fortmyerspolice

iTrader: (7)

I can't friggin decide, should I get the bars or sell my UMI PH bar and put it towards a watts link? What would you guys do? Car is my 100% DD. Mods are in the sig btw. Have no plans of drag racing at the track.

BTW I have horrible understeer right now, and I'd figured the bars would fix it.

2002_Z28_Six_Speed

iTrader: (19)

I would be lead to say the watts link would show a bigger result and as well give you more notoriety on the street.

JScamaro

iTrader: (6)

I'd keep the UMI panhard bar and get the sway bars. It's an area that you haven't upgraded yet unlike the rear. Depends if you like how much body roll your car has going through the turns though.

I'm sure the watts link is nice but the price is too steep for me.

ThumperNC24

iTrader: (1)

I am wondering about this exact same thing.

I am going to let people who have done both do the talking so I won't be voting.

One of these items is probably my next mod.

EchoMirage

iTrader: (3)

theres no way in hell you need a watts link just for street driving

jmilz28

iTrader: (13)

Both are going to be noticeable. I love my Strano sways but since you are stock there and already have the PHB, I'd try the sways first. If you still feel off kilter, then go for the Watts. If you bought your shocks from Strano, ask him, perhaps your understeer can be fixed that way. What size/brand of tires do you have and how much tread left?

HAZ-Matt

iTrader: (8)

Looks like I am the first to reply that has both... although I just got the Watts on the car and haven't test driven it. And slight disclaimer: I am not a racecar driver or anything and I haven't driven your car so it is hard for me to know A) what could be causing the understeer and B) what specifically you are referring to when you use that term. I do think I can help you decide which to go with if it remains a simple choice between bars or watts, but be prepared for me to give you a larger opinion...

Basically the last thing you should be thinking about is a Watts if you haven't done any other suspension mods. In my opinion you need to start with what is most "broke" with the stock setup and go from there. That means that the Decarbons need to go and you need to replace them with either Koni's SAs or Bilstein revalves or at the least standard Bilstein HD.... Since you have aftermarket springs IMO you should be running Koni's or Bilstein revalves. I run Koni SA's with stock springs. Although I would change dampers if I were you I don't think that is necessarily the cause of your understeer.

What tire and wheel setup are you running? Tires are one of the most important mods you can make. If you have some sort of funky staggered setup that might be throwing the balance off. Looks like WS6 wheels in the sig pic which are 17x9 all around but I can't see the tires.

After that I would think about the bars. I have Sam Strano's sway bars and I think they are very good. 35f and 22r hollow if I remember correctly. They will match your Strano springs well. They may improve your understeer.

You already have 1LE LCAs and aftermarket springs so no need to think about those.

Aftermarket panhard bars are only useful for correcting the axle location on a lowered car for 99% of people out there. The panhard bar cannot however keep the axle centered throughout the range of suspension travel and also during cornering the roll centers are not the same in left versus right turns. The Watts addresses this with the bonus of adjustable roll centers which can affect the balance. I do not think a Watts will cure your understeer. It will make the car better but it is expensive and you have other areas that I would change before doing this mod.

In my case my car is a 100% daily driver that may see the track every once and awhile. The path I took was wheels and tires (had them leftover from my 2000) then Koni SAs, then Strano Bars, then 1LE type LCAs and then finally Watts as I had decided that I preferred the stock springs for a daily car and there wasn't really any other suspension piece left that I felt would be worthwhile for how I like to enjoy my car. The Konis are still the mod that made the greatest impact although it remains to see how much different it will be with the Watts (but I bet not as huge a difference as the shocks made).

If price is a factor the Watts are one of the more expensive mods. Bars are significantly cheaper and easier to install.

So I would do bars if I were you and had to pick between those two options. I think different shocks would make you happier, but of course YMMV.

fortmyerspolice

iTrader: (7)

Well, my tires aren't the best either. I have cheap kumho ecstas on there and nitto drags on the backs. I'm actually pretty satisfied with the KYB AGX's so far, hell of a lot better than stock. I guess I'll just forget the watts link for now and do the bars and get some nitto nt-05 tires.

transwiz

iTrader: (26)

I would probably do the sway bars first.The koni's wouldn't be a bad idea.I guess it depends on where you want to spend your your money in what order.I did the LCA'S first then the PHR,Koni 4/3's,tower brace,subframe connectors,hollow sway bars and finally a Watts link last.By the way I also have Kumho asx tires and they are pretty good tires.The tire rack rates them as #3 best selling tire.You can get ones that grip more if you have the dollars.Nitto nt-555 R2's would be cool if you don't mind replacing them rather quickly.NT- 05's are cool.
____________________________
2000 t/a ws6 with lots of mods

HAZ-Matt

iTrader: (8)

It might be pushing because you have the Kuhmos on the front and Nittos on the back... Swap them around and see if you oversteer*

Get the bars and swap some new tires on there and it will probably feel better.




*Don't really do that

z28bryan

iTrader: (7)

I mean, really who needs the upgraded swaybars too for daily driving? I guess it depends on how deep your pockets are because you could modify the crap out of the car if you wanted to, in order to get from point A to point B. If you just want to modify the car for fun, you could do either.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Well, I voted for sway bars over a Watts...

Why? Well, he's complaining of balance issues and the Watts link lowers the rear roll center which generally tightens up the car a bit. This is one reason I recommend an adjustable rear bar in conjunction with a Watts link if possible.

For about the 10th time this month, I see a lot of answers... but not too many asking what you are trying to fix. I see the balance thing, I assume you feel like you have more body roll than you'd like too, right?

Remember a setup I did for GMHTP was some 3.4 seconds a lap faster (springs, shocks, bars, and a PHB) on real street tires. That was without a Watts link, and you have some shocks and springs already--just missing the bars. They are easier to install, cost less too.

I'm a believer in the Watts link, I love mine. That said, the two items are very different and I feel you'd benefit more from the bars, every day--and you can build off them if you want more...

MHO, YMMV.

JamRWS6

I can't believe everyone isn't jumping on this as soon as the OP said he had Nitto DRs in the back. When you have something that sticky in the back the car is going to plow. Change the tires first if you want it to handle.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

I saw that, and it's not that uncommon... We can still make is work with the proper set of bars (again, I'm thinking an adjustable rear here), and a decent alignment.

I'm sure he doesn't want to give up his straight line traction.

JamRWS6

So by getting a smaller lever in the back w/ the adj. bar and using the 35MM in the front we can balance these out, correct?

I'm assuming the adj. rear probably wouldn't be necessary with like tires all the way around?

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Right...

If the front and rear tires are like size, or like compound that helps the balance--and the hollow bars were done with that idea in mind as cars came stock that way, and I run the same size all around too. Smaller front/bigger rears, and/or sticky rears make the car tighter, and generally want more rear bar. You can get that with the adjustable bar. You can also stiffen it for drag racing, but not be stuck with a "drag bar" monster on the street. As well as use it to better tune a Watts link in as the change in roll-center will change the balance of the car too.

2002_Z28_Six_Speed

iTrader: (19)

Made a huge difference in DD for my car.

z28bryan

iTrader: (7)

How bad can you plow daily driving though?

JamRWS6

I don't think any of us are talking about how the car reacts in daily driving. But if it does plow too much we should consider turning it into farm equipment.

z28bryan

iTrader: (7)

I'm not too sure how well a 4th gen would be able to handle a plow on the front. It might not make very far in the cold snowy weather

I'm just being nitpicky. I don't see the point of putting all that stuff on a daily driver, but that's just me. Though looking at his sig.. I don't think practicality is his goal.