TTR Rear Sway Bar Installation 101
10-15-2009, 03:16 PM
#13
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 05-06-2008
Location: Over here
Posts: 1,076
Following up with a little commentary. I have the good fortune of a rather fun stretch of road on my commute to work...
Traveling west to east in the morning, the run is on an uphill grade all the way to the "sunny" part in about the middle of the pic. From there, continuing west, it's down the hill I just climbed. If I time the commute right, I have largely unrestricted road ahead of me.
Before the TTR rear sway bar, I found that in the high speed lefthand sweeper going up the hill, the car tended to squat hard. This gave a feel of stability, but it was obviously at a performance/speed cost. On the way down the hill, the car handled quite well, but on the switchbacks, the car was too quick to transfer from right to left lean, creating a need to either back off the gas a little or scrub the insides of the turns.
Today was my first chance to really push the car on the course. Note: I have a GT30, so I'm moving quite a bit more air through the motor than the stock K04. Stock tires with 20k miles. TTR rear sway bar. ESC off!
Running up the long straight to the big sweeper was typical, but I decided to run deeper into the turn before letting up to force the suspension to its edge. I was quickly surprised that I wasn't at the edge... so I laid back into it (keeping the car in 3rd and 4th, and between 4500-7000 rpm keeps the turbo properly spooled) and just kept pressing it until the tires started breaking loose. Instead of getting that "safe and comfy" squat that tells you to slow down, the rearend just kept fighting to keep the rear stable, even as the tires were giving up. At the tail end of that sweeper, I was in a genuine FWD drift, using power to pull the car back in line.
Slowing down as I peaked the hill (that south road entry sometimes has cars, and it's pretty blind until you're on it), I dropped into 3rd for some downhill action. I found myself having to scrub the insides of the turns as usual, but was definitely doing it at a higher speed. The car was simply more stable without that rear outside corner wanting to squat down every time I hit a hard turn.
Don't drive like this is you're not experienced and understand the mechanics involved. Don't drive like this around other vehicles, people, or property. Don't get fooled by your vehicle's speed. While this bar clearly raises stability, the onset of instability comes harder, and so there's less time to react to it than to stock "car squatting" behavior.
Conclusion-- worth every penny. Buy and enjoy. Oh, and you can't see the thing on the car, so I'm not sure there's any value in the bright or customer color options.
Traveling west to east in the morning, the run is on an uphill grade all the way to the "sunny" part in about the middle of the pic. From there, continuing west, it's down the hill I just climbed. If I time the commute right, I have largely unrestricted road ahead of me.
Before the TTR rear sway bar, I found that in the high speed lefthand sweeper going up the hill, the car tended to squat hard. This gave a feel of stability, but it was obviously at a performance/speed cost. On the way down the hill, the car handled quite well, but on the switchbacks, the car was too quick to transfer from right to left lean, creating a need to either back off the gas a little or scrub the insides of the turns.
Today was my first chance to really push the car on the course. Note: I have a GT30, so I'm moving quite a bit more air through the motor than the stock K04. Stock tires with 20k miles. TTR rear sway bar. ESC off!
Running up the long straight to the big sweeper was typical, but I decided to run deeper into the turn before letting up to force the suspension to its edge. I was quickly surprised that I wasn't at the edge... so I laid back into it (keeping the car in 3rd and 4th, and between 4500-7000 rpm keeps the turbo properly spooled) and just kept pressing it until the tires started breaking loose. Instead of getting that "safe and comfy" squat that tells you to slow down, the rearend just kept fighting to keep the rear stable, even as the tires were giving up. At the tail end of that sweeper, I was in a genuine FWD drift, using power to pull the car back in line.
Slowing down as I peaked the hill (that south road entry sometimes has cars, and it's pretty blind until you're on it), I dropped into 3rd for some downhill action. I found myself having to scrub the insides of the turns as usual, but was definitely doing it at a higher speed. The car was simply more stable without that rear outside corner wanting to squat down every time I hit a hard turn.
Don't drive like this is you're not experienced and understand the mechanics involved. Don't drive like this around other vehicles, people, or property. Don't get fooled by your vehicle's speed. While this bar clearly raises stability, the onset of instability comes harder, and so there's less time to react to it than to stock "car squatting" behavior.
Conclusion-- worth every penny. Buy and enjoy. Oh, and you can't see the thing on the car, so I'm not sure there's any value in the bright or customer color options.
11-26-2009, 10:33 PM
#17
Senior Member
Join Date: 11-15-2008
Location: Newburgh, NY
Posts: 1,599
11-29-2009, 08:09 PM
#18
Former Sponsor
Join Date: 10-08-2007
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 1,821
