AusS2000

I installed my Race Brakes RB74 front and DS2000 (??) rear pads and Muz/Whiteline sway bar today.

Install the sway bar was pretty easy. Had to remove the second plastic tray under the car. The it's the two tie bar bolts (use a hex key. The shank has a recess for it in the end) then the brackets at the front. Whiteline supply replacement brackets with their bushes in them and some lubricant for them.

Took the car for a brief drive and got the pads bedded in. The pads and sway bar feel fine, but the real test will be at Eastern Creek on Monday.

naishou

DS2000 is a Ferodo compound.

AusS2000

Yeah, I think I'm confused. What is the Race Brakes rear pads Comp2's or something. The boxes aren't marked.

AusS2000

One things is for sure, that sway bar is much heavier than the stock one.

naishou

Probably because it's solid and the stock one is hollow. For the same diameter, a solid bar is something like 30% stiffer than a hollow one. This I remember seeing in a thread on this board where a member with some metalurgical knowledge had done the calculation. Probably a very rough figure, but it's not as much of a difference as you'd expect.

AusS2000

Yep, and I think it's a bigger diameter too. In fact holding it I can't imagine anything twisting it.

slick

[QUOTE]Originally posted by naishou
[B]Probably because it's solid and the stock one is hollow.

AusS2000

I've heard a stiffer front bar makes the rear more stable and less twitchy.

I'll let you know after tomorrow. I've got the Whiteline front brace and sway bar, and Spoon STB and rear under brace. I just got back from a drive on River Rd and it feels pretty good, but Eastern Creek tomorrow is the real test.

naishou

Aus will be able to tell you tomorrow I guess. It's not easy to make generalisations about the benefits or otherwise of adding stiffer anti-roll bars. The reason is that they change the handling balance of the car and what happens depends a lot on how things were before and exactly what you change. As a rule, a stiffer front bar causes more understeer and less oversteer, and a stiffer rear bar does the reverse. Naturally you also get less body roll which may improve cornering performance by keeping the tyres more square on the road, preventing excessive weight shift and making the car more nimble and willing to change direction. Related to this is improved steering response. The cost of all this is harsher ride and more noise, plus a car that may be less forgiving on the limit.

slick

[QUOTE]Originally posted by naishou
[B]Aus will be able to tell you tomorrow I guess.