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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.
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just wanted to point out that poly bushings and SVT sway bar in the back w/ non-SVT sway bar and OEM bushings in the front make the car relatively neutral/provide very slight oversteer. cars understeer from factory for a reason, so unless you know damn well what you are doing, this is probably the most oversteer you want to get into the street suspension.
my $0.02
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Originally posted by alex_96GL:
just wanted to point out that poly bushings and SVT sway bar in the back w/ non-SVT sway bar and OEM bushings in the front make the car relatively neutral/provide very slight oversteer. cars understeer from factory for a reason, so unless you know damn well what you are doing, this is probably the most oversteer you want to get into the street suspension.
my $0.02
The Aussie bar with poly bushings and stock non-SVT stuff up front makes my car undesteer slightly in steady-state cornering. You can make any car do anything, it's the balance point that you change. If you get the tires squealing on an on-ramp and then hit the brakes, and Aussie bar will take you around. The SVT bar might just get loose. But in any case, you should know about lift-throttle oversteer before taking a ramp at the limit, regardless of mods. IF YOU CAN DRIVE, even the Aussie is not a problem. If you have never had any instruction, then don't push your car where you could hit someone/something.
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If I were to upgrade my stock 17mm to a 19mm would I need to do anything like re-enforced subframe/brackets or whatever?
I think I'd be happy with doing that if it didn't require the modification that bigger sway bar upgrades do.
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Probably would be okay, especially if your subframe is generally rust-free.
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Originally posted by Auto-X Fil:
Originally posted by alex_96GL:
...
my $0.02
... IF YOU CAN DRIVE, even the Aussie is not a problem.
didn't you just repeat what I said? 
Originally posted by Auto-X Fil:
The Aussie bar with poly bushings and stock non-SVT stuff up front makes my car undesteer slightly in steady-state cornering.
something's wrong. '96 GL V6(basically the exact setup you have) was mildly oversteering w/ SVT bar. that was some time ago, so I suspect your OEM struts have a lot to do w/ it.
BAT kit w/ the same bar on '98 makes a neutral setup which is easy to control. I have a lot more tire on 98 though...
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Originally posted by Auto-X Fil:
Here are 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)
Just to be anal let me point out two (very) small errors. First, the large BAT bar is 13/16â? or 20.6mm diameter, not 21mm. I know, I know, BATâ??s web site says its 21mm, but if you ask Eric he admits that they use the more common 13/16â? stock and just round-up (rather generously I would say) to call it a 21mm bar. And second, IF ATI makes any â??Aussieâ? bars they will be using 15/16â? or 23.8mm diameter stock, not 22.3mm as you listed.
The Original Owner of 1998 SVT Contour #3384 of 6535,
Toreador Red/Midnight Blue, Assembled September 3rd, 1997
Also the Original Owner of a 1998.5 Contour SE Sport V6 5-speed,
Vibrant White/Greystone Sport Cloth, Assembled August 6th, 1998
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Good point on both counts.
Alex: I suspect a bad rear alignment or something. Are you saying that in a steady-state corner, the back end would get loose? I don't mean coasting, I mean on the gas enough to keep your speed constant. My car is so far from that I can't imagine yours could have done that. I'll see what effect super-stiff springs have on my handling in a few weeks, but theoretically the balance should remain the same.
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With stock spring rates I think the aussie bar is actually too soft for auto-x. I think it approaches the limit on road courses though. I would really like to play with two sets of aftermarket springs to get the car to balance better. For a while now I have been considering eibach fronts with h&R rears, tuning the handling solely with sway bars is really not the best way to do it. It will transfer lltd, but it ties both sides together which is cdetainly not a good thing.
98 3.0 svt: Sold
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Good point. I'll add something to that effect. Swaybars are good in that they decrease roll and the associated CG change, decreasing weight transfer. However, you decrease the independance of the suspension, which is a bad thing. On a race car, it's a balancing act. On a Contour, it takes a lot of work to swap front bars and there aren't custom small bars, so we are pretty much stuck with a 19mm or 20mm up front, and tune the rear to balance the car.
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