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BA - Seeking Advice on Sway/Stabilizer Bar 

 

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 Post subject: BA - Seeking Advice on Sway/Stabilizer Bar
Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 10:50 am 
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I have a BA XR8, and am looking to stiffen up the front a bit to stop my nose diving so much around corners.

It's a daily driver, so I'm not after track-stiffness. It's really just about dialling out the dive on roundabouts and on country drives.

What size bar is fitted to the front of the BA MkI? Were they changed in later models?

I'm looking at the Whiteline options. Should I be looking at a 27 or 30mm bar, and is there any real benefit to getting an adjustable bar?

http://www.whitelineautomotive.com/Othe ... con_BA.pdf


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Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 11:42 am 
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IMHO, the sway bar is to stop the car leaning too much as you round a corner. I suspect you require stiffer springs, or a set of 90/10 shocks for the front. Changing only one sway bar can also unbalance the car.

 

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Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 12:32 pm 
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as above. swaybars will suppress the body roll. but if the problem is with dive (ie: whole front down) then you heed to look at springs.

whiteline swaybars are very good. i have them in my ef and would recommend them to anyone.

90/10 shocks are really for drag racing though, i've heard that they are quite unstable when trying to turn

 

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Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 12:44 pm 
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Shockers are available in all sorts of configurations, I just used 90/10 as an example, but well valved shocks will stop dive.

 

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Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 1:19 pm 
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Okay, I've obviously mixed terms then. It's the leaning I'm trying to reduce.

A little reading has me thinking the Whiteline 27mm adjustable is the way to go for my car.


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Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 2:11 pm 
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do it!! you wont regret getting them.

something else to think about too,
if you tighten just the front up - the car will tend to understeer a bit more
if you tighten just the back up - the car will tend to oversteer more.

the best way to keep it balanced is to do both. they arent that expensive so its worth doing ;)

 

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Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 11:16 pm 
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There are some threads about it over on AFF. Those guys appear to value the 27 or 30mm whitelines on the front - although there is admittedly some debate as to which to use on a V8. But almost unanimously they are talking down any rear changes due to the negative effect it has on their lap times.


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Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 11:25 am 
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oh okay, fair enough then.

 

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Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 12:52 pm 
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I would only give so much weight to track feedback for road driving. Cars can display different characteristics at different speeds and driving styles, both of which are typically different track versus road.

 

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Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 10:36 am 
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27mm whiteline front adjustable now installed in BA XR8 on the soft setting.

Wow, what a difference! I'm a convert now for sure!


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Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 1:33 pm 
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It would be interesting to swap the original back on the front and put a stiffer one on the rear, and see what you think of that. Since body roll is always the same at the front and back, the only difference would be the grip balance between the front and rear. But you would need to know how to handle oversteer if it happenned. I'm not disagreeing with your decision, a shift towards the understeer end of the spectrum may be a good thing for many drivers going round roundabouts etc.

Also good to know is that swaybars control how far the car leans, and shocks control how quickly it gets there. Due to the quick transition of roundabouts, good shocks, specifically shocks with strong low piston speed damping, make a big difference to handling.

 

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Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 2:04 pm 
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Well, I've driven a few 6's in my time, and I know that my 8 always had significant roll in the front in comparison. Stiffening the front has given me significant mid-corner improvement, and while at first I was of the opinion that I a bit more understeer, I've since changed my thoughts on that since my mid corner speed is now much higher without feeeling like I've got to put the boot in mid corner to transfer more weight to the rear via the slow in fast out approach.

Now I can enter corners quicker with more confidence and don't feel the need to have to transfer as much weight to the rear mid corner. It means I can brake later and carry more speed going in and still maintain a similar exit speed.


Also, to me, it just feels better.


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Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 2:31 pm 
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what was the price for the sway bars and how hard are they to fit? ive noticed my ba seems to roll side to side like a boat on high seas when im going round corners. having it lowered has settled that down a little, but if sway bars help aswell then it cant hurt to do that too.
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Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 2:31 pm 
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^^^^ and at the end of the day that is all that matters
Brett

 

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Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 3:06 pm 
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Lukeyson wrote:
Well, I've driven a few 6's in my time, and I know that my 8 always had significant roll in the front in comparison.

If the car rolls more in the front it also rolls more in the back. The only way the car can roll more in the front than the back is for the body to articulate, i.e. for the body to deform and twist. It does in fact do that, but not much, and that's not what you're sensing.

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Stiffening the front has given me significant mid-corner improvement, and while at first I was of the opinion that I a bit more understeer, I've since changed my thoughts on that since my mid corner speed is now much higher without feeeling like I've got to put the boot in mid corner to transfer more weight to the rear via the slow in fast out approach.

Now I can enter corners quicker with more confidence and don't feel the need to have to transfer as much weight to the rear mid corner. It means I can brake later and carry more speed going in and still maintain a similar exit speed.


Also, to me, it just feels better.

It seems you like less body roll plus a more constant speed through corners. That's understandable for road driving, it gives better comfort and economy than a racing style. A stiffer rear bar instead of front may still have given that.

In racing, you would want a faster entry and exit speed. In racing, slow in fast out is good, faster in and even faster out is better. In your case you've reduced body roll, yet are exiting at the same speed.

On a constant turn, a stiffer front swaybar will shift the handling towards the understeer end of the spectrum, and a stiffer rear bar will shift the handling towards the oversteer end of the spectrum. Driving straight through a roundabout with only the swerve factor, is a complex scenario.

 

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