Sway bar question

boejoula

boejoula

Well-Known Member
215
68
Vehicle Model
Civic Si
Body Style
Sedan
I've been reading about upgrading sway bars and a lot of people say to only upgrade the rear. Wouldn't that throw off the balance of the vehicle in turns? I want to upgrade my sway bars this spring but though t would be best to increas them by the same diameter. If I go from 15mm to 19mm in the rear, should I go from 18mm to 22mm in the front?
 
If I have read correctly through this forum that's what's already throwing off the balance and causing the significant part of the under steer/body roll. So upgrading both would probably help the body roll but make the cornering radius about the same.
 
boejoula said:
I've been reading about upgrading sway bars and a lot of people say to only upgrade the rear. Wouldn't that throw off the balance of the vehicle in turns? I want to upgrade my sway bars this spring but though t would be best to increase them by the same diameter. If I go from 15mm to 19mm in the rear, should I go from 18mm to 22mm in the front?
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I actually asked to person that said that, that I'd like to know who,how,why they think this is the case, but they never answered me......... I wasn't saying it because I doubted them, I was wondering about why.
 
No, the thicker the front sway bar the more understeer you would have. So unless you are racing and using an extremely large rear sway bar, then you do not need a different front bar. You want to induce oversteer by indeed throwing off the balance a bit and letting more weight get transferred to the rear to have the back of the car swing out wider.
 
The stock Civic understeers quite alot. You are right that it will change the balance, and from a purist performance view, that's a good thing because the stock civic is a pig when pushed really hard. So, adding just a bigger rear swaybar is actually important to making the car faster through the turns.

Many people will opt to increase front and rear together to keep the balance the same, and it will make the car feel better and corner flatter, but it will be slower through the turns than if you just increased the rear bar.

Hope that helps. :)
Chris
 
RedShiftChris said:
The stock Civic understeers quite alot. You are right that it will change the balance, and from a purist performance view, that's a good thing because the stock civic is a pig when pushed really hard. So, adding just a bigger rear swaybar is actually important to making the car faster through the turns.

Many people will opt to increase front and rear together to keep the balance the same, and it will make the car feel better and corner flatter, but it will be slower through the turns than if you just increased the rear bar.

Hope that helps. :)
Chris
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It's helps but could you explain to me why?
 
That could take a bit of time. The most obviously reason related to this thread is that they use a big front bar and a small rear bar. They do that so that your grandmother doesn't get in trouble in an emergency maneuver and spin the car on the way to the store for prunes. The stock car is very safe in this way... but that is not what will make the car fast through corners. So, the bigger rear bar will help the car rotate in corners.

For more info, you should look into what makes a car handle well. The basics are not too bad but can get complicated quickly as you ask more questions. :)

Chris
 
RedShiftChris said:
That could take a bit of time. The most obviously reason related to this thread is that they use a big front bar and a small rear bar. They do that so that your grandmother doesn't get in trouble in an emergency maneuver and spin the car on the way to the store for prunes. The stock car is very safe in this way... but that is not what will make the car fast through corners. So, the bigger rear bar will help the car rotate in corners.

For more info, you should look into what makes a car handle well. The basics are not too bad but can get complicated quickly as you ask more questions. :)


Chris
Click to expand...
Thank you sir! What is your recommendation for a rear sway bar?
 
What is the stock size of the front sway bar on a Si and EX? I know the rear on Si is 15 mm. Not sure about the EX. Thank you.
 
IF the new front sway is larger than stock:

If you were to swap in just the front sway it would increase understeer.

Paired with an equal increase in rear size, less body roll, same handling. (understeer)
 
Get the 22mm rear sway and call it a day. Either way, I hope you're pulling at least a few "g" turns to actually utilize this upgrade. LOL - otherwise you probably won't feel the difference over stock size. IMO.
 
I drive pretty quickly through a roundabout a few times a day. I cannot wait to upgrade to the Progress bar and see/feel the difference. May be a few months, though. :(
 
so I should just be looking into the rear swaybar instead of the pair. makes saving some money a lil easier. haha. the one thing i dont like bout my SI, is that it doesnt handle like my 07 GTI did. so thats the major thing I wanna upgrade right now.
 
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