I decided to beef up the FAQ. Here's what's there now:

Quote:


What are the differences in stock sway bars between models?
Front:
Year/ Model/ Engine/ Size
All/ SVT/ V6/ 19MM
All/ Non-SVT/ ALL/ 20MM
Rear:
Year/ Model/ Engine/ Size
1995-1998/ GL&LX/ ALL/ 17MM
1995-1998/ SE/ All/ 19MM
1998.5+/ LX/ I4/ 16MM
1998.5+/ LX/ V6/ 17MM
1998.5+/ SE/ All/ 18MM
All/ SVT/ V6/ 18MM
*These are not absolute and it's likely that there are a few odd cars out there. The smaller bars on the SVT were to improve traction and reduce understeer.

What are the benefits of installing larger sway bars?
-Sway bars are a cheap alternative to upgrading your suspension. They won't give you all the benefits of a full suspension upgrade, but they can/will reduce body roll and make the bodies interaction with the suspension more rigid.
-The only options for front sway bars are the different factory ones. SVT actually reduced the size of the SVT's front sway bar to improve the front suspensions grip and reduce understeer.
-As for the rear sway bars, the two main aftermarket rear sway bar replacements are the Aussie bar, 24mm hollow, and BAT's, 21mm solid. Some report the upgraded bars make the rear break loose easier, while other report it makes it easier to identify when the rear will break loose. Regardless, it is highly advised that you have your rear sway bar to sub frame links beefed up, be it with weld in brackets or having them fully boxed in.

How do I box in the rear subframe?
courtesy of Brad Ness
Firstly, knowledge of the specific application (Why is it distorting?), ability to weld and access to materials and equipment. To do the job properly (so it won't need rewelding later) IT'S IMPERATIVE THAT THE COMPLETE SUBFRAME BE REMOVED FROM THE CHASSIS. This also requires special tools (aka subframe alignment pins) and knowledge. There's simply no room to get in and do the job correctly any other way. Some are simply welding thicker plates on (which adversely affect rear suspension geometry) but the correct way is to fully buttress all the way around the factory "socket" (as I call it). I've done this job many times and never had a "come-back" even with track usage (road race).





Here's what I would like to add:

Swaybars are a confusing topic. Let me get one thing straight: bigger is not always better. Swaybars are not just to keep the car from exhibiting body roll in a corner, they are a tuning device. The SVT has a smaller front swayabr. This is because swyabars have some negative effects, like reducing traction in the corners. They increase the weight transfer at that end of the vehicle, and don't let the springs do their job as well as they'd like to.

So what to do? The reason to beef up your swaybar is to get better balance. The Contique, like all production cars, underteers under nearly all conditions. It's not balanced. So we increase the roll stiffness in the rear, transferring more weight to the outside rear tire, at the same time taking weight off the outside front tire. This lets us corner faster, and prevents the car from pushing horribly when we get loose. Beefing up the front bar is not a good idea. This makes the problem worse. now switching to the SVT 19mm front bar if you have a 20mm is an option, but a real pain, and probably not worth it. If you race (not drag), then you may want to consider it, but this isn't written for you anyway.

Here's the options as of today, in increasing stiffness:

17mm stock
19mm BAT/SVT/SE sport (all the same, we think)
21mm BAT
7/8" Addco
24mm hollow "Aussie" (22.3mm equivalent)

The 19mm bars are a nice upgrade for the economy-minded non-SVT owner. Used SVT bars can be had cheap. For any street driving, the 21mm BAT is a huge improvement, and probably the way to go. However, group buys can make the 7/8" cheaper than the 21mm, which means if you can get in on an order of 50+, you can make that the best deal.

Then there's the Aussie. This is only available via GB, but is the stiffest bar (just a tiny bit more than the 7/8"), and also the same weight as the 19mm. If you can get one, they are the way to go for autocross, where you want to get rid of that low-speed understeer. They are also great for the street, but it can be a pain finding one.

I hope this can be cleaned up and re-factored into the FAQ so that we don't have any more threads about larger front swaybars, and the difference between the bars. Oh, and a link to that subframe-boxing how-to would be good, the one with the pics of the square tube-steel job. I'm not sure where that one is.

-Philip Maynard '95 Contour [71 STS | Track Whore] '97 Miata [71 ES | Boulevard Pimp] 2006 autocross results