How much does a rear sway bar help?

[Evok]

Thinking of investing in a sway bar to increase handling due to a awesome amount of body roll !

Please rate how much you recommend getting a rear sway bar out of 10!

Also would sway bar do as much handling compared getting damper adjustable shocks?


Thank you!

[NeedVtec]

obviously there is no comparison between the two, but a rsb does help a lot! out of 10, probably 7 or 8. So much better than front strut bars!

[Riced_Civic]

in vest in a good set of coilovers if u want to eliminate most of the body roll.

then if u feel the need to eliminate more roll invest in the bigger rear SB.

if u only want to eliminate a fraction of the roll get the RSB

[Jccck]

Just based on prices, F+R Swaybars are the best bang for your buck suspension mod you can do!
And the difference is huge!

[EK1 Civic]

I rather have my swaybars then my coilovers

[dougie_504]

Sway bars alone will reduce some roll without making your ride uncomfortable like how coilovers can. If you want the best handling get both. If it was a choice between the two id get coilovers as I think they reduce the roll more on their own than the rsb will.

[Oz_Striker]

My old ek1 didn't have a rear sway bar from stock, I upgraded my shocks and springs and then put an ek9 rear sway bar on and the difference was huge, way less roll in the rear and the car felt a lot more stable through corners. As said above though I'd still buy some coilovers as I would also agree they would remove more body roll, but having both would be even better

[senna]

You need to consider what you are doing with the suspension later on. A rear swaybar will give you better turn in by reducing the amount of rear grip. This happens because more of the cornering loads are being managed directly by the tyre rather than through the suspension travel and then into the tyre.

On standard style springs and shocks this is generally ok, but once you've increased the roll stiffness with coilovers, for example, on top of the swaybar then the tyre also needs to be upgraded to handle the increased load and continue to give better handling. If you are fitting coilovers you may find that going back to the stock swaybar gives a better result on the road with road tyres.

Sometimes swaybars can make your car "feel" fast because its sitting flat, but actually go around the corner slower.

[stndrd]

As mentioned above, you need to think about what you are doing with the car. Are you going to track it or is it just for the street. Personally, I would recommend getting a good set of coilovers first as at LEGAL speeds, just about all the body roll will be eliminated. Also by having the option of being able to lower the car, you also lower the center of gravity, which helps with reducing body roll & evening out cornering forces. If you are going to track the car, I say yes to a swaybar, but only once you have coilovers have been fitted, as depending on what spring rates you go, will help determine what size front & rear swaybars to run. Also make sure the rear is adjustable & I would personally invest in a set of aftermarket (Skunk2, Function7 etc) rear LCA's to give even more rear swaybar adjustment and if you are fitting to an early civic/integra, remember to get a rear subframe brace, otherwise you will tear the swaybar mounts off the subframe

[senna]

^^ agreed

Keep in mind though, for a road car coilovers also aren't the best option (especially with Sydney's crappy roads) as the cheaper end of the market is generally rubbish from a compliance point of view - spring rates too high and shock bump valving too firm.
A good set of Koni shocks with lowered coils (not too low so you run out of shock travel) will give you a huge increase in performance while still retaining a good level of comfort or compliance. They will also reduce the body roll by having a stronger rebound valve, this stops the inside lifting while cornering.

***i'm a noob on the forum guys but this is one area i can definitely help out!

[stndrd]

If I could give you another rep point I would, but I can't just yet.

I run Tein Monoflex on my EG hatch and find that with 10kg/mm2 f & 6kg/mm2 r spring rates, it was not overly stiff and the valving was able to keep up with Melbourne roads. I am now looking at upgrading to KW (tho this will be to support a K swap & dedicated track set up) as the KW valving is even better than the Tein's.

If you live in Melbourne Evok, drop me a PM if you would like to talk some more, as I have direct access to Koni and am able to get very competitive prices for you. Otherwise if you are wanting KW, I know the distributor in Melbourne & can put you in the right direction for anything else you need.

[senna]

Bam - matched valving to spring rate which is then matched to driving style, tyre choice and vehicle weight. This is what needs to be considered and it doesn't need to cost you a fortune!