I have heard many members on this site mention the comptech adjustable front sway bar and how great it is. I have no idea idea what makes it so good. It is pretty expensive ($700-$950 depending on source) and Comptech has a great reputation for high quality parts so craftsmanship is nothing to worry about.


What I want to know is this:

How does a Comptech FSB make a car handle better (Less sway? Less oversteer and/or more understeer?) ?

Also, what modifications would be best used in conjunction with the FSB? (Much wider tires? Stiffer shocks/springs?)

Lastly, some mentioned that this should not be used on a car that sees public roads. Why?

 

Did you read this?

 

Thanks for that link. There are, however, still a few questions left unanswered.

 

Less oversteer and reduction in body roll (useful to prevent the inside wheel from spinning in a tight turn). You can make the car understeer with the stock suspension and this is apt to make it a bit easier. However, use of the bar usually goes along with other changes such as less stagger between the front and rear tire sizes. One would also typically use changed alignment (more negative camber). So, the end result is, "It depends."

Depends on what you're after. The primary use of the bar is for SCCA stock class autocrossing where mods are very limited. The two things that it (as well as any other stiffer-than-stock front bar) does is to reduce body roll, keeping the inside rear tire in firm contact with the ground, and reduce oversteer since R compound tire sizes are typically only about .5" staggered. If you have no restrictions, springs and shocks would be a better (and more expensive) answer but without knowing what you're trying to do makes it impossible to say for sure.

I'd disagree with that statement. I drive it on the street at full stiff with no problems at all. You do get some knocking from the urethane bushings but I don't care.

 

I appreciate the info Jeff.
I would not be running in any particular class; I would occasionally track my car without any limitations.

I already have the kw variant 3 setup as well as 225/40 front and 285/30 RE050A tires. There is obviously quite a significant stagger in my setup and I am not running R compound's either.

With my mentioned setup, can I go around a track faster than I would with a FSB or would it be a complete waste of money?

 

Again, it depends. If you have a condition you're trying to address that you can't solve with tire pressures, shock and/or height adjustments, alignment, etc., it *may* be worth something. However, although I've never tracked, it seems like the general strategy is to ensure that you're at the limits of what the car can do as it sits now (you haven't said how experienced you are on the track). If there's a particular handling scenario that needs to be addressed, you'd need to 1) ensure that the driver isn't the cause and 2) a projected equipment swap/modification will attack the root cause. You can throw money at the problem and make it worse. It must be treated as a system and a collection of parts from all over may not be the best way to address the issue.

The track guys seem to suggest that changing spring rates (and shocks to suit) is a better solution than swaybars. Of course, you need to decide if it's streetable enough for you - what's your threshold of pain? Based on the little insight you've provided for you goals, I'd guess that you track to have some fun but most of the time you're on the streets. With the tire stagger you have, the front bar may give you terminal understeer but you haven't said what your alignment is. The other factor is whether you have inside wheelspin frequently. That can be that you're not driving the corner correctly or that there's too much body lean. The latter can be addressed with springs or swaybar.

I think it can be summed up thusly: if you are more interested in how the car rides on the street, the swaybar may be an option, depending on whether there's something that it will help cure. If you're more interested in handling on the track, springs would be a better answer. Your choice...

 

They were not designed to last on the street.

 

wasn't that only the gen1 bars? I thought they'd fixed that?

 

Or maybe the one pictures is a firt gen. bar which was considered defective?

 

I had a 1st gen. bar - didn't crack but the adjustment bolt was frozen inside the bushing in the smaller bar. I've had the 2nd gen. bar nearly since it was available, probably have >45k miles on it, all on full stiff...