are sway bars really going to make a difference?

Will you note the difference in daily driving?
Gonna fit some KW v2's and tought about the sway bars also...
Will you need end links to fit them?

Originally Posted by cuprafenix

Will you note the difference in daily driving?
Gonna fit some KW v2's and tought about the sway bars also...
Will you need end links to fit them?

i would imagine kw's came with their endlinks ... let me say that sway bar will almost certainly create more of a difference in feel than the whole coil overs system or atleast it might imho

Originally Posted by Steven747

i would imagine kw's came with their endlinks ... let me say that sway bar will almost certainly create more of a difference in feel than the whole coil overs system or atleast it might imho

That much of a difference?
I'm getting tempted...
And the ride quality, does it suffer a bit?

I put on H&R from Turner and cornering is drastically improved.
Took the car cross country with my girlfriend who could care less about cornering, and she never once noticed any difference in the ride quality. Neither did I and I was critically looking. I have the sport suspension to start with and added KONI FSD's three years ago.

When you're going to all this trouble, might as well do new end links. H&R will not allow you to transfer the ones in rear because they are forced over the sway bar rubber to metal.
Front ones were replaced just because I wanted to start with new there. Especially with the extra stress induced.

Originally Posted by Stinger9

I put on H&R from Turner and cornering is drastically improved.
Took the car cross country with my girlfriend who could care less about cornering, and she never once noticed any difference in the ride quality. Neither did I and I was critically looking. I have the sport suspension to start with and added KONI FSD's three years ago.

When you're going to all this trouble, might as well do new end links. H&R will not allow you to transfer the ones in rear because they are forced over the sway bar rubber to metal.
Front ones were replaced just because I wanted to start with new there. Especially with the extra stress induced.

So according to what i read there aren't any disadvantages?
Except the fact that they are a bit pricey.
Has they are adjustable how do you have yours set?

Meanwhile i read this:

Advantages:
-Reduced body roll during cornering.
-Adjustable front and rear understeer/oversteer (most sways are adjustable).

Disadvantages:
-Improperly installed bushings by squeak as the lubrication wears out over time.
-Improperly adjusted sway bar settings can cause poor or dangerous handling conditions (specifically too much oversteer).
-Less body roll in cornering will allow you to carry much more speed, which means your margin for error is drastically reduced and possibly beyond your limits as a driver.

Dug up this old thread: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=176705

Disadvantages are the cost and labor to get them there.
Kinda makes me wonder why the factory didn't put on slightly thicker bars as cost to them would have only been a few extra euros.

Cost was very reasonable for H&R at Turner. $350 for the pair.

Set the rears to mid point and the front to weakest setting. I don't think I'm perceptive enough to be able to tell the difference in which hole the link is put thru.

Originally Posted by Stinger9

Disadvantages are the cost and labor to get them there.
Kinda makes me wonder why the factory didn't put on slightly thicker bars as cost to them would have only been a few extra euros.

Cost was very reasonable for H&R at Turner. $350 for the pair.

Set the rears to mid point and the front to weakest setting. I don't think I'm perceptive enough to be able to tell the difference in which hole the link is put thru.

Saw this: http://store.uucmotorwerks.com/artic...ybar_setup.htm

In theory the chart seems accurate. Again, not sure i'm worried about a notch different on my car.
When I first put on the rear bar, I drove like that for a few days to see what only a rear bar would feel like.
Car handled much better, but as I pushed it, I realized that the increased handling prowess came mostly from the rear. Car would go around corners with more flatness and stabiliiy, but as I pushed it harder, I realized the rear end was lighter than before, and if I really pushed things, I'd be seeing the rear end swing out to put me in a spin. So not a great idea to leave the car that way in case a drastic move caused the oversteer to spin me out in a corner. And that was without the new front bar even installed!
So I'm not thinking one notch is critical. I've pushed the car very hard now and it seems close to neutral for my purposes.

Originally Posted by cuprafenix

Will you note the difference in daily driving?
Gonna fit some KW v2's and tought about the sway bars also...
Will you need end links to fit them?

Daily driving is a touch rougher because with the thicker sways your wheels travel (flex) up and down less independently. So uneven or rough roads are alittle more jostling, but definitely tolerable. It's worth it to me.

You can use OEM endlinks, clearance with control arms is close but not an issue depending on your drop (remember the whole system moves together so you don't really have to worry about hitting). As far as rear endlinks, the Hotchkis sways include new rear endlinks.

I will advise AGAINST running too short of an endlink up front. Ideally I found you want the bar @ about a 90 degree angle with the endlink. I was running the shorter Moog Chevy Impala (rear) endlinks up front, which raised the bar much higher increasing the angle. They were almost too short for my setup. One night driving on rough city streets I heard a loud pop and upon inspection the endlink tab on my coilovers had twisted and snapped off. Not a weld failure either. So I had to call up my friend and get a new lower shock housing.

I'm current running Hotchkis front endlinks with the new updated balljoints, which are adjustable, but do not really go any shorter then OEM. They are thicker overall, and so far have performed without a problem. Unless you are slammed, you shouldn't need to change endlinks to make up for clearance issues with the control arms.

I found running the sways @ middle up front and full stiff in the rear works best for me in combination with my front shocks being 10 from full soft and rears being 1 from full soft (daily driver on D2 coilovers). With the fronts and rear shocks both set equally at full soft the front tended to dip/dive harder into corners. Now it holds flatter and responds better for me. So my advice would be to run your front shocks stiffer then your rears. I've been told the oppisite holds true for FWD cars. Some one might want to argue that, but that's what makes me happy. Just play around till you find what works for you.

alo you can consider running a rear strut bar ,for me it works.but have a 325ti (compact)here is a photo with strut bar installed front and rear

Front one emotionally comforting (at least it makes me feel better), but that rear one eats up valuable space that I use all the time! Difference in spirited driving would never be felt, and who ever has strut tower problems in the rear approaching the frequency of the front?

well rear seeems to be much rigid now i also in some corners car is oversteering.I have H&R Cup Kit max lowering 55mm front and 35mm rear and style 68 wheels.Bur again this is a hatchback so some thing are different in the future i will try to get also sway bars but they are very expensive about 600 usd for my car only Eibach manufactures them.
As for space there are 1 or 2 persons in the car about 97% of time includes the driver