Re: Sways Bars....Not good? (longish)

[douglas.carter@platinum.com]

>> Basically he pointed out that the only advantage of sway bars is that
turn in response is better.  As far as handling is concerned they make it
worse because the bars transfer more weight to the outside wheels in turns.

WRONG!! NOT TRUE. I'm sure there will be many that back this up, but there
is nothing true about this statement. Well, I take that back. The addition
of a rear swaybar will, indeed make the turn-in response better. However,
this is not the only advantage.

A swaybar works because it is transferring corner weight to the OPPOSITE
tire, thereby spreading the cornering forces over both front or rear tires,
and increasing a balance in adhesion. If you were to jack the car off of
the ground with all of the shocks removed and physically moved one tire up
and down, with the swaybar attached, the opposite wheel would also move up
and down (opposite) at the same time, albeit at a slower rate (because it
is essentially a torsion spring).  Imagine this happening through a corner,
and you would see that the INSIDE wheel would be getting "heavier", meaning
it is transferring the added weight from the opposite side.

Swaybars will invariably "flatten" out your cornering.

As with all "modifications" that you can add, there are trade-offs. Usually
weight, ride quality, expense and installation make up the trade-offs for
swaybars, not to mention that the addition of bars will yank you out of the
stock class at the autocross.

Our cars can definitely benefit from the addition of swaybars, especially a
larger rear, which will remove much of the front-drive push we're all
familiar with.


Hope this helps,
Doug

doug@vwvortex.com