skopers3

iTrader: (3)

Got some suspension work coming up and am looking to replace shocks, springs and sway bar all at once. In shopping around it looks like the Spohn 32mm is nearly $50 cheaper than most others, which are 35 mm. Just wondering if those of you who've been there think it's worth the extra money to go up that little bit, or can you even tell a difference?

Also, any other parts you'd recommend swapping out while I'm doing this? Thanks!

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Diameter to the 4th power. Also it's more steel, and steel costs. Yes, it matters if you want good roll stiffness. Also solid bars are actually cheaper (and heavier) than tube bars because tubing is more involved to make and to bend bars from.

I've got some 35mm tubulars in stock, $209.99 with bushings and endlinks. We made the first of the aftermarket ones, and have been doing it the longest. I also have UMI's which differs a bit in how it's bent, but the price is close if you want red (we only do mine in Black).

http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...=126&ModelID=7
http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...126&PartID=504

JD_AMG

32mm came on the stock WS6/SS cars, so if you want to "save money" you might as well find a really cheap used stock front swaybar. And if you are doing that keep your stock rear 19mm bar because anything bigger than that combined with the 32mm front will be too rear biased.

Don't cheap out on shocks while you are at it. I rather have good shocks and stock springs and swaybars than mediocre shocks and good aftermarket springs and swaybars, yes that make THAT much of a difference.

BMR Sales2

iTrader: (40)

I can't stress this enough. I see far too often people upgrade springs, swaybars etc, and leave stock 100k mile DeCarbons on the car. While they always say "oh it handles good" they don't realize how much they are leaving on the table with lack of shocks.

But to answer the original question, yes bar size absolutely matters. Granted there are some factors that play into exact bar rate needs (spring rate, roll center, shock dampening rates, vertical CG etc), generally speaking a larger diameter hollow bar will perform better than a smaller diameter bar.

The three components you are looking to replace are what I consider the first "big 3" when you begin suspension modification for any usage. Getting the biggest, baddest, most expensive stuff isn't always the best. Finding parts that pair well together in balance is important

If you are building a daily driver that will see some spirited back roads driving and maybe an occasional open track day, I would recommend our SP001 springs, Koni Str.T shocks, and SB026 swaybar package

If you plan on getting a little more serious about handling and plan to run the car in autocross or HPDE events, then I would look into our SP096 springs, Koni Sport Shocks, and SB026 swaybar package

tibo

Some of the best advice more people need to understand and it's great to see it coming from a parts vendor.
As BMR said, it's not about buying the stiffest, biggest suspension item, it's about pairing the right components together for your car. I would say that the sway bar is the last piece of suspension equipment to replace because it should be used to fine tune everything else and your driving style. You may also find that with multiple braces (ie subframe connectors and strut tower braces) you can get away with a smaller sway bar than what you would've needed without the braces.

JD_AMG

Both of these statements are not right, especially the last one.
For handling, swaybars are one of the first mods to do with these cars, along with shocks and springs those are the three biggest differences you can make for these cars with suspension mods for handling.

And for the last statement, chassis flex and body roll are two totally different things. Chassis bracing reduces/stops flex but does nothing for body roll. Likewise swaybars can reduce body roll but do nothing for chassis flexing.

tibo

Adding in Rear lower control arm relocation brackets, subframe connectors and a rigid torque arm are FAR more important to handling than replacing the factory sway bars and springs. Unless you like wheel hop, an ever changing alignment and a rubber band between your rear axle and transmission

Subframe connectors absolutely do effect the sway bar size. Adding SFC increases the lean in the back of the car (which is bad). The car naturally wants to lean more in the front due to weight. Adding the SFC means that the front rolling over will now pull the rear of the car rolling over too. Because of this, the normal thought is that you want to lower the rear sway bar by about 2 mm when you add SFC. The net result is that the rear inside tire will stay planted on the road, instead of wanting to lift and transfer the weight to the front outside tire.

JD_AMG

lol...
Dude, I have 3pt SFC's welded in, an aftermarket adjustable toque arm, aftermarket LCA's with relocation brackets and all of that together did NOTHING for handling. In fact the relocation brackets seem to have hurt handling, if anything. Swaybars on the other hand made a massive positive difference, as did strano springs and especially the koni shocks.
Go talk to the guys that actually road race and auto-x and are successful, they will tell you the same.

Will you sell me some of what you are smoking? Must be good stuff...

tibo

So, you think that Subframe connectors and a rigid torque arm do nothing and lower control arm relocation brackets hurt performance and you think I'm the crazy one??
IIRC the floorpans are 20 gauge metal which is the only thing that connects the front and rear subframes. Have you ever played with an empty unibody from these cars? Have you ever jacked these cars (loaded car in stock form) up at different points and seen how much they flex? These cars are limp noodles without subframe connectors. They creak, moan and groan taking turns without connectors. The entire car flexes when turning into a parking lot when one wheel goes first. How can you expect to have any sort of predictable suspension without first having a rigid structure to affix them?? Look at a tubular chassis car, either the entire structure is the same size tubing because it uses an "aerospace design" or the lower frame portion is a larger and thicker tubing.
The floor pan of our cars just like the stock stamped steel torque arm turn into giant rubber bands; distorting/twisting out of shape and then snapping back. Not to mention you need an adjustable torque arm just to relocate the correct pinion angle as most people change their ride height. The ONLY reason anybody in autocross or road racing would say that sway bars are the best mod is because they would be assuming that you have already done the preliminary work of installing SFCs, changing the torque arm and ensuring the control arms are at the proper angle.

mikedamageinc

iTrader: (49)

I wouldn't say SFC, TA, LCA & relo do nothing. Maybe they help feeling more than actual lap times but but it makes the car fell better at least. That being said and given the choice of only a few upgrades...shocks, springs and sways would be top 3 (not counting tires/brakes)

fst100

iTrader: (5)

somewhat adding in (I'm stil a suspension noob) that with the sway bar thickness and weight with stiffness and less flexing it also changes the dynamics of the vehicle in cornering with understeer and oversteer. that's from what I had read when it comes with sway bars.

HioSSilver

iTrader: (8)

Raising/lowering the front or rear is a good way to adjust over or under steer. Shock adjustment plays into that also

even with these aftermarket swsy bars expect to do some chassis tuning

JD_AMG

Check the road race section, FRRAX and see what the successful guys say, Im not in the minority here.

Just to be clear we are talking about 4th gens, and not 3rd gens right?
The only creak Ive ever had from my car was from a swaybar bushing and from a LCA bushing, any kind of rattles I had were fixed from fixing the actual problem: the stock shocks not being able to dampen things like they should. Again SFC's did absolutely nothing for me, the actual problem was already fixed : the shocks.

Definitely have not ever experienced this. Sounds more like poorly setup suspension and not knowing that rear end is going to articulate different from the front end, making a perceived "flex" because the front feels/moves different from the rear.

You are grossly over exaggerating things to the point its funny.
Never said anyone would say its the best mod, that title belongs to shocks anyway. I said its a FAR better mod than SFC's. Please check the sections I have mentioned above and get back to me.

Here is a perfect post and thread of exactly what Im talking about with SFC's:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspensio...ml#post6712303

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Ahh, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Look, nothing wrong with putting SFC's on the car if you want. I do not have them on my current car, nor the one I owned before. Lots of folks rode in the one I have now a few weeks back and I bet they had no idea I didn't have them. Is a stiffer chassis a bad thing? No, but you can't make it infinitely stiff, and at some point you run into diminishing returns while adding weight. Now, this is where 4th gens are concerned. Things that are more flexy like 3rd gens, older Mustangs.... then the SFC's make a bigger difference as the structures are much more noodle like. Again this isn't to say SFC's do not make the chassis of a Gen 4 car stiffer, they do. But is that necessary? Well if the complaint is a quivering dashboard and crappy feel AND you have lousy shocks, then you need to start with better shocks. Period, step one, do not pass go. If you are are trying to rid the car of creaks when turning into uneven driveways and the like, slowly... then SFC's are the thing for that.