Quote:

Quote:

I am starting to wonder if Sway bar Diameter has that much of a direct/precise input on handling, since there is so little empirical data advertised anyway.



No, it doesn't. On any kind of race/high-performance car, sway bars are used to dial in oversteer, or understeer. That's why race cars use adjustable sway bars.

Spring rates are far more important to handling than sway bars, and a sway bar that's too big can easily negatively effect handling. A sway bar basically links the two sides of the front suspension together. When one tire moves up, the sway bar pulls the opposite tire up with it. This gives the appearance of a flatter cornering car, but think about what's happening to the inside tire as it gets lifted up. It loses grip because the sway bar is trying to pull the tire up, taking weight off that corner. Sure, a flatter cornering car seems like a good idea, but if a sway bar is used as a bandaid for too-soft springs and the flat cornering comes at a cost to cornering grip, what's the point?

Basically, a sway bar is a small part of the suspension that should be used as a tuning device, not a cure all. A good handling car will have a well matched suspension, and I'd bet most people would be surprised how soft the sway bars are on real race cars.



Bingo! There are a couple people here who know about suspension. People who just put the largest bars on both ends of the car, usually end up mostly sideways or swapping ends on a wet or slippery road. You lose all the feel of the car and unload the suspension where it needs to be loaded. A lot of road racers will completely disconnect the rear bar in the rain.
A little body lean is good. On a race track with experienced drivers a tight no roll suspension is great, but there are no railroad tracks, potholes or speed bumps on most race tracks.
The Rallye race cars have very light bars on them, since they need the feel.
I don't know what the formula is. I've always just tried different bars and different settings until I hit it right. Knowing the numbers might help if you know how to extrapolate them into some formula or rule.

dave
florida