[dad]

ZX3TUNING,Aug 25 2004, 10:23 PM Wrote:i always say this...
the front bar is a wste of time with only a 24 or 25mm rear bar! stay with the stock in the front!
it provides a much nicer, easier to modulate mid-corner attitude and it allows you to rotate the rear alot smoother.
adding the front bar will only make your car plow in hard cornering...

i tested this out with my old eibach bars way back in the day at the autoX.
pick up nearly a sec with the stock front!

dude..... ;) ......I so absolutely could not agree with you less....I am by no means a suspension tech, but I have been playing around with sport compacts since before anyone called them this....the front sway bar , and more specifically the eibach kit that I have installed has worked wonders in neutralizing what I would call a close to unpredictable "break" point at witch the rear end flies out on you. In fact the combination of a stiffer bar out back (that would normally, if used alone ,create a worse problem of hair trigger oversteer) is very nicely offset with the bigger bar up front . When pushed I have found that the increased tightness up front has stopped the tendencies for the ZX5 that I drive to feel "on the edge".

and before you ask....no I dont autocross.....but I do drive ....hard .....very hard ....regularly. In addition there is some respectable race background in behind me ....albeit some years ago.

any way, I listen to all the BS about this topic both here and on the jet and what is so often overlooked in this equation is that the intire system , even if buoght as a collection of individual pieces must represent a balanced whole...and finding this is usually more good luck than good management. However to make a blanket statement that a front sway bar will do X to a car is far to generic an answer for most ,if not all situations. Different spring rates,ride hieghts, unsprung wieght (wheels) adjustable dampers vs non adjustable dampers ,2 DOOR vs 4 DOOR chasis configurations etc. etc.etc....all have a contributing factor to the balance of the suspension system. Seems the more you learn the tech here the more you realize just how much tech there is to be consumed.

Having driven all of the varius configurations of chasis the Focus has to offer , including the SVT with marginally different bar sizes than the regular Focus (and different spring rates) I have found that generally the 2 door hatch is far easier to get sideways thna the zx5 that I drive....this is not however to say that the zx5 under my current form of modification "plows" through either , in fact it presents a confidence that the feedback your getting is realy quite nuetral and by extension predictable.

ah...predictability....in the hands of a reasonable capable driver can make for some good times through just about any coarse/road situation. It is my steadfast opinion that predictabliity and balance are by far the 2 most important elements to a sound street (and part time track ) car . with out this your done. Good quality anti sway bars thuoghtfully engineered ,properly manufactured , properly sized for the application and variables are a huge component to the equation.

anyway the car handle better with the front bar on