linnboi

i'm lookin for some strut bars and sway bars to improve the handling a bit. what else could i touch up to improve the handling department.....?

anyone got a clue ..... ?

any help would be greatly appreciated. i've checked a few sites here and there already.

sashax415

i believe eibach should be coming out with a set of sways very soon...if it is not out already..

ddquach

iTrader: (3)

Hey linnboi, I spoke with Steve @ LMS and the front/rear struts bars are being produce right now. I think it'll be ready with the month or less. I already waiting for a set myself...

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

i know adding strut bars will induce either understeer or oversteer (I think) if so which bar will induce understeer and which will induce over?

sashax415

I am a little rusty w/ suspension... but i believe that sway bars are way more effective than strut bars when you want to inc/dec. oversteer or understeer. If i remember correctly, a thicker rear sway bar will decrease understeer and even possibly cause the car to oversteer. So if you want more understeer, then you would want a thicker front sway. I haven't pushed the IS at all so i don't know how it handles stock.

al503

Sway bars should be used to fine tune the suspension and not to change it dramatically.

Your car's springs actually have more of a say in terms of over/understeer.

All other things being equal, to reduce understeer, you want to stiffen the rear bar and/or soften the front bar. To reduce oversteer, you want to do the opposite.

Stiffer sways also tend to help keep the car flatter through a corner. Lot of people like this because it's more confidence inspiring. However, going too stiff may actually hurt performance as you will start losing the benefits of an independent suspension and your overall, max grip may suffer.

MikeFD3S

Tanabe is looking into developing chromoly stabilizers for the IS. No TB though (have to remove all the plastic engine covers, which in some cases help with the airflow under the hood) Should be a lot of parts available by 2007 from all of the companies.

Tower bars assist in the initial response towards steering inputs, but won't really have an effect on lateral forces like a stabilizer will. There are always compromises on each part, so significantly stiffer is not always better.

Best suspension upgrade is tires-- good tires will allow you to get the most out of the car, and any minor suspension upgrades (springs, dampers, stabilizers) that come along the way.

Drastic upgrades to the suspension are not wholly necessary IMO, since it's doubtful that majority of people will be able to get the most out of an advanced suspension setup that has lots of adjustable settings (which usually serve to confuse or allow for errors).

A nice case study would be one of the street car challenges that happened a few years back...a grid of highly modified 800+ hp cars with tons of bolt on upgrade parts....the winner? Stock Z06 Corvette.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

ok so sway bars do the inducing, and i guess strut bars just stiffen the chassis. My bros TSX has a factory front strut bar, and it feels very good in a corner

HaveBlue

yea strut bars stiffen the chassis. The IS doesn't have much slop. Stiffening the chassis helps keep suspension geometry in line which increases cornering power and tightens the steering which increases handling feel. Cornering power and handling feel relate but are not inclusive of each other.

Besides controling sway, the sway bars do affect contact force and balance as others have stated. They also effect the overall spring rate along with the coils. Sway bars are primarily used to increase handling feel so that the chassis follows the steering input without lagging behind. They increase cornering power by preventing the chassis' inertial momentum from abruptly pulling the tires from the road. They also increase cornering power by keeping the suspension in the optimal position. Most suspensions will have less optimal geometry at it's extremes in travel.

Too much sway bar and your cornering power goes away due to the bumps in the road we all face.

Here is an old pic of a brace I fabricated for my Camaro. That car had a REALLY loose chassis.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

so there wouldnt be any negative performance consequences of adding a front strut bar then. I know with the sways you can do all that inducing under/over steering but I dont want to mess with that

mwaull

when i look on the box of my eibach prokit it has pics of some i believe, so i would check their site.

linnboi

does anyone know where i can find some good sway bars for the is350? im also lookin for strut bars too! anything to improve the handling of the car would be great!

accelerate

Hey came across these. http://www.hopupracing.com/eiankitfrrea27.html

Sexi_Lexi

nice find! anyone got these on their car yet?

ULTiMaX99

iTrader: (5)

i heard those haven't even been released by eibach yet???