Doble

I am trying to get on the Feal train. I like think KW's are decent but most people say monotube is the way to go. The owner of Feal owned a v1 and has all the calcs/knowledge to assemble the the proper dampening for our cars and spring rates. They seem to only get positive reviews. If you own D2's they can freshen them up for you which is also awesome.

blk04V

iTrader: (1)

Yeah - I’m really not sure where to start. I’ve only played with the settings a little. The rears rubbed pretty bad (sitting on f14’s 275/35/19) so I raised it and “tightened” (turned adjusted to the right) all the way then backed it off 4 clicks.

If anyone has some out-of-the-box settings they have used to get things started, I may be able to get my bearings.

In the meantime - I’m starting to think about beginning from scratch with one of the Feal kits....

Doble

Well if you wanna go Feal let me know, cause we need 1 more person to get the 5 for them to make them for us.

blk04V

iTrader: (1)

Is there another reference point we can look at in regard to the Feals? I spent a little bit of time (admittedly - not much) trying to find reference to Feals experience with BMW 5-series. Though obviously not the same car as our V, I thought it would be a good starting to point to see how those owners feal (haha) about this suspension. All I seem to be able to find are reviews on subies, miatas, e36's... (and the e36 crowd didn't seem to be fans).

Doble

Not for V folks really. One V owner on Facebook had them rebuild his D2's and said they are awesome. Most people that I've seen from what I've trying to do had positive comments about Feal. You really can't get anything custom for our cars except Penske or LG. LG's cost $2700.

kra86

Please correct me if I am wrong.

CTS-V sway bars

Hotchkis #2280 (front and rear Kit)
Front- 1-1/4" (32mm) (hollow)
Rear- 1" (25.5mm) (solid)

Addco
Front- 1-3/8" #2290
Rear- 1" #2289

Stock
Front- 26.5mm tubular (1-1/16")
Rear- 21mm solid (13/16")

Sssnake

ADDCO also makes the 2447 and 2448 bars which are tubular with the same OD as you specified. IMO tubular is the way to go. You save a ton of weight and get the vast majority of the rigidity. Check out your sway bar post for a few more comments on this subject.

One thing to consider is the rear springs are just a tad short for most and you will need a spacer to bring the rear up a bit. Otherwise I really like the setup. The longer I have had it the more I have varied from Fuzzy's suggested settings and for my application the better the car has performed. Not baggin' on Fuzzy just saying for me they needed a little tweaking. Don't ask what my settings are currently because I don't remember.

BaMaDuDe87

Sssnake, are you running Swift springs?

kra86

None of the tubular models are available anymore. They are listed on the catalog or application page but the online web front store. Only had 2289 and 2290 listed. With 2290 discontinued.

What a tough job it is working on improving a just turned ten year old car.

Andringa

The 2290 is not discontinued.

I just received one directly from Addco last week. They said they moved it to their "Special Order Catalog". Here's the link they sent me to order both directly from Addco. They had both in stock when I ordered and both were delivered < 1 week.

http://addco-performance-swaybars6.m...lac/cts-cts-v/

kra86

I have sent emails to Addco every day and they do not have anymore 2290 left. I asked him a bunch of times and he said nope, no more left.

Consider yourself lucky to have received one of the last, possible, front bars for the V1 from Addco. When I ordered the rear bar, I was told two were left. Live inventory showed two. When I ordered my bar, the number went down to one so I believe the inventory to be accurate. I keep pestering this contact at Addco to make more and they want a run of ten. :dunno:

Sssnake

Yes. The same as Fuzzy's recommendation.

Byron

iTrader: (1)

Any input on the ST sway bar kits?

I'm on Kw var 3 and very soon to he upgraded KW 12/15 springs.

I'm ok the 10k kw fronts and swift 15 k rears and it's been great so far, but I'm ready to step it up.

-Byron

kra86

Does ST stand for "Suspension Techniques"?

After a quick and useful search, I have found bars from that company. I have used those bars before and in fact, Nissan Motorsports (NISMO) has used Suspension Techniques for sway bars in the past.
The numbers on the ST bars are impressive. They properly increase rear roll stiffness, and decrease front roll stiffness. Until I start playing with bars myself, I will not know what I like. I already have an Addco rear in my possession.

Once again, I want to reiterate, I do not wish to assemble a list of every bar, only bars we can still get. The addco tubular bars are gone, they will not make more unless we get a run of ten together. ST will make them per order (as they always have)

CTS-V sway bars

Hotchkis #2280 (front and rear Kit)
Front- 1-1/4" (32mm) (hollow)
Rear- 1" (25.5mm) (solid)

Addco
Front- 1-3/8" #2290
Rear- 1" #2289

Suspension Techniques
Front - 13/16" #50400 (30 lbs)
Rear- 15/16" #51400 (15 lbs)

For reference of Stock bars:
Front- 26.5mm tubular (1-1/16")
Rear- 21mm solid (13/16")

You should begin to see a pattern. Front stiffness from the factory for that safety. Once again, the car will understeer from the factory. GM has designed the car this exact way. If going too fast, and you turn, and the car cannot handle it, in stock form, the front end will push (understeer).

Byron

iTrader: (1)

Yes suspension techniques. It's a sub company of kw I believe, though it may just be they are a recommended partner.

I'm going to be going that way myself as I can order them locally in Dubai.

I was just hoping for some feedback before I pay Dubai prices .😲

I'm including a screenshot of the kw recommend springs part numbers, directly from KW technical team.

-Byron

Andringa

kra86, in what conditions do you see the most understeer on your V? low/high speed, street/track?

I ask, because I really don't think understeer is an issue with my current setup, (KWV3 front KW 10k/ rear Swift Z60-228-160 (16kgf)) as long as my alignment is good. I've been running about -1.25* front camber and 0* front toe. I just got the Addco front bar on yesterday and compared to stock sways, it pushes a bit more on slower sudden turns (Autox type stuff), but big sweepers (~80mph) it feels great on.

I'm going to put the Addco rear bar on soon and see what kind of change that makes.

Planning on a track day June 18th, so that will be the true test of how the Addco bars affect handling for me.

AAIIIC

iTrader: (19)

I wouldn't count on that bolded bit, as I'm 99.9% sure that ST has the wrong diameter listed for the front bar; I'd bet good money it's actually 1-3/16", not 13/16". I contacted their customer service about it years ago (way back when they introduced these in 2012 or maybe earlier) and they assured me 13/16" was correct, but I can't imagine it is. And the weights you posted confirm that - it would be awfully hard to make the 13/16" bar weigh twice as much as the 15/16" bar. If Byron goes ahead with ordering them then I guess we'll know for sure.


Again, those are the V6 dimensions, not the CTS-V dimensions. Per Hotchkis's website, the 2280 kit has 1-1/4" front and 1" rear bars. The old V6 kit does not appear to be available anymore.

Andringa

Just confirmed with Addco that the 2290 front bar is still in their normal catalog and will be back in stock in mid July.
As kra86 mentioned, the 2289 rear bar is in the special order catalog. (minimum 10 orders to get made, but they currently have 1 in stock)


Steven,
Yes, the 2290 is still in the main catalog with no MOQ.
They should be back in stock late July. Probably sooner if we had any orders for them.
Regards,
Ernie Jabour

kra86

I got the same e-mail also confirming aroudn July the front bars will be back in stock! Good stuff.

kra86

The onyl way I can see that front bar being that way, is if they chose to make the front bar solid, and the rear tubular, the weight could be explained that way. However, I would not prefer a tubular rear bar in this car from the past year of driving with ~


Since Hotchkis listed the CTS-V sway bars incorrectly via the PDF install instructions. Now I see your link below has different measurements. It would be better if folks could just go out and measure there bars for this thread. The manufacturers are not able to post accurate enough information that mislead me. Great. Time wasted. I thank you, AAIIIC, for bringing this to my attention. At least someone is gonna keep me honest on here! And I surely do not intend on spreading false information.
Please see this image below to show why I was mislead. See the bushing measurements on these instructions? I guess someone was too lazy to notice that and I was too keen to notice the same numbers...