggest getting the progress sways and matching them up with a good spring/strut or coilover kit. IMO (tats my setup goal)



https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=80266

my review on the progress sway bar

 

Well like i've said, i have the TRD springs already, so that's what Im matching to. I dont necessarily want the best ride quality, I just want what will best compliment my springs for AutoX use. I've read nothing but good things about the progress sway, and mixed comments about the hotchkiss, so it's a close one, Its just hard to decide what will be better for the TRD springs.

 

It seems like the best option is to get only progress rear sways (due to hotchkis' front swar causing too much understeer and stiffness)... Whats the overall verdict?

 

the verdict is false. hotchkis sways have 2 adjustment points in the front and 3 in the back for different results. with my current setup i actually can induce quite a bit of oversteer if i wanted to. but right now its very neutral, and i can adjust the balance minutely with air pressures and strut valving. i dont have personal experience with the progress bar, but the hotchkis bars do exactly what you need them to do.

as for AutoX, my car is actually pretty competative in its class (STS). and i attribute alot to the setup. tein ss-p coils with EDFC, hotchkis rear and front sways, kumho ecsta mx tires with about 1 1/2 degrees of camber front and back. you dont need a setup this complicated but adjustability is whats gunna help you most in AutoX.

 

What adjustments do you set it on to induce a bit of oversteer?

What adjustments do u have it now, hotchkis setting, coilover dampening, tire pressure and camber angle?

I'm asking because i have the same set up as you and would like to hear feedback.

About Hotchkis vs Progress, both will do what they are suppose to. If you just want reduced body roll, go with progress. Its also a lot easier to install. Think about if you really need the front sway bar with what you will be using your car to do. I dont have rubbing or noise issues with the Hotchkis bar. They were installed properly and properly lubed.

I had only the rear bar on set on the stiffest for a while. Low speed cornering felt great (<50mph) Higher speed corner felt like the rear can snap out if u jerked the wheel hard. Now with both bars on, set to stiffest, i get slight understeer which doesn't feel so good at low speeds but IMO is desirable at higher speeds. I will set the front bar softer and see how that works out.

 

my front bar is on the softest setting and the rear is in the middle. you should back yours off...i bet its real twitchy at the limit. with the struts i almost always set the front at the hardest and the rear a couple clicks softer than the front (usually 2 or 3). that helps give me a small ammount of understeer for predictability but still allows the rear end to follow me through if i play with the throttle. as for tire pressures the front ill usually set to 40 psi and the rear anywhere from 35-40 psi depending on how i want the rear end to react. and i had the front and rear camber set to about 1 1/2 degrees to help in cornering but not so much that it eats my tires up on the insides.
hope that helps, im still experimenting everytime i run the cones. adjustability is a beautiful thing. :D

 

wow, i envy you're setup but unfortunantly I cant afford it cause that money's for the turbo fund. But Im still not sure which to go with. oh the decision......