HELP. Sway Bar Q's...

Zarchery · 12-19-2016, 10:37 PM

I've been reading threads on the forums regarding sway bars. Not really finding the answer to the question i'm wondering. I have a 2011 370 with koni yellows and swift springs. In my experience this upgrade was a MASSIVE change from stock. I've tweaked my dampening and got it dialed in to my liking (I'm not riding them all the way soft like I've seen a lot of people posting in the threads.) I'm not tracking the car, only spirited driving in the ozarks. Was wondering if upgrading sway bars is a noticeable difference in the car? A night and day handling difference. The car is already so well balanced from the factory, and i haven't yet made it worse. Just looking for some opinions from experience here. Was leaning towards stillen SIMPLY because i like the brand.

Thanks in advance

beemerkid · 12-20-2016, 03:26 AM

Many people like a stiff front bar and a softer rear. I went with an eibach front and kept the stock rear. I'm happy with it. I'm on stock springs and I feel like it helped a noticeable amount.

s2krazyyy · 12-20-2016, 04:55 AM

I feel like the general consensus around here is that the bigger the front bar the better. I have some swifts I havent installed yet, but I do have a bigger front bar and it made the turn in A LOT better. I can only imagine how it would feel with swifts/yellows installed.

2011 Nismo#91 · 12-20-2016, 09:51 AM

Unecessary for street driving, if anything pick up a used front from a nimso. You would only really benifit from it when you are hitting the limits of grip which I hope your not doing on public streets.

Chuck33079 · 12-20-2016, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2011 Nismo#91

Unecessary for street driving, if anything pick up a used front from a nimso. You would only really benifit from it when you are hitting the limits of grip which I hope your not doing on public streets.

I'm not sure on that. They are still pretty much the most immediately noticeable mod I've done. You notice them every time you turn the wheel, and they're cheap.

Hotrodz · 12-20-2016, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuck33079

I'm not sure on that. They are still pretty much the most immediately noticeable mod I've done. You notice them every time you turn the wheel, and they're cheap.

I agree with Chuck, I switched from my Nismo bar to an Eibach and loved it immediately. I have since switched to Hotchkiss and it's more better lol! For immediate results on handling it is on of the cheapest and biggest bang for the buck.

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Chuck33079 · 12-20-2016, 01:52 PM

Honestly, I don't know why it's not the first mod for any Z owner. It's night and day better.

Jhill · 12-20-2016, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuck33079

I'm not sure on that. They are still pretty much the most immediately noticeable mod I've done. You notice them every time you turn the wheel, and they're cheap.

I agree, the stillen sways were the first thing I did and it was immediately noticeable. Stock had so much front roll going into any off camber turn. I would have done sways before spring/shock. Now that I'm on coilovers I think I may actually need to soften my front bar if doing autocross since it went from a stiffer rear spring vs front for oem to now a stiff front spring vs rear it had just the slightlest bit of understeer on sharp turn in on the little figure 8 cone setup test, maybe softer front or stiffen rear but it's nice to have options.

Jayhovah · 12-20-2016, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hotrodz

I agree with Chuck, I switched from my Nismo bar to an Eibach and loved it immediately. I have since switched to Hotchkiss and it's more better lol! For immediate results on handling it is on of the cheapest and biggest bang for the buck.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuck33079

Honestly, I don't know why it's not the first mod for any Z owner. It's night and day better.

Did you guys upgrade both front/rear or just the front?

Hotrodz · 12-20-2016, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jayhovah

Did you guys upgrade both front/rear or just the front?

I went back to my rear Nismo bar because I was getting snap under steer with the Eibach bar. Some track guys run no rear bar.

There are some that will do like jhill and run more bar in the rear to counter under steer. The deal with running more rear bar is you can get a happier rear end which can upset the car when taking corners at speed. All things are about what you are most comfortable with. Some folks like a little push others perfer a happy rearend.

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Jhill · 12-20-2016, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hotrodz

I went back to my rear Nismo bar because I was getting snap under steer with the Eibach bar. Some track guys run no rear bar.

There are some that will do like jhill and run more bar in the rear to counter under steer. The deal with running more rear bar is you can get a happier rear end which can upset the car when taking corners at speed. All things are about what you are most comfortable with. Some folks like a little push others perfer a happy rearend.

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

Yea for track the middle/middle on my stillen it ended up very nice (high speed). On tighter slower technical figure 8 (so kind of like auto cross) I could use a touch looser rear, not a lot just a touch, so either softer front or firmer rear but that's the beauty of adjustables.

Hotrodz · 12-20-2016, 05:15 PM

Yep, have true square wheel and tier set up and that has taken the under steer complete out and loosened up the rear a bit. Still getting use to it as I prefer it to under steer.

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Zarchery · 12-20-2016, 06:47 PM

Now the question is which sway bar to go with haha

You guys are awesome. Thanks for all the input.

Jhill · 12-20-2016, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zarchery

Now the question is which sway bar to go with haha

You guys are awesome. Thanks for all the input.

Personally if your mostly a street driven car then I would say eibach or stillen as my opinion. Both are front and rear adjustable, both will have noticeable effect, neither is so overpoweringly stiff that you lose independence in the suspension (which can be annoying and uncomfortable on uneven surfaces). The white line I'll bet are nice too but they were pretty costly and I think they only ship with locks for one bar so if you want the locks for the other bar too then that's more cost (might be wrong on that), the hotchkiss is just going to be rock solid stiff up front and if you find you don't like it there is no adjustment up front.

That's my opinion but only actually driven the stillen.

gomer_110 · 12-20-2016, 09:51 PM

For a street driven car go with the the Eibach front bar. If the car is going to see any HPDE or autox get the Hotchkis front bar. Don't bother with a rear bar. The factory rear bar is all the stiffness you'll need.

If you want the car to be a little oversteery then do that via alignment settings (less rear camber).

12-19-2016, 10:37 PM	#1 (permalink)
Zarchery Base Member Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Arkansas Posts: 5 Drives: 11 370 Blck Chry 6MT Rep Power: 9	HELP. Sway Bar Q's... I've been reading threads on the forums regarding sway bars. Not really finding the answer to the question i'm wondering. I have a 2011 370 with koni yellows and swift springs. In my experience this upgrade was a MASSIVE change from stock. I've tweaked my dampening and got it dialed in to my liking (I'm not riding them all the way soft like I've seen a lot of people posting in the threads.) I'm not tracking the car, only spirited driving in the ozarks. Was wondering if upgrading sway bars is a noticeable difference in the car? A night and day handling difference. The car is already so well balanced from the factory, and i haven't yet made it worse. Just looking for some opinions from experience here. Was leaning towards stillen SIMPLY because i like the brand. Thanks in advance

12-20-2016, 09:51 AM	#4 (permalink)
2011 Nismo#91 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: NJ Posts: 2,402 Drives: slowly Rep Power: 40569	Unecessary for street driving, if anything pick up a used front from a nimso. You would only really benifit from it when you are hitting the limits of grip which I hope your not doing on public streets. Wonka2581 and Brendan like this.

12-20-2016, 01:52 PM	#7 (permalink)
Chuck33079 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Houston Posts: 12,265 Drives: 2011 370ztt Rep Power: 29539	Honestly, I don't know why it's not the first mod for any Z owner. It's night and day better. Hotrodz likes this. __________________ 2011 MB Touring-Sport-6sp-Nav/GTM TT/FI TT TDX/JTran/Kosmic/Eibach/Hotchkis/SPC/CSF/RPS/SoThatsWhereAllMyMoneyWent

12-20-2016, 05:15 PM	#12 (permalink)
Hotrodz A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: NW, AZ Posts: 9,330 Drives: 10 Nissan 370z Nismo Rep Power: 2684385	Yep, have true square wheel and tier set up and that has taken the under steer complete out and loosened up the rear a bit. Still getting use to it as I prefer it to under steer. Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk __________________ *Fast Intentions TT Installed and Tuned by Seb at SpecialtyZ 610whp 560tq:\|Fast Intentions 3" TT-TDX*\|SpecialtyZ/Fast Intentions 72 Row Oil Cooler\|SZ 6 Puck Clutch & Flywheel\|3GsCustoms\|Z1\|Wavetrac\|Hotchkis\|Whiteline \|Blitz\|Fortune Auto 500\|Fujimura\|SPL\|H&R\|TK\|TWM\|RPM Rollbar\|Sparco\|Next Level Performance\|TrackSpec\|AeroFlow Dynamics\|Pioneer\|

12-20-2016, 09:51 PM	#15 (permalink)
gomer_110 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Perrysburg, OH Posts: 17,992 Drives: '11 Nismo #528 GM Rep Power: 36941	For a street driven car go with the the Eibach front bar. If the car is going to see any HPDE or autox get the Hotchkis front bar. Don't bother with a rear bar. The factory rear bar is all the stiffness you'll need. If you want the car to be a little oversteery then do that via alignment settings (less rear camber). Hotrodz likes this. __________________ '11 370Z Nismo #528 Fast Intentions \| Stillen \| Motordyne \| Uprev \| CSF \| Zspeed \| Z1 Motorsports \| AST \| Swift \| SPC \| SPL \| Whiteline \| Hotchkis \| Bride \| Schroth \| Robispec \| Cusco \| Nismo \| Volk \| Forgestar \| Hoosier \| RJM '17 Titan Bone Stock

12-20-2016, 03:26 AM	#2 (permalink)
beemerkid Base Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Santa Rosa California Posts: 67 Drives: '16 sport 6MT Rep Power: 10	Many people like a stiff front bar and a softer rear. I went with an eibach front and kept the stock rear. I'm happy with it. I'm on stock springs and I feel like it helped a noticeable amount.

12-20-2016, 04:55 AM	#3 (permalink)
s2krazyyy Base Member Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: California Posts: 162 Drives: 2010 40th 370z Rep Power: 45	I feel like the general consensus around here is that the bigger the front bar the better. I have some swifts I havent installed yet, but I do have a bigger front bar and it made the turn in A LOT better. I can only imagine how it would feel with swifts/yellows installed.

12-20-2016, 06:47 PM	#13 (permalink)
Zarchery Base Member Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Arkansas Posts: 5 Drives: 11 370 Blck Chry 6MT Rep Power: 9	Now the question is which sway bar to go with haha You guys are awesome. Thanks for all the input.

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