Front sway bar

[Chris Taylor <chtaylo4@vt.edu>]

Hey boys, check DIS out.  A guy on the C list said he was upgrading his
stock sways.  I told him to just upgrade the rear--no use in getting MORE
understeer, right?  And I backed up my comments w/ what I had just seen on
Shrine Racing Page:
 
> FRONT SWAY BARS
> Why would you want to put a front sway bar on a car with 65% of it's
> weight  on it's nose? So it will understeer more? So it will get massive
> wheelspin  exiting corners?
> Money saved = 190.00 (please send us a check).
> They go on saying that you should even disconnect your stock front bar.
> I don't know if I'd go THAT far, but you can bet that I won't be upgrading
> from stock.

Needless to say, everyone backed me up.  What I was surprised at was the
amount of people who even backed up disconnecting the front sway, such as this:

>>>>Try it:  So the outside front wheel camber will go less 
positive and the tire can generate some cornering force.  Of course, 
if you're racing in an appropriate class you can crank in a _lot_ of 
static negative camber instead.   The point is, absolute cornering 
speed in a relatively stock front wheel drive car is determined 
almost entirely by the outside front tire.  The usual concept of 
"balance" doesn't mean much.

              Showroom Stock Rabbits used to sort themselves out by 
the amount of (illegal) negative camber the racer thought he could 
get away with.  Dialing it in just before the race was the tactic, 
since the stewards are reluctant to throw out a car after the race 
and really prefer protests come earlier in the weekend.  When I was 
racing my X1/9 I ran across the type. I outqualified him, but he 
simply smoked me in the race.  The stewards pitched him out, but they 
were not pleased with me.>>>>

So it seems that this setup may be gospel for autox...but I want the best
STREET setup.  I drive alot more than I autox, so I feel that I should have
my setup for street.  Should I leave my stock 16.5mm front sway on?  Other
suspension. mods include Neuspeed springs, Tokico Illuminas, stresses all
around, 195/15/50ZR SP 8000s.

Thanx!

Chris Taylor
'87 Scirocco G60-to-be

      Virginia Polytechnic Institute 
          and State University
         College of Engineering
chtaylo4@vt.edu ::::: chtaylo4@aol.com

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