This is just a question. On my F-Prepared car for Solo2, what would be the pros and cons for not running the swaybars? I can't think of many things other than less weight being a good thing but you would need to run stiffer springs to make up for the lack of bars. Current coil spring rates are 550# front and 300# rear and the car uses 16 X 10 rims with racing slicks.

 

you would be better off with biger sway bars. not none at all.

 

I have found the best setup for these cars seems to be softer springs, stiffer sway bars (front and rear), and stiffer shock settings if they are adjustable on your car. I found my car had much less body roll and absorbed the small bumps better. my car runs a Mazda comp(suspension techniques) front and rear sway bars, front at full stiff and rear at middle position, Shocktek double adjustable Bilstein shocks and struts, 400# springs front and rear, and the shocks and struts adjusted to about the middle as far as stiffness. the car is absolutely neutral and can be driven fast with ease. was running consistent 1.35's at Willow Springs on DOT tires. fastest lap at in the low 1.34's. with slicks I think the car should run under 1.30

 

Thanks tims for the information. I'll take it into account in the great scheme of things. My car is going to be a SoloII car only and what works good on a road race car might not be the ideal setup for an autocross car but it has to be better than the stock suspension. Its also very dependant on a person driving style. What I'm also considering is sticking with the stock swaybars and going with about 450# on the front and #250 on the rear.

Later

 

A couple of things to think about: Have you ever seen a national level solo 2 rx7 without sway bars? A generalization: the slower the speed the lower the g forces. The lower the g's the less roll resistance=less spring+sway bar(add the spring rates together). Some production based cars run faster with some very high front spring rates, usually strut front ends, but would run faster if the camber curve, ackerman a.k.a. toe out in turns was corrected. This is not always possible. The very high spring rates keep the suspension(read the tires) from moving so they stay closer to "home". Soft springs/big bars generally give you a faster car, especially on rough tracks, that is MUCH more forgiving if you make a mistake. Don't forget to check the ride height! Low is good, too low is slow on production cars. If the mounting points(center of the ball joints etc.) for the lower control arms (ft or rear) are lower at the body end, raise the car up. For starters the arms should be level or alittle up hill to the body with the car level, with driver, gas etc. If you have a car that easily gets away from you and can't be saved check the ride height! There are some very good books on basic handling out there. An old but still very good one is "How to make your car handle", I think it's published by HP Books. Rob

 

the previous owner of my FC removed the rear sway bar, and the car understeers viciously as a result.
(hafta get a new whiteline stiffer one to replace it)
don't remove the sway bars, or you'll have handling issues to resolve, like my poor unfortunate self.

Perry Gehenna
www.AusRotary.com

 

Like I said in the first posting, This is just a question. I was simply wondering if there was a reasonable way to loose the weight of the swaybars and still have a car that could be raced. It would appear the general concensus is NO. My car running in FP is always going to be overweight for the class yet still light weight for a 2nd gen car. My last big weight savings effort will be replacing the front windshield and rear hatch with lexan pieces.

Rob at Pinapple - That was a good simplified explanation of how they work. Thanks.

 

Rob's explanation was very good.

You might try disconnecting them individually/together for a couple of events to see the results before pulling them. I'm running SP with mine and it seems that the softer I can make the front, the more bite I get with the tires. I still need to do more alignment work though so that may change some. I would think it would not help you go faster. Maybe adjustables, but not none.

 

sorry, can't answer your quention, but how much does your lexan windshield/hatch glass weigh? How much does the stock weigh?

-Tesla