QUOTE(Cracker @ May 1 2012, 06:03 AM)
Rear Sway Bar
Need the pros & cons, options and what YOU have actually used. Basically, I have found that there is only the small factory assembly and the Weltmiester system available. I spoke with Ira at Tarret Eng. yesterday but the few prototypes he built years ago are all gone.
Goal
I'm running 315/35/17 rears, a LSD and 300 lbs rear springs. I still have way too much rear body roll than I want. I've tightened up the front sway bar and removed rear camber and that has helped but feel I need a rear bar help beyond that with the body roll out back.
Your thoughts & options?
Hey Cracker,
I'm in the middle of resolving this same issue currently with my car! I'm running a Chevy V8 with a 930 trans & quaide TORSEN Diff, 400 lb springs with 11" rims and the same size rear tires. I just bought a new set of Goodyear slicks.
My question is what is your car doing currently?
I fought HUGE understeer for a long time until I stiffened the rear springs enough the get the rear-end to "move" so I could tell what it was doing. Then came the issue of trying to balance out the understeer/oversteer to a mild understeer.
In working at balance the understeer, I built a rear bar that was contributing 98 lbs per inch of WHEEL RATE (not the swaybar rate, but what the wheel sees). I can tell you that the car was VERY unstable applying power while coming off corners.
With the help of AndyS, I have come to understand that high roll-stiffness from a swaybar is a very sensitive issue with 914s due to the inherent LOW POLAR MOMENT OF INERTIA (i.e. all the weight in in the middle of the car and it rotates easily)
I have since completely rebuilt a new rear bar and am starting out at 60 lbs/in WHEEL RATE. I won't know for sure what the final setting will be until this Saturday when I'll be out at Willow Springs Raceway. As a preview this week, I drove the car on the street in wet conditions and found it CONTROLLABLE! Instead of the vicious snap-spin behavior, I was actually able to get the rear lose and catch it with simple steering corrections. I'm pretty sure I'm going the right direction.
I hope this helps you! My only caveat is that all my springs rates will me higher than a 911 or 411 engined 914.
Best of luck,
Terry