what do the sway bars links do?

 

replace the stock, weaker, heavier, poorly designed ones. correct me if im wrong but i think it also allows your to dial in ur suspension more.

 

the sway bar link arms secure the sway bar to the wheel hub assembly. personally, i don't think the upgraded arms really do anything noticeable. the forces acting on those link arms are fairly linear, meaning they're either in tension (pulled) or compression (smushed) depending on which way the car is trying to lean. the abs plastic the oem arms are made of doesn't stretch or compress. i think the MUCH bigger issue is the weak mounting brackets for the rear sway bar. the truss supports that come with the neuspeed kit make it obvious where the weak link is, and it's not the link arms. plus, fyi ... the link arms aren't adjustable. where you mount the link arm to the sway bar is what creates the "adjustable" nature of the sway bar.

 

I have the H+R Adj sway bars and I've had the rear installed for a while now and loved it. This past week I installed the front and got new 18" wheels with Goodyear F1 GS-D3's and the car feels like its on rails; almost like it's planted on the ground. With the front sway bar on the handling is much better and steering control is more responsive. I'm very happy with my sway bars, but I have heard great things about H-sport's sway bars as well. I'd go with either one of those, or you could just get the rear bar as that is severely undersized and flimsy IMO. HTH's...

JB

 

so do u think teh front is worth teh extra money? Do u still have the oversteer if u have teh front?

 

Yeah, you can still oversteer. Just not as easily, but its worth it to get both front and rear sways.

Steve

 

if you want ultimate performance you really want the car to be neutral, no oversteer or understeer. just for fun i like to error on the side of setting the car up with a bit of oversteer. the reality is ... in my case, i've moved the "weak link" to my tires. the car stays nice and flat and my tires are the limiting factor in terms of grip right now. imo bigger bars would only make the car stiffer and make the tire problem worse.

so in this case i'm not sure size truly matters ... it's more about proper balance of front and rear turning forces.

 

on a sclae of one to ten what is teh overall performanc eincrease with front and rear? What about only rear? Ten being a amzing and 1 no difference.

 

The most important consideration is the driving environment. If you live in an area that the roads are smooth and dry most of the time then a stiff setup will be best. However, bumps change things alot. The stiffer your bars, the less independant articulation you have left side to right. Bumps in the corners require more compliance in the suspension to keep each wheel as evenly loaded as possible. The car will feel flatter but loose grip at a lower speed in bumpy corners. Wet conditions want softer settings as well. Remember for every gain you must sacrifice elsewhere. Bigger, stiffer, lower, wider, faster, brighter, louder... Opinions mean very little without road conditions and driving habits as a backdrop. Last Sunday drove a 4 mile run against a B5, 1.8T, 8K in mods. River road, tight, bumpy, some minor debrie. Kicked his *** by almost a minute. My car, stock B5, 2.8, old tires. He took his mods too far. (Don't get me wrong, stock sucks)

 

i live in so cal so they are usually dry and we have good roads. However i liek teh fact that whne it does rain its not bad.