Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Suspension Stiffer Rear Springs Vs Stiffer Rear Sway Bar?

Looking for opinions on this.

I currently run stock springs with Koni's and the Aussiebar. I am very pleased with the handling of the setup, however, I wonder if stiffer rear springs with the stock swaybar would be a better setup. Here's why.

*You could attain the same roll stiffess as with the aussiebar with stiffer rear springs, maintaining the overall neutral handling the Aussiebar delivers.

*The stiffer springs would help minimize weight transfer rearward while accelerating out of corners, minimizing wheelspin and understeer, allowing us to put the power down sooner on corner exit.

*By using the stock swaybar, the clunking and broken bracket issues that some experience with the Aussiebar would be a non-issue.

*The stiffer springs would help the car handle load. For example, a heavy load in the trunk or rear seat pasengers. The stock setup sags considerably.

*All this would come at a penalty of a stiffer ride in the rear.

Now a few questions...

-Does anyone know of stiffer springs for the rear that maintain the stock ride height, or are adjustable ride height coil overs the only option? (could adjust corner weights if necessary.)

-What are the stock spring rates? I need this to estimate the spring rate necessary to maintain the roll stiffness of my current setup(to maintain neutral handling.)

Anybody have any thoughts or opinions on this????

I have the h&r's + konis with the stock sway bar, I had an aussie bar which i was planning to install but after I drove the car for a while I thought it would throw off the balance since the rear end was already pretty predictable and enducing oversteer in the turns wasn't a problem.

I think the aussie bar would be great with my setup for an autox with tight corners and lower speeds but at higher speeds I think it would be scary.

The h&r's in the rear have pretty much stock ride height and I assume they are stiffer than the stock springs.

Objection. Compound question. But a few comments:

#1 GOOD LUCK finding stiffer springs if you like the stock ride height. Old SE springs are apparently stiffest, Roush may do a slight drop, I can't address height changes from coil overs like ground controls, so maybe they are your answer. But I found NOTHING aftermarket otherwise that was stiffer w/o height changes. I even looked into having heavier rear springs made as I want a functional trunk (good for carrying corpses) and rear passengers. But it got prohibitive fast.

#2 Going with a stock rear sway bar so you don't break loose from the rear subframe like with an Aussie bar? HA! There have been bunches of postings of CSVTs that broke loose just with STOCK bars! If you wanna be aggressive, you wanna get reinforced correctly and the stock bar is not the fix.

#3 SOMEWHERE on this site there are specs on the various stock springs, old SE vs vs new SE vs SVT vs GL. Keeping looking and you'll find it WITHOUT using the search function. Try the "FAQ" and "Model Specifications."

Do not go with the roush setup, it slams the rear, h&r is the best way to go.

I have bat struts with roush spring and an aussie bar, and I think it has the car balanced wonderfully. The oversteer is definitely there, but for the most part only when actions are done that would put any nuetral car into oversteer, (hard throttle lifts in corners, trail braking...etc.). I would not recommend this to inexperienced drivers, but for those who have a sense of what they are doing, this setup is very rewarding, I love it.