Sway Bar Upgrade Needed?

[yoshiii335]

Hello

If I am not drifting, but building car for the street and the occasional track day, are after market sway bars worth it?

I have a 32 gtst.

I want to make sure I can take corners well on the street/high way and if I go to the track.

Edited May 11, 2016 by yoshiii335

[Ben C34]

Sway bars are a great cost effective upgrade

[yoshiii335]

Sway bars are a great cost effective upgrade

What brands besides White line are good?

Is using the GTR ones good?

What is a recommended size if I go with the White Line?

[Anfanee]

Whiteline, whiteline or whiteline.

[yoshiii335]

Whiteline, whiteline or whiteline.

Which size?

[iruvyouskyrine]

Gtr ones are fine on gtst and cheap

[vxsr33]

I got whiteline adjustables on my 33 gtst and i would say you can notice a difference in the corners the car sits flatter and overall handles a bit better.

Relatively easy install too. Only annoying thing is that you might need a big breaker bar for the castor arm bolts for the front swaybar and also you might have to drop the exhaust off the hangers to get the rear bar in (this was done on a 33 so might be different for a 32).

[yoshiii335]

Gtr ones are fine on gtst and cheap

oh, I thought only the rear fit. I will check into this.

[yoshiii335]

I got whiteline adjustables on my 33 gtst and i would say you can notice a difference in the corners the car sits flatter and overall handles a bit better.

Relatively easy install too. Only annoying thing is that you might need a big breaker bar for the castor arm bolts for the front swaybar and also you might have to drop the exhaust off the hangers to get the rear bar in (this was done on a 33 so might be different for a 32).

ok

Did you have to get another alinement?

[vxsr33]

ok

Did you have to get another alinement?

Yeah i changed the front tie rod ends as well while i was at it so the front toe was out badly. I drove to the alignment shop at 30kmph the whole way lol.

But yeah an alignment afterwards is recommended

[GTSBoy]

Gtr ones are fine on gtst and cheap

Not the front ones they're not!

GTR rear is good.

[GTSBoy]

Yoshii, we can't tell you what sizes to get.

The ARBs affect the balance of the car (under-over steer balance that is). How much you need at the front and rear depends on the inherent balance from your actual springs and dampers, coupled with your own preference. If oversteer frightens you then you would be well advised to keep the rear bar smaller than the front. But if perchance you have much stiffer front springs than your rear, then the same size ARBs at both ends might still be non-oversteery. Impossible to advise you precisely.

I have 24mm adjustables at both ends. Front set to hard, rear set to soft. That's pretty stiff, although it is possible to go a fair bit stiffer. The front stiffness aids turn in response, but does reduce grip in the wet! The rear stiffness tends to make my car quite willing to get the tail out. This is with 5+kg springs at the front and 3ish kg at the rear, with SK modified Bilstein B6s.

[yoshiii335]

Yoshii, we can't tell you what sizes to get.

The ARBs affect the balance of the car (under-over steer balance that is). How much you need at the front and rear depends on the inherent balance from your actual springs and dampers, coupled with your own preference. If oversteer frightens you then you would be well advised to keep the rear bar smaller than the front. But if perchance you have much stiffer front springs than your rear, then the same size ARBs at both ends might still be non-oversteery. Impossible to advise you precisely.

I have 24mm adjustables at both ends. Front set to hard, rear set to soft. That's pretty stiff, although it is possible to go a fair bit stiffer. The front stiffness aids turn in response, but does reduce grip in the wet! The rear stiffness tends to make my car quite willing to get the tail out. This is with 5+kg springs at the front and 3ish kg at the rear, with SK modified Bilstein B6s.

Still learning about how coil overs, springs and everything works together as far as the rates, etc.

I know I want to be able to go into curves well and have good grip in the rain. Not going to speed fast in the rain. Here there are lots of curvy roads and it rains lots.

Not drifting, not doing that.

[Cassbo]

Yoshii, we can't tell you what sizes to get.

The ARBs affect the balance of the car (under-over steer balance that is). How much you need at the front and rear depends on the inherent balance from your actual springs and dampers, coupled with your own preference. If oversteer frightens you then you would be well advised to keep the rear bar smaller than the front. But if perchance you have much stiffer front springs than your rear, then the same size ARBs at both ends might still be non-oversteery. Impossible to advise you precisely.

I have 24mm adjustables at both ends. Front set to hard, rear set to soft. That's pretty stiff, although it is possible to go a fair bit stiffer. The front stiffness aids turn in response, but does reduce grip in the wet! The rear stiffness tends to make my car quite willing to get the tail out. This is with 5+kg springs at the front and 3ish kg at the rear, with SK modified Bilstein B6s.

^^ This. Most advice given will be anecdotal as everyone has slightly different opinions about how a car should handle.

I for one think that hard coilovers (eg, my old JDM Ohlins...10kg up front and 8kg in the rear) your might not even need aftermarket bars. On the flip side, aftermarket swaybars combined with standard springs and shocks I found to be a good combination, particularly when you start talking about taking your car to a track or motorkhana

[yoshiii335]

^^ This. Most advice given will be anecdotal as everyone has slightly different opinions about how a car should handle.

I for one think that hard coilovers (eg, my old JDM Ohlins...10kg up front and 8kg in the rear) your might not even need aftermarket bars. On the flip side, aftermarket swaybars combined with standard springs and shocks I found to be a good combination, particularly when you start talking about taking your car to a track or motorkhana

Ok

I forgot to add that I have front and rear tower bars on the car.

The coil overs I am looking at are: Front 9k:8/10/11 default height -45mm Front recommended -65mm and 7k:6/8/9 default height -35mm recommended -65mm rear

[GTSBoy]

Strut braces do very little on Skylines, so the presence or absence of them means little.

8+ kg springs on the front of an R32 is BLOODY stiff. Like very low compliance stiff. Great on smooth racetrack, very not great on real roads with mid corner bumps. Spending a lot on good dampers will help, but not heaps.

I strongly suggest you read the threads and posts by Sydneykid for guidance on recommended ride height.

[Duncan]

what he said....you are about to fall into a religious war between 2 camps

1. no or stock sway bars and heavy springs

vs

2. upgraded (whiteline adjustable) sway bars with much lighter springs.

I am very happy in group 2 but have never really tried 1.....to me it makes sense to use the lightest springs possible to get maximum traction (the harder a spring is, the less time the wheel will spend on the ground over bumps) and use sway bars to manage side to side roll.

[yoshiii335]

Oh really?

Never heard of this war before lol.

I have always been told to just find a good set of adjustable coil overs. The car I have came with HKS HyperMax D's, they are not made anymore, I don't know the specs on them. The damper rate is adjustable. I was taught to just adjust it based on what kind of driving I was going to do.

The coil over I have now are getting about to be replaced.

The ones I mentioned above above are fully adjustable with camber and damper rate.

My handling is better than what it was, I had my alignment done at a car performance shop, a shop that does alignment and suspension for cars for track, drift, street, etc. They set it up for street, highway driving at fast speeds. There is a big difference in the way it drives now. I take corners and curves with more ease now and the car handles it well, I was surprised.

I just want to have good handling when I go putting more horse power into the car(400-500hp).

Their are not lots of choices are far as coil overs for the r32 here in Japan now as I guess it used to be.

So can I buy coil overs and just change the springs? Or do I have to keep the springs that come with the coil overs?(sticking to the set up the makers set.)

Why doesn't tower bars help with skylines much? Nismo sells them.

[V28VX37]

what he said....you are about to fall into a religious war between 2 camps

1. no or stock sway bars and heavy springs

vs

2. upgraded (whiteline adjustable) sway bars with much lighter springs.

I am very happy in group 2 but have never really tried 1.....to me it makes sense to use the lightest springs possible to get maximum traction (the harder a spring is, the less time the wheel will spend on the ground over bumps) and use sway bars to manage side to side roll.

Wow I must be a true heretic then, shunned by both sides:

• BC Racing BR coilovers, 8kg front, 6kg rear springs
• ARC (Auto Refine Company) front swaybar 28mm diameter (stock bar = 22mm), non-adjustable
• ARC rear swaybar 25mm (stock bar = 18.5mm), three point adjustable, at the softest setting
• Semis on the track, more lateral grip = more roll

[yoshiii335]

Wow I must be a true heretic then, shunned by both sides:

• BC Racing BR coilovers, 8kg front, 6kg rear springs
• ARC (Auto Refine Company) front swaybar 28mm diameter (stock bar = 22mm), non-adjustable
• ARC rear swaybar 25mm (stock bar = 18.5mm), three point adjustable, at the softest setting
• Semis on the track, more lateral grip = more roll

How is this set up for you?