I have been getting into doing more track days and am wondering if I would benefit from upgraded sway bars. Should I leave them alone, front, rear, or both. Car is a 93 touring, 410 hp, widefoot sway bar mount, JIC FLT-A2's with purple springs (I don't know the spring rate), roll bar, 245/35-18s front, and 285/30-18's rear, super pro bushings. I may pick up a set of R compound tires at some point (after bigger brakes). It would be nice to stay in a reasonable price range if possible, but if a tripoint bar is what is recommended then that is what it will be.

 

Tanabe is a good starting point for upgraded sway bars.

 

Any suggestions on the best place to pick up the Tanabe bars? Is it a front and rear set?

 

Just Google for them as they are available from many places. They have both the front and the rear bars. The place I bought mine from a few years ago is no longer around or I would link you to them.

 

PM Miata_Mx5 (Ganesh) he should be able to point you in the right direction He used to work for SSR/Tanabe

-Dan

 

I see they are available separatly, do I need them both, or is the 93 rear bar good enough?

 

I would recommend getting both.

 

I have Tanabe F/R bars on mine. IMO the car has a little too much rear bar now, I will be swapping the stock rear bar on to compare. The amount of oversteer I have now is good on an autocross course but I haven't tried it on a road course yet.

I would suggest just getting the front bar, drive it then decide if you want/need the rear bar.

If I decide to stay with the stock rear bar I'll sell you my Tanabe rear bar...

edit: I ordered my Tanabe bars from http://www.evasivemotorsports.com/

 

^^^ I completely agree with Habu2's assessment.

I started off with both a Tanabe F/R sway combo and have gone to a RB/stock sway solution for autox (running with 245/45/16 Star Specs on factory rims). I just had too much oversteer I could not adjust for.

 

what are your guys inputs on sway bars overall? i use to have an 8 and everyone praises the handling and after i got sway bars for it it made it even better

but i feel like on the 7 not to many people care for them? and theres not a huge difference? please tell me im wrong...

 

Unless you road race or autox the car, they are "just a mod".

 

FWIW I tried Suspension Techniques front and rear.

Way too stiff, especially if the tires were cold on a cool day.

First couple corners in the first run of a morning autox the car simply would not turn.
It was quite embarrassing at one event.

Switched to TriPoint with a .180 bar and the middle position on the arms.
Put the stock bar in the back.

Better, but not good enough.

Changed the TP bar to .125 - even better.

Changed the springs from 550/450 to 700/550 - shocks are Koni Yellows.
Much better, handling is much improved.

Third fastest car at the Northwest Porsche shootout last year.

Unfortunately it was my co-driver that got that time.

 

so you guys recommend just the front sway bar? seems like a lot of people like the stock rear sway

 

Some folks use the Racing Beat rear bar, which is somewhat stiffer than stock, though I don't know how much stiffer.

It also depends on the climate. Early season autox's in the Pacific NW tend to be on the chilly side - the back end seems to stick a little better for me with the stock bar.