Bullwings

I'm surprised no one has mentioned it yet, but another specific with a swaybar that is too stiff is that it decreases the "independence" of your suspension. Essentially, you're tying the left and right sides together. In that case, I would say that stiffer springs, in general, are preferable over a stiffer sway bar - rule set permitting and shock dampening correctly matched.

circuitclub

IMO, without proper data, it's all down to driver's preference

thomsbrain

Assuming equal tire contact patches, spring rates and no bumpstop contact, stiffer sways will reduce grip, because they increase weight transfer and reduce suspension independence. In particular for the S2000, stiff rear bars can aggravate rear-wheel lift, which on the stock differential means a loss of power to the ground. However, suspension geometry and compression curves can be such that reducing roll with stiffer bars improves the contact patch shape enough to still be a net benefit. You'll mostly see that effect on softly-sprung cars (hence why OEMs use them in the first place). Bullwings is right that for road-course tracks, folks (especially those on sticky tires or with aero) have gravitated towards springs that are so stiff that the need for sway bars to provide additional roll stiffness to control the contact patch is greatly reduced. In those cases, sway bars are used more to make small "trim" adjustments to handling balance rather than to control roll. You see the crazy-stiff sway bars in autocross (where transitional response is prized over steady-state grip) and in competition classes that restrict other modifications.

DavidNJ

It's more complex. For many cars, less roll keeps the tire at a more favorable angle. While not a Street solo II issue, for many cars lowering adversely affects the suspension geometry, where running stiffer, especially in roll, is beneficial.

noodels

One size does not fit all applications, in other words..

s2000Junky

Your not going to generate enough grip with a 245 extreme summer compound to run that stiff. Your arguably already pushing the limit with your current total spring rate (sways and springs combined) to leverage the tires optimally. Its a balance between handling character and allowing the tires work rather then being over worked. A really stiff S2k is satisfying to run on the street, its precise and responsive, however you get that same set up on the track pushing triple digit speeds and soon realize that sharpness has turned into a ultra finite edge of grip to no grip and its very exhausting to manage lap after lap. Finding a good balance to compliance and firmness to keep the body roll and wallowing in check for consistent management should be the goal. You want the suspension to work/move to maintain grip.

I'm running a bit more total grip then you are with 255/315 stagger on xtrm summer tires, I find for myself the stock 00-01 front sway and stock ap2 rear sways with 14kg springs f/r feels balanced, controlled and manageable on the big course wile offering good satisfying handling response on the street. Since moving to a widebody this year however, increasing track width significantly, im since experimenting with sways again, currently running a slightly stiffer 02-03 sway in rear. Keep in mind also I have the car set up without running a rear wing.

circuitclub

I guess I'll chime in too: I've been tracking my car/other cars for 10 years now. Driven Tein, Ohlins, Buddy clubs, Konis, Penskes, and other super JDM bling; have used numerous combinations of swaybars: OEMs, removed rear, miata rear, gendron, karcepts etc. Lastly, most of my buddys and I stick to use 200TW tires, just list the last 10 years of tires and I've been lucky enough to try most of them.

Everyone here brings up very good points - you can see from the various responses concluding "it depends". Unfortunately, I also dont have a silver bullet for the ultimate setup either. It depends on your track: surface, layout, speed; also on your driving style and lastly, if you also plan to autox or run events where your mods will be counted for points. However to answer your question, there is such thing as "too stiff" depending on above variables. However, there are theoretical extremes: your local track/autox is very flat with minimal undulation and very sticky surface - you can essentially run "unsprung" setup with massive aero if you desire - you've just got to try it out and see for yourself

thomsbrain

Yup, like I said, for some cars, reducing roll can impact the contact patch enough to outweigh the negative impacts of the bars. We are saying the same thing in different words.

JamesD89

What's the local track to San Diego? Autoclub? Chuckwalla? Buttonwillow? There are a ton of very quick SoCal NA S2000s.

BoboTheMonkey

Macpherson setups it makes a huge difference to lower body roll as the tire camber is affected significantly. Luckily our cars are double wishbone, which still has its issues, but maintains its camber better in cornering.