I got a 2001 Magna sports, I been told its for a 16mm Sway bar in the back! My mate has a heavy duty 26mm one that will fit it and he's going to give it to me cheap! just wondering if its even worth upgrading??

I'd say go for it. Although 26mm is seriously heavy duty isn't it? I think the whiteline heavy duty one is only 22mm or 24mm.. there are apparently some concerns with getting one too stiff. Is it specifically for a magna?

I'd say go for it. Although 26mm is seriously heavy duty isn't it? I think the whiteline heavy duty one is only 22mm or 24mm.. there are apparently some concerns with getting one too stiff. Is it specifically for a magna?

Yeah he bought it for a magna, but his is a older moddel and it doesnt fit!

sway bar and strut brace are 2 very simple and relatively cheap mods that will give you substantially better handling. They are so under-rated.

The whiteline chart says going from 16mm to 26mm will give a 597% increase in stiffness, this figure is not precise as there are other factors to consider just a guide.
A bigger non standard bar makes a big difference. A while ago I played with a TL auto for a few Ks thru some tight corners and you see the difference in body roll and wider lines he was forced to take. Guess he didn't know about my whiteline extras :badgrin:, does now :D . .

Anthony is dead right.

Get it ;)

an upgrade to the stock rear sway bar is always good for handling on fwd's. the factory uses understeer as active safety, and upgrading this hugely cuts understeer to make neutral handling.
But 26mm is too big, that is a good size for a front bar on a big car, not a rear. u will end up creating basically like a live rear axle.

I was talking to a dude the other day about what i wanted to do with my suspenion and he told me NOT to go a rear swaybar because that'd make it handle worse... ( TP magna, going to lower it about 1 1/2 to 2 inches, as low as it can be comfortably done ) and that seemed really weird to me cause this very same dude installed front and rear sway bars on megatrons magna...

I have never heard anyone say a rear sway bar on a FWD car is bad.... just the opposite.

For example every single article on a FWD car written by Whiteline (check their website) mentions an upgraded rear sway bar as one of the first mods to reduce understeer in FWD cars.

Dave

MMMMM why would white line b saying that? think about. not saying they bad as it's my next mod.

actually mayb after extractors

I have never heard anyone say a rear sway bar on a FWD car is bad.... just the opposite.

For example every single article on a FWD car written by Whiteline (check their website) mentions an upgraded rear sway bar as one of the first mods to reduce understeer in FWD cars.
That's right....a stiffer rear bar on a FWD, and a stiffer front bar on a RWD is the norm.

Cheers,
Martin.

Of course their trying to sell their own swaybars.

But lets face it whiteline would never have grown into a succesfull & respected company by preaching & selling complete crap.

But whiteline was just an example, heaps of (all?) suspension companies follow the basic generalisation that an upgraded rear sway bar works well on FWD cars and an upgraded front bar works well with RWD cars.

Also when car companies take a generic family car (Magna, Falcon yadayada) and make a sports version an upgraded sway bar is almost mandatory.

I've also felt a noticeable difference after fitting a rear sway bar with no other mods to both my previous FWD cars. But i think i'm preaching to the converted here....

I would be asking the guy exactly why he doesn't want to fit the sway bar, although i reckon it is too big personally and maybe that is where the problem lies??

Dave

Whiteline do an adjustable rear bar which I think is adjusted by moving the anchor point at the end of the bar which alters the leverage and therefore the stiffness. These sound like the hot item to have.

Does anyone have one of these or know any more about them??

.

Whiteline do an adjustable rear bar which I think is adjusted by moving the anchor point at the end of the bar which alters the leverage and therefore the stiffness. These sound like the hot item to have.

Does anyone have one of these or know any more about them??

.
Yeah I installed one in my AWD. the ends of the bar (18mm bar not 22mm) have three holes drilled so that you can move it up or down a little, increasing the torsion that the bar is under and therefore how much of the force is given to the opposite wheel.

It is on the middle setting at the moment but I have not done any testing to measure the diffeerence.

Installing the rear sway bar is dead easy. Non-equipped ones have to have the mounts and bushes installed but if your car comes with one then upgrade, nylon bushes and an upgraded sway bar do wonders for control and the rear is very cheap. The front one is a little different. You have to drop both towers and the exhaust then if it plays on the day you dont ahve to losen your steering gear and some other things (on the AWD it included dropping the drive shaft) And in the end the Mitsu bar was 24mm and the Selby (whiteline) was 26mm (I think they were the numbers) so not much change in thickness but the Selby with nylon bushes does an amazing job.

While you are at it make sure you get a Strut brace.

And if you are going to drop the towers put in some king super lows and also get the camber and castor kits for you car. Heck just do it all (mine was around $1400 for the lot fully installed) and make sure you get a wheel alignment, make it agressive too.

:cool:

Well its in now anyway and damn it makes a huge difference, anyone thinking about doing it get it you will be impressed!

OMG...all that for only $1400 ????

thx for the info allpaw.
i might leave the front sway alone if its that much work.
but nu rear sway and front strut brace sound easy enuf.

(my rear window has started creaking over inclines/bumps.... bah :()

WSDsmurf

it all depends on how you set it up.

Generaly you will have a lighter rear swaybar than what is in the front. This is to help with understeer more than anything. A larger rear bar (than nominal) will incourage the rear to jup out around corners, which isn't advised even in a fwd car. A softer rear bar (than nominal) will make the car floaty and understeer because the rear is twisting the car a little.

27mm/25mm is the idea i got as to the best. along with some 30mm lowered springs (yes only 30mm because lower is not alyways the best)

it all depends on how you set it up.

Generaly you will have a lighter rear swaybar than what is in the front. This is to help with understeer more than anything. A larger rear bar (than nominal) will incourage the rear to jup out around corners, which isn't advised even in a fwd car. A softer rear bar (than nominal) will make the car floaty and understeer because the rear is twisting the car a little.

27mm/25mm is the idea i got as to the best. along with some 30mm lowered springs (yes only 30mm because lower is not alyways the best)

IMHO a stiffer rear bar is better as it gives you the amount of throttle control to get the back out if you want to, again it depends on how well the driver knows their car. Agreed though that 30mm drop is good for *real* use instead of doing laps of the local boulevarde; suspension is only as good as when there's useable travel and not grinding against the bumpstops...

so is it ok if its just sitting on the bumpstops?.... :D lol
or what if there are not bumpstops left? :bowrofl:

so is it ok if its just sitting on the bumpstops?.... :D lol
or what if there are not bumpstops left? :bowrofl:

Sitting on bumpstops is awesome, it's just like driving a go kart or F1 car... pity that our roads are not exactly mirror smooth and debris-free though :cry:

Sitting on bumpstops is awesome, it's just like driving a go kart or F1 car... pity that our roads are not exactly mirror smooth and debris-free though :cry:

and that our cars dont go from 0-300kmh in 5 seconds......

and that our cars dont go from 0-300kmh in 5 seconds......

Why doesn't yours??? :D

My motorbike doesn't even do that!!! and goddamn that is quick! :bowrofl: