Rear Swaybar ---what should i expect?, stock swaybar being installed Options

[budman5201]

Hey guys just wanted some info. I have the front swaybar installed and i am installing the rear this weekend....What will my difference in handling be compared to running a front only swaybar? ( i am very used to swaying the back end out around corners and controlling it with my 252 hp subie.)

Just wondering the in the pants difference?
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[ClayPerrine]

Ok.. here is my input on this subject.


The suspension is a whole system. Changes you make to one part affect all of the other parts. What a sway bar does is provide roll stiffness without increasing spring rate.

If you are running stock springs and stock shocks, then having both the front and rear sway bars make sense. The car will corner fairly flat and will be stable. This is a description of my wife's 914.

If you increase the spring rate on the rear of the car to compensate for a bigger motor, you need to eliminate the rear bar. This is because you have increased the roll stiffness in the rear of the car with stiffer springs. If you leave the bar with the stiffer springs, the car will no longer be neutral handling.

If you add a limited slip or torque biasing differental, the car will again need a rear bar. The limited slip changes the turning dynamics, and the rear bar will help correct this.



The best thing to do is read... get a copy of a book called "How To Make Your Car Handle by Fred Phun". This book will teach you a buttload about how suspension systems work on cars, and how to tell what is wrong when you make changes.

I have two copies of it, and one has been read through so many times it is literally falling apart. But it is worth the cost, it can explain this stuff far better than I can.