Set up of adjustable sway bar

[Mr Cali]

Hi,

Just ordered a rear Whiteline adjustable sway bar and should be getting it tomorrow.
Looking to install it this weekend and was wondering how others have set theirs. I'll be using it for street use only and enjoy the very odd fang around the twisties, I'm also running stock suspension atm but will be upgrading to coilovers in the near future.

The rear sway bar only has 2 adjustment points , What are the pros and cons of each setting

Just so you have a visual of what I'm talking about here are a couple of pics.

[teK--]

Hole on the right is stiffer than the hole on the left. Stiffer bar means more anti-roll effect. The effective difference is about 1mm change of bar diameter.

[Mr Cali]

Tek, which one would you recommend for street set up?

[teK--]

Tek, which one would you recommend for street set up?

If you're driving street only, putting around daily driver then set it on soft. If you like driving hard or track your car then set it on hard.

[tangcla]

I'm curious to know as well - what are the disadvantages of leaving it on the hard setting as a daily car?

I think this is what I have mine set on, though I don't really remember

[teK--]

I'm curious to know as well - what are the disadvantages of leaving it on the hard setting as a daily car?

I think this is what I have mine set on, though I don't really remember

Not much it's really from a comfort aspect. Having it on hard setting means the rear wheels compress less independently, so when you hit potholes or bumps etc it is easier to unsettle the car.

[Kevlar GT]

I'm curious to know as well - what are the disadvantages of leaving it on the hard setting as a daily car?

I think this is what I have mine set on, though I don't really remember

None really, just depends on how you like the feel of it. I figured it was a pain in the rear to put on so I just hit the hardest setting first as well, stuff getting under the car a 2nd time for it!

[Mr Cali]

Thanks for the info guys, I might set it as soft for now.

[Sheik Jabooti]

I recently installed a rear whiteline adjustable on my MY07 GT Wagon. Set it to hard and have been having a great time ever since.

My angle on setting it to hard was a totally uneducated opinion based on the idea that the back of the wagon is a lot less braced than a sedan so should be set to as hard as possible.

Prior to the wagon I had a SpecB sedan and it has made the wagon handle more like the Bilsteins without the high cost and kidney jarring ride.

Loved it so much I've got a father's day order in for a front swaybar

Either hard or soft it will handle like a completely different car. Wish I had of done it ages ago!

[tangcla]

None really, just depends on how you like the feel of it. I figured it was a pain in the rear to put on so I just hit the hardest setting first as well, stuff getting under the car a 2nd time for it!

That's what I did

[teK--]

I recently installed a rear whiteline adjustable on my MY07 GT Wagon. Set it to hard and have been having a great time ever since.

My angle on setting it to hard was a totally uneducated opinion based on the idea that the back of the wagon is a lot less braced than a sedan so should be set to as hard as possible.

Prior to the wagon I had a SpecB sedan and it has made the wagon handle more like the Bilsteins without the high cost and kidney jarring ride.

Loved it so much I've got a father's day order in for a front swaybar

Either hard or soft it will handle like a completely different car. Wish I had of done it ages ago!

You'll find that upgrading the front bar as well will change the handling bias back to understeer-dominant.

This is why I have only upgraded my rear and not the front.

[Sheik Jabooti]

You'll find that upgrading the front bar as well will change the handling bias back to understeer-dominant.
This is why I have only upgraded my rear and not the front.

mmm...I really do hate understeer. Though I guess it should be even flatter in the corners with both sway bars fitted? Remember this is a plain GT so I'm relying on the body rigidity to give me flatness rather than hard shocks/springs.

So if i don't get a front sway bar for the GT wagon, for $250 what else should I buy?

[GTB Liberty]

I recently installed a rear whiteline adjustable on my MY07 GT Wagon. Set it to hard and have been having a great time ever since.

My angle on setting it to hard was a totally uneducated opinion based on the idea that the back of the wagon is a lot less braced than a sedan so should be set to as hard as possible.

Prior to the wagon I had a SpecB sedan and it has made the wagon handle more like the Bilsteins without the high cost and kidney jarring ride.

Loved it so much I've got a father's day order in for a front swaybar

Either hard or soft it will handle like a completely different car. Wish I had of done it ages ago!

You'll find that upgrading the front bar as well will change the handling bias back to understeer-dominant.

This is why I have only upgraded my rear and not the front.

My Whiteline bars are soft-front and hard-rear and fine the handling quite neutral. I didn't want tail happy so . . .

[teK--]

Yes it will sit flatter but if you can imagine forcing the car not to roll as much at the front will have a tendency to cause the front to drift sideways which = understeer.

The trick is to stop the car wanting to roll in the first place.

If your goal is to reduce understeer for that budget then get a good wheel alignment and increase front negative camber, lower your front tyre pressure and/or increase rear tyre pressure.

[Sheik Jabooti]

Yes it will sit flatter but if you can imagine forcing the car not to roll as much at the front will have a tendency to cause the front to drift sideways which = understeer.

The trick is to stop the car wanting to roll in the first place.

If your goal is to reduce understeer for that budget then get a good wheel alignment and increase front negative camber, lower your front tyre pressure and/or increase rear tyre pressure.

Cool...thanks Tek...that's all makes perfect sense.