Front Sway Bar Only - Hotchkis VS Whiteline
 

Hey all, looking to upgrade my suspension and the forums state that sways after coils are next up. I plan to run the OEM rear sway bar and replace the front. I do spirited street driving and plan to track in the coming months. The general consensus on the forums say to keep OEM rear sway bar, but go for Hotchkis / Whiteline in the front. Which is better for my application and why?

There's a sweet deal on the Whiteline right now for those wondering:
https://rcagarage.com/shop/suspensio...ay-bar-bnf41z/

Hotochkis hands down.

What makes that deal so sweet? The overpriced $280 MSRP?

Hotchkis > Whiteline. I paid less than $200 for my front Hotchkis bar brand new.

I got the Hotchkis as it seemed to be the most popular wiht the 370 autocross/track crowd. Generally stiffer = better, not sure what the spring rates are on either bar off hand.

There is a reason why most of the rat tracks use a Hotchkis. Because it works.

Seems like you should get the biggest bar possible and then tweak your alignment/spring rate/damper settings to your personal style

Hotchkis is the better track proven bar. Don't let synolimit fool you ;)

LMAO :rofl2:

Wonder if he is still a live? Turn a leased car into a track car. :eek: Wonder what he did when the lease was up? :rofl2:

Both either the Hotchkis and Whiteline sway bars would work just fine for the street. If you are planning on track duty with your Z I would recommend the Hotchkis front sway bar and keeping the Genuine Nissan OEM rear sway bar. Be sure to upgrade your endlinks though OP.

Everyone swears by the Hotchkiss so that’s probably the way you should go. It’s odd though or I guess maybe I am as I just did a track day last month and I tried dialing in some different setups with mine (Stillen) and tried full stiff front and full soft rear and figured if I liked it and wanted more of it then I’d buy the Hotchkiss setup. Kind of glad I tested because I think I just saved myself some money. The Stillen front isn’t rated nearly as stiff as the Hotchkiss and yet the front end just became totally nervous and light like I couldn’t trust the grip and it wanted to push at the same time. Set the front to middle and it was a totally different car the next session and would lean (obviously) and grip. Then tried the rear in the middle and that works too, better on some turns but maybe a little nervous rear on some others. So seems I’ve found my setup but I’m surprised no one thinks the Hotchkiss understeers. I’m still slow and only in group b so maybe it’s just me but I couldn’t find myself going into the turns as hard with the way the steering and balance felt.

Seems like I will be going with the Hotchkis. By the way JARblue the deal is $180 from $ 280. I just want something that will allow me to tackle things with more confidence and to compensate for my 54/46 weight distribution.

Also, why upgrade the end links if the bar makes the most bit of difference?

Thanks guys

The end links is so that you can adjust the preload out of the bar. Or if you are going to get it corner balanced.

Mine will understeer on a hard down hill hairpin.

That’s exactly where the rear in mid position on mine showed the biggest improvement. Andretti hairpin the rear helps push the car around, the front full stiff was just too uncomfortable on the hairpin or turn 3 that flat or even off camber and turn 11 that’s tight right before the straight car just felt like it ignored anything I told it. It was really surprising how much influence just one adjustment made.

If I run my Whiteline bar on the stiffest setting with my mps4s on the front I get all sorts of front end nervousness braking into corners. The stock bar is better. With the Nankang semi's on it's a completely different story. Front end fully stiff all the way or else the lean just throws me right off.

Interesting, that’s exactly what I was thinking when I chose my bars is I knew I wasn’t running R compounds so I didn’t want to overpower the tires and that’s exactly what I think was happening in stiffest setting. Which is good to know because then if I get a second vehicle I can put R compounds on and adjust it stiffer still. I’m glad I went with the most adjustability in the end.