Front sway bar to strut

[manninen]

Okay, now driven on both setups i can tell this mod is way stiffer than original.

For normal winding roads, brisk thru roundabouts normal setup is more balanced for my use, but on highway driving faster stiffer feels bit safer.

Wet auto-x track would be fun to test on both, i think stiffer would understeer a lot.

[jhm]

Sounds like the smaller/lighter 18mm bar might be plenty stiff for your needs.  Are you running a rear sway bar of any sort?  If you stay with using stock-sized springs, that will obviously be the main LIMDAC in tuning/balancing the car's handling.

 

FYI for your reference:  a 1" front sway bar from ST = 11.5 lb = 5.2 kg.

 

Interesting mod....many thanks for following through on this!

[manninen]

yes there is now rear swaybar too, car controls much better with that. when it looses grip on straight line it does it more predictable way, with out it´s a handful.

slightly shortened 18mm front to strut might be good, but 18 and 20mm are bit different shape, 18mm is so close to alternator i dont want to use it

[jhm]

For future reference, you can insert some flat spacer plates between the frame rail and the sway bar mounts to increase clearance between the sway bar and the alternator.  Spacer plates out of flat aluminum plate, any thickness you want.  This may give you the additional clearance you need to run the 18mm bar, if you wanted to.

 

You can also do the frame rail reinforcement modification on the sway bar mounting points, which has a secondary effect of additional spacing between the bar and the engine accessories.  You can make the reinforcement pieces yourself (which is what I've done), or buy them premade from Bad Dog Parts.