typeRv4

A small bit from an article

AutoSpeed - Sway Bar Shenanigans

Front Wheel Drive
Front wheel drive cars tend to understeer. This is the case because the front tyres are forced to perform two tasks – transferring torque to the road and also turning the car.

It’s best to fit a thicker anti-roll bar to the rear of these cars, with stiffness increases of 100 per cent over standard being common. This helps hold the car flat, counteracting understeer without causing the same problems as a bigger front sway bar which tends to lift the front inside wheel, worsening the understeer.

But can the rear roll stiffness be too great? Yes, it can. A FWD car with an over-stiff rear will have throttle-off oversteer. This can be a little tricky, especially in wet conditions or with an inexperienced driver. Someone who lifts off sharply when the car starts to understeer might be a little surprised when the back suddenly comes out! Very sporty FWD cars (and those set up for circuit use) frequently lift the inside rear wheel right off the ground because of the very stiff rear roll stiffness.

But in a front-wheel drive that understeers, upping the thickness of the rear sway bar is a great place to start. And, as we keep saying, it’s cheap too.

Rear Wheel Drive
Because a rear wheel drive car transfers torque to the road through the back wheels, it’s necessary that they both stay on the ground. Lifting an inside rear wheel will cause wheelspin (in cars without an LSD) and more power oversteer (in cars with an LSD). RWD cars therefore tend to use greater front roll stiffness, provided largely by the sway bar. However, if understeer is strong, a slightly stiffer rear bar can be used.

If a rear-wheel drive oversteers, or a non-LSD car picks up an inside rear wheel and spins it, fit a larger front sway-bar. If the car understeers a lot, fit a bigger rear sway-bar.

Four Wheel Drive
Some four wheel drive cars understeer, some four wheel drive cars oversteer. The solutions are much the same as you apply to a front-wheel drive (if it understeers) or rear-wheel drive (if it oversteers.) Yep, that’s a simplification, but remember, we’re not purists!




Apon reading this article - it made me think about my own experiences.

The type R i have with the DCCD 30/70 torque spread is bias toward oversteer or a RWD like AWD set up.

And when i put rear and front ARBS on i felt the 22mm front bar has done more for handling than the rear 22mm i installed. If anything the bigger rear has made it too oversteery on the track.


So be interesting to see what others think. And i think Mr 911 is getting dccd so be interesting to see what happens there as well.