I'm looking for parts to stiffen my handling, like thicker rear sway bars, upper and lower, front ones etc. I'm not ready to lower it yet, or get springs or coil overs, but I wanna do whatever else I can 1st. Help a brotha out?
There are quite a few options as far as sway bars, end links, bushings, braces and strut bars that will definitely stiffen your ride up. People will have differing opinions based on what they have installed. Best bet is to call one of the vendors that participates in road racing, time attack or SCCA. They will have a vast knowledge of a lot of products and what they can or cannot do for you. Suspension geometry and parts are very crucial to a good handling car. You can't just throw "Brand X" on it and expect it to be better.
They are great for answering questions. Tell them what kind of driving you do and what you'd like to gain out of your car and they will recommend parts. Sometimes they'll even suggest parts they don't sell (integrity there!)
I wouldn't recommend just tossing on periphery suspension mods like that. They don't help the car by just randomly tossing them on. In fact, I have none of the mods you mentioned on my car, and I compete at a very high level in both road racing and autocross. It's all in the dampers and spring rates as well as the alignment and corner balancing. Many people make the mistake of cheaping out by adding some $100-200 braces here and there, but it's just a waste of money. Those parts should only be added in conjunction with a set of properly configured coilovers as supplemental mods, not as primary mods.
That's how I look at it anyway, as does AMS' professional driver. I do believe that AMS has been developing some small things recently that they are testing on the track and determining their benefit on stock cars, so you might be able to get that info if they have released those parts.
Right. For one, we already have a front strut tower bar, so unless you want to save a little weight or go for bling factor, it doesn't need to be touched. In the rear, we don't have normal struts (we have inverted struts), so a tower bar is not useful. People like to think the braces help, but they are mainly for being able to say, "Yeah, I have Cusco V2 braces." I guess it sounds cool. Not saying they don't provide some level of increased rigidity, but it's nothing compared to doing real suspension mods that truly improve the handling dynamics of the car.
If you want to make your Evo handle a little better without the sacrifice of a stiffer/lower ride, sway bars are what you need.
They make adjustable sway bars and varying sizes.
I completely agree with Warr, the strut braces will do nothing good for you, unless of course you want the bling factor.
I don't agree with sway bars either, but a rear sway DOES give the illusion of improved handling by reducing grip in the rear (induced oversteer). Again, there's a reason why my setup does not include a sway bar. It does alter the dynamics of the car but not necessarily in the proper way. I think you can get some good street coilovers without spending much and without making the ride harsh while gaining a lot of performance.
While agree that he shouldn't just be throwing on parts just to be throwing one parts, I do disagree that rear sway bars "give the illusion of improved handling." Sway bars are a compromise solution for softer springs or as I like to refer to it, a crutch for spring rates that are too soft. I run a 27 mm rear sway bar because I really don't want to run 800 lb springs on a DD.
Anyway, since you have an '06, a good street coilover setup will accomplish what you're after.
a bar is part of a system
there are two major systems to suspension tune an evo/car.
1,stiff springs with a light bar
2,soft springs with a big bar
1a and 2a, medium springs and a medium bar
then there is 1(a), 2(a) subset1 which would be a particular shock setting which would be relative to 1 or 2.
so to say coilovers and a bar is to shot into the sky and hope the bullit doesn't hit anyone.
you need to take aim, in this case get some one to direct you with suspension plan.
it doesn't have to be the big names (in the evo community) like mueller robi or vishnu/olins, almost any suspension professional with any understanding of a evo can help you.
or get a ride in some evos and see what you like.
While agree that he shouldn't just be throwing on parts just to be throwing one parts, I do disagree that rear sway bars "give the illusion of improved handling." Sway bars are a compromise solution for softer springs or as I like to refer to it, a crutch for spring rates that are too soft. I run a 27 mm rear sway bar because I really don't want to run 800 lb springs on a DD.
Anyway, since you have an '06, a good street coilover setup will accomplish what you're after.
Russ, no, I agree with what you said. I was referring to putting on a rear sway by itself with nothing else. In your case, as you said, it's a crutch to make up for the softer springs. Many people agree with you and do not want 800lb springs on their daily driver like what I have. However, even the base setup for my Chronohunter package comes with 450lb/550lb springs and still has no rear sway upgrade. Food for thought...
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Stiffen The Car Up Parts Help?
