Guys, IMO all the above is good advice. I used Anthony's saner bar for a few events before I got my Gendron last summer. I think they are both adequate, and a superior driver could win locally with either. I strongly prefer the Gendron, but it is costly. Another thing: I chose many of my parts because they are proven by top drivers. That eliminates the need to do the bulk of testing, and works wonders for peace of mind. I experimented with everything in my Z4 but there was no other SCCA person using that car and it was frustrating at times (like always).

So I think many roads lead to the same result. I prefer to take a reasonably certain path, but cost and other factors may cause you to decide otherwise.

Anthony, I sold the SPC joints to someone who asked me in a PM a few months ago.

I have a wide array of springs for sale if anyone is interested as well. Both 2.25" and 2.5".

 

I'm headed the high spring, no rear bar, CR front bar route. Probably 900F, 750-850 rear. Seems to work very well, is super cheap, and weighs significantly less than a big front/stock rear bar setup.

 

^^ I remember you saying that, but I thought Matt Glagola had the monster front bar, AP1 rear, and super high rates?

Robert Thorne I though had similar rates, not rear bar, but a Gendron 1.25" front?

Also, when comparing my setup with Jon C's, I think I have the advantage on grippy surfaces, but that he has an advantage locally at FedEx since his softer setup is easier to drive on slippery surfaces/ more predictable. i am basing this on intel I got from his co-driver (really my codriver/ secret agent). Anyway, I think you have to tune to where you want to be most competitive. For my that is not the idiosyncratic FedEx field, but locations like the meadowlands, Toledo, and Lincoln.

I might go softer if tuning for locally... But who knows.

I have a bunch of spring that might be useful for your experimentation.

 

You guys think too much, or I'm just a dummy.

 

LOL. Not sayin you are a dummy, but I would prefer to be a fast dummy than an over-thinking slowpoke

Maybe that's why you are in BS... Less fiddling necessary. I like to fiddle. Im about to graduate from law school, so I naturally have two opinions on everything though

Lunch break over, see y'all later.

 

I have an early AP1 front sway bar if you're interested. From my understanding they are about 99% as stiff as the CR front bar. Could be yours for $50.

 

Nick Barbato's setup is what I was copying. He did have a large front bar (A Gendron I believe), but indicated its stiffness worked out to roughly the same as the CR. Perhaps that's what Robert Thorne's setup was as well?

http://www.roadraceautox.com/showthread.php?t=36294

It seems people are running almost every combination of springs and bars and the car is still really fast, so that's a good thing.

Reminds me of when I was co-driving the WRX in STX... some national setups had crazy big bars, even in the rear, others had no rear bar at all. Spring rates varied wildly, yet all of them, in the hands of a good driver, would get the job done. I know I much preferred our setup after we reduced the size of the front bar, dropped the rear bar, and compensated with springs.

 

I have a hard time believing the CR front sway comes anywhere close to the Gendron. I think if you look in the STR sway bar thread you'll find numbers to show the Gendron actually provides almost twice the stiffness on the small hollow bar on the softest setting and over 3 times stiffer on some of the larger/solid bars.

 

The numbers I just read in that thread show the small hollow Gendron at 460, the stock CR bar at 392...

Regardless, its a starting point. I can always bump to a slightly bigger front and toss on an NC miata rear. I would like to minimize bars if possible.

 

This was the table I looked at

my00-01 368.24/na/504
my02-07 385.36/na/385
my08-09 332.13/na/454
my08cr 367.39/na/503
gendron 1.25" hollow setting 1 578/527/721
gendron 1.25" hollow setting 2 628/571/782
gendron 1.25" hollow setting 3 685/621/850
gendron 1.25" hollow setting 4 831/742/1016
gendron 1.25" hollow setting 5 917/817/1118
gendron 1.25" hollow setting 6 1016/904/1238
gendron 1.25" solid setting 1 664/605/828
gendron 1.25" solid setting 2 722/656/898
gendron 1.25" solid setting 3 787/713/976
gendron 1.25" solid setting 4 955/853/1168
gendron 1.25" solid setting 5 1053/939/1286
gendron 1.25" solid setting 6 1168/1039/1423
gendron 1.375" hollow setting 1 813/808/1106
gendron 1.375" hollow setting 2 883/875/1198
gendron 1.375" hollow setting 3 963/952/1303
gendron 1.375" hollow setting 4 1169/1138/1558
gendron 1.375" hollow setting 5 1290/1253/1716
gendron 1.375" hollow setting 6 na/1386/1898


According to that the 00/01 AP1 front bar is actually stiffer than the CR bar. Now do you want to buy it

I also think most guys running the gendron bar are running it on the stiffer settings which you'll see put it a lot stiffer than any of the OEM bars. I'm not trying to discredit your info, more or less making sure that I'm also reading things right for my own information.

The gendron bar is pricey but it's not as bad as I thought. I was thinking for some reason you were starting close to $1000 but it's not quite that bad. I'd consider getting one and later upgrading to the ball bearing mounts.

I'll be starting things out though using the Eibach sway I already do have and playing with the springs I already have first before spending money. It might actually end up working for me.