Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Group Buy Sway Bar GB

Okay, here's the deal: The ATI deal is taking forever, but I think when and if it happens it will be a quality product, hopefully at a decent price. For those reasons, and the fact that ATI is a great company that has helped out CEGers before, I don't want to mess up that GB. So, for now, I'll say this is NOT a GB. If a) ATI wants to bail, which would be a shame, b) we can get enough people to do two GBs, or c) ATI can't com through at a good price, then this can happen. If people start dropping out of the ATI Aussie buy becuase of this, I will close it up and not release any details, so don't try to bail on the Aussie bar for this deal until we get things figured out.

The scoop: I talked to Company X. Company X can make sway bars for us. They can make a 7/8" solid swaybar that would be heavier than the Aussie and not quite as stiff: 15% less. However, if would be perfect for street cars as it would keep handling neutral even at higher speeds, and really, when you have 50lbs of subs, what's 2 more lbs of swaybar? I THINK this would be identical to the Addco bar you can buy now, but I can't get details from Addco: their loss. The onyl difference is Addco is $160 shipped, this bar would be $100 + ship. This would also be a great stiffness for road-racing, but serious racers might care about the extra weight. This bar is a good bit stiffer than the 20.5 (21)mm BAT bar.

They can also make a 1" hollow bar. This would be 15% STIFFER than the Aussie bar, and just a hair heavier. I would sell this for "off-road" use only, since it would be pretty serious. It would be the perfect bar for auto-cross, especially with Stazi's endlinks and the poly bushings. I've heard that the Aussie bar may be a little too much for high-speed racing, so this bar would probably be too much. However, for those that are running a pretty serious suspension set-up and want ALL the undesteer gone, this would be the stiffest bar ever made for the Contour/Cougar platform.

I can't see getting both of these made. Personally, I think that for most CEGers use, a $100 7/8" swaybar would add negligible weight (about the same as half a gallon of gas) and provide near-perfect all-around handling. Obviously SVTs with the smaller front bar, and cars with Stazi or other aftermarket endlinks would have more effective stiffness from this bar. This is what I would get, and I think it would be THE bang-for-the buck handling mod. The 1" hollow bar has a market, but there are very few hardcore auto-x racers here. However, if the Aussie bar falls through, this will be VERY close in specs to that. It's 340% stiffer than stock, the Aussie is 345% stiffer. Not a huge difference.

So, with enough people (Company X wants 50), we could run this GB for the 7/8" for people who aren't sure if they need the Aussie, or who can't wait; and keep the Aussie group bar rolling. So, if you are interested, please put yourself in one of four categories:

If you are in the Aussie GB:
1: I'll get the 1" if the Aussie GB falls through.
2: I'll get the 7/8" if the Aussie GB falls through.
3: I'll bail and go with the 7/8" bar.

If you aren't:
4: I'll sign up for the 7/8" right now.

NOTE: DO NOT REMOVE YOURSELF FROM THE AUSSIE LIST!
I won't ruin two group buys by competing within CEG, and I won't sour relationships with ATI over this. If we do both, we'll only take option 3 from a few people, so both can happen.

im down for the 1", i am on the aussie bar gb and would like to stay there , but if it dosent end up working out ill take the 1".

Really, I'll take whatever gets produced first at a decent price. I don't know how harsh the 1" could be, but if it isn't too bad for street use and if it would get rid of understeer, thats the one I would prefer. I'm going to be in one of these one way or another, its just the first one gets the cash.

BTW: what about the bushings needed for your bars? Those going to be included?

It'll have bushings included, yes. And please, people, read about what swaybars do! They don't have anything to do with ride quality. They are used to tune the suspension for understeer/oversteer. For low-speed high-g cornering, you want more oversteer, for high-speed stuff oversteer is a little easier to come by, so a smaller rear bar is in order.

link to good thread on sway bar physics

ill be using for the street so id be fine with the 7/8th. id rather spend $100 than $250, plus not having to wait for a longgg time. i appreciate ATI's help but i think this would work out better for me personally.

all i know is ive got this big ol brand new subframe sitting in my backyard waiting for a sway bar to go in with it.

Im deff down for this Company X makin the 1" hollow bar. Put me down.

I'm down for the 1", i am on the aussie bar gb and would like to stay there , but if it dosent end up working out I'll take the 1".
$100 -B.
You are doing this the right way, and I want to be the first to thank you. Its nice to know there is a backup plan. I would really like to get mine by this summer though.

Whoops... I forgot to note that the 1" bar would be $130+ ship, with bushings... my bad.