Ok I have read some of the faqs around here, and they all say that adding front and rear sway bars of the same size (say 26 mm), they cancel each other out (understeer and oversteer). Now my question is does this mean you have stock handling or does it mean you have better handling with no under or oversteer ?
I want to have the most neutral handling possible. Keep in mind that when I do buy those sway bars I will also get front and rear strut tower braces, plus koni yellows and eibach pro-kit springs.
With all of that, I would say you have an EXCELLENT suspension. Its going to be close to neutral.
They don't really cancel out eachother, they just control the same amount of bodyroll on each side. Two 26mm bars are better than two 18mm bars if you catch my drift.
Car dynamics
When you brake or let off the throttle weight transfers to the front of the car. This increases the size of your tires' contact patches in front and lessens them in back. This means you have more traction in front than in back. So your steering feels great, but the rear end is more likely to lose traction.
When you accelerate weight transfers to the back. This decreases the traction of the front tires making the car less responsive to steering inputs. You have extra traction in back.
Going around a corner transfers weight to the outside tires. So going around a corner while braking transfers most of the weight to the outside front tire.
You only have "x" amount of adhesion from your tires. How much do you need for turning, how much for braking or accelerating? Plan ahead for what you require from your tires!
Understeer (push) - The car under performs to your steering inputs. The front tires are skidding; they've passed their limit of adhesion. The front tires can't respond to your inputs. The car wants to continue to go straight
Oversteer (loose) - The car over performs to your steering inputs. The rear tires are skidding. The back end wants to come around.
Or as Nascar driver "Fireball" Roberts once said "Understeer is hitting the wall with the front of your car. Oversteer is hitting it with the rear."
Most cars are built to understeer at their limits. Sliding in a straight line is preferable to spinning and the natural reaction to a situation like this is to get off the gas. This transfers weight to the front giving those tires more traction and reducing the understeer.
Neutral handling or "drifting" - This is when all four tires will lose traction at the same time so the car drifts instead of plowing straight ahead (understeer) or spinning (oversteer). This is the ideal situation for the race track. Some cars are easier to set up than others. Car like the mid-engined Porsche Boxster or Toyota MR2 or an RX-7 (front engine, but it's behind the front wheels) are easier to set up for neutral steering as opposed to a Mustang or a FWD car.
you gotta be ready for the drift. and ou have to account for the weight in the front of the car as well.
^^^^ thanks but doesn't answer my question. I'd like a couple of peeps to approve what Zach said so I get more opinions.
IMO, adding the front/rear sway bar do not cancel each other out. Why... because our cars do not come with a factory rear sway bar to begin with. Adding a rear sway bar alone will help stiffen the chassis and decrease understeer making the car more neutral in handling. The bigger front bar will help stiffen the chassis plus make steering inputs more precise. All four corners of the car will have more "bite" since the stiffer bars are basically planting the tires more effectively. The two together on a J-Body are a very nice touch as long as you have the right spring and shock package to tie it all together.
<img src="http://www.j-body.org/registry/amarkham/bomexcavi6sig.jpg">
I think what he is asking is if you should put the same size bars on the front and the back, or if you should put two different sizes on there, such as 26mm rear and 18 mm front, or vice versa.
I don't know, or I'd answer your question for you.
