nitroracer

iTrader: (4)

I have a daily driven 98' Z/28 that I am thinking about upgrading the front sway bar on, moving from stock to a 32mm or 35mm bar. The car is currently sitting on stock suspension with 92k. I like driving in the mountains and running the occasional autocross but the majority of my driving is back and forth to school on ill maintained Pennsylvania roads and I will be driving in snow. I already have my snow tires on .

From what I read there are two main schools of though for modifying suspension systems: 1. soft springs, heavy sway bars or 2. heavy springs, softer sway bars. If I upgrade the front sway bar I should be able to keep the car from getting too tail happy in the corners - but is it critical to match the rear sway bar too?

Or should I scrap the idea altogether and just save the money until I can get some nice shocks from Strano?

JD_AMG

I went from the stock 32mm front bar to Strano's 35mm front bar with stock rear bar, it was certainly a noticeable difference, the front was much more responsive and roll was cut down considerably, but the balance felt "weird", you could tell it was mismatched and the rear just felt much less responsive in comparison.
It also doesn't solve the weak link with these cars, lack of dampening. Good shocks will make way more of a difference than any other suspension part you could buy (it did for me at least).
I would definitely save up for shocks first, and I wouldn't bother buying a 32mm front bar unless you can get one for dirt cheap, otherwise go for a 35mm front bar (and 22mm rear bar).

bayer-z28

iTrader: (14)

^ I've also got just the front bar from Strano. Never got around to ordering the back one also. I will eventually. It does feel weird but I'm running a shitty shock and spring combo too. After I first put the springs and shocks in I took it for a ride and made some sharp steering movements with it and thought "Ieeew.... This feels..........worse." But I figured I needed to do the other stuff also..

If anyone ever gets the wise idea to buy Eibach and SLP Bilstein shocks; Do yourself a favor and just spend the money on some spinner hubcaps instead.. They'll be more amusing. Or just set the cash on fire.

YellowToy/A

iTrader: (1)

I try things one at a time. When I got my sway bars I put the front bar on first an drove it a week. Then I put the bar on. I found in most cases that the back bar did not matter. But in the few it did it made things more balanced. Koni's in the back made a big change. It is about what u want ur car to feel like. I have stock springs in the back and 400 Lb/in in the front. With the bigger bar in back it help my car.

madhatter

I installed a WS6 32mm on the front. Big difference, but I was able to get it dirt cheap so thats why I chose it. If I was spending the money I would pick up a matched set from Strano.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

There are some very specific points made and to be made here.

First, not all front bars are the same. Upgrading to a 32mm in front, works well with a stock 19mm if you are looking for some change. A bar like mine, @ 35mm is best used with a rear bar meant to match it. See the posts about the front feeling better but the rear being sort of out of sync..... Yes, that's because the front gets so much stiffer (much more so than with a 32) and the rear having not changed results in a very lazy feel response wise and a bit of understeer at the limit.

Can you do a front bar only? Yes. But the ONLY time I recommend that is on a stock class autox car which isn't allowed to change rears and in conjunction with a set of Koni's so you can up the rear shocks to get the rear to react more quickly--and generally we run higher rear pressures for balance. But those things are band-aids in that situation which is brought upon by rules hand-cuffing other options. I don't see rules as an issue here.