Swaybar upgrades are one of the very few things I would NOT advise. You already have suspension options that adjust from cozy to hardtail go-kart. The swaybars are just not that bad to need upgrading. this is the opinion of someone who has radius rod bushings, one piece DS, Wilwood brakes, Koni adjustable shocks, airbags, subframe connectors, bigger strut tower brace (useless waste of money), lightened oil pan cover, The Harrop diff cover helped a little. Just wait and see what comes up, because otherwise you end up throwing money at a problem that already went away. Good example is people who did subframe connectors, but then went fast enough to need a rollcage. Once you put in a rollcage, the chassis is stiff enough to render the subframe connectors nothing but dead weight.

 

The sway bars are no good, especially the rear bar. Take it from someone who knows.Hotchkiss are the best bars also. Anyone who thinks the sways for this car are OK, is uninformed. Do the research, if you are in doubt.

 

Upgrading the sway bars on my GTO was the single most effective suspension upgrade I've done. Pretty much the most cost effective suspension upgrade on almost any car.

 

After taking a look at what most people ran with Hotchkis bars, I calculated the rates. I am not ready to replace the front yet (Leary of front cradle removal) I figured the hotchkis rear bar set at its lowest setting should suffice for now.

 

That will give you a mostly oversteer situation at the limit, be ready for that.

 

I've replaced radius rod bushings with Pedders. Front control arm and sway bar with Energy Suspension. The only rear bushings I have replaced are the subframe. I replaced those with Energy Suspension. Replaced swaybar endlinks and outer tie rod ends with Roadsafe. Replaced the stock springs with Lovells 20mm. Replaced stock struts and shocks with KYB. The Lovells were a huge upgrade. I tried running with the Eibach spring kit but they were not very good. I took them off after 10,000 miles and sold them. I'm upgrading to Konis next and then taking a look at the rear bushings.

 

In my opinion the 20mm Lovells and Koni adjustables is one of the best all around combos available without going the full-blown coilover route. The adjustability of the Koni shocks is fairly broad and very useful.

 

Which year car do you have? At 150mph+ at Road Atlanta, sway bars never even made my top 5 of mods I wish I had.

 

I've been modifying this platform (2 door and 4 door that we have here) for well over 20 years.This includes running products from Tein, Koni, Bilstein, Monroe, Kmac, KYB, Lovells, Kings, Eibach and Whiteline. This includes doing sway bars and the only reason I would change the sway bars is if I chose really soft/underperforming springs/shocks. Get those right and the stock sway bars work well, especially on the 2 door as they're thicker than the 4 door.

However, suspension is a personal thing and often people have different opinions. For example, I like Koni but use Bilstein currently as Koni always ended up leaking on my car's. However, the Bilstein needs to be valved right to perform as well. I also have Eibach springs that work well with the Bilsteins so was surprised to see people on here preferred the humble Lovells springs as these are cheapest of the cheap here. So cheap that I'm tempted to grab a set and do a comparison to see for myself!

 

Thats right suspension is a personal issue of preference. Keep in mind that the car I am referring to is a Pontiac, not a Holden. The sways maybe different. GM took the time to change over to lefthand drive, so what else did it change for the US market. I almost lost the car in an abrupt lane change in Chicago to avoid collision. Thats when I got religion and changed that pitiful rear stabilizer bar.

Did you also know the stabilizer links on the GTO are weak and routinely bend in normal driving. Mine actually horseshoed around. I'm referring to the front links. The rears are OK. Do a search on LS1GTO and read the results for all these issues.

Also, I think your ideas are a matter of national preference. We think Lovell's products are OK, while Eibach are considered here as cheap and stiff riding. I had them on my Fbody and changed them after a month and put on Strano's. Night and day difference. The key to a good spring is to be lighter on compression and heavier on rebound. Lighter compression absorbs street imperfections while heavier rebound aggressively replants the tire for traction.

Eibachs maybe OK at the track, but are lousy street shocks. One of the problems with the Konis is that they are only single ajustable. So, to get the rebound you need, you have to crank up the compression. Ugh!

 

a 2004.

 

Well, with the Eibachs the ride could be a little smoother but I prefer a stiffer ride and it performs pretty well. I may change the fronts to konis but not sold on it yet. Personal preference is important I would not say Eibachs are cheap esp if you look at their history. You may not like their application though.