[Spridgets] Rear sway bar Pt 2

Ron Soave soavero at yahoo.com
Sun Oct 12 20:30:46 MDT 2008


Pt 2 of 2


So....swaybars....see my autobiography, "Removing Your
Rear Swaybar, or 'How I Got Faster a Few Years Ago by
Listening to Mike Gigante and dusting off my
Lagrangian Dynamics Textbooks'". The purpose of a
sway bar is completely different than the panhard's.
It's purpose is to reduce body roll by transferring
load from one side of the car to the other. So, if
load is transferred, it is reduced. If load=force
(which it does), that tire will have less downforce.
This is all very good on the front end of a Sprite
because of crappy camber response that reduces contact
patch with any body roll. At the rear, the sway bar
can create a lot of wheel lift and wheel spin (IF you
have an open diff). What works for me is a very stiff
front suspension and a loose rear, with 3/4 sway bar
up
front (7/8 was too stiff, and the car understeered too
much), 520 lb springs, and a panhard rod in the back
with soft springs and soft shocks.

It took Mike Gigante screaming at my suspension setup
and giving me dissertations like the above to get me
to really understanding it, as well as driving the car
at its limits and seeing the good and the bad up
close. If you do the suspension setup decently, know
how the car will respond to you, and drive it like you
stole it, the Porsches you beat will accuse you of
having a cheater motor, but you'll know better. On a
streetcar (I have 2 street Sprites as well, a Bugeye
and a 1/2 elliptical later car), this really isn't as
easily explored, but the theory is the same.


Ron Soave


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