[Tigers] Tiger Rear Sway bar

Thu Sep 30 19:21:34 MDT 2021

It wasn’t just Ford.  The Tiger was beating all of the Corvettes too and Chevy knew the Tiger was the car to beat in the championships in 1965 (thus the wreck).  And I would bet they would find a lot of things on all of the cars.  They were all doing whatever they could to get an advantage.

Matthew

From: Michael Wood <mwood24020 at aol.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2021 3:04 PM
To: Taylor, Matthew <MTaylor at ea.com>; tigers at autox.team.net; garywinblad at comcast.net
Subject: Re: [Tigers] Tiger Rear Sway bar

Yep, Sunbeam got screwed by the SCCA (and Ford's money) when it came to the LAT options. Other hand, I'll bet if the HSC car was scrutinized back in the day, they'd have found a lot more than a few LAT listed items... ;)

Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: Taylor, Matthew <MTaylor at ea.com<mailto:MTaylor at ea.com>>
To: Michael Wood <mwood24020 at aol.com<mailto:mwood24020 at aol.com>>; tigers at autox.team.net<mailto:tigers at autox.team.net> <tigers at autox.team.net<mailto:tigers at autox.team.net>>; garywinblad at comcast.net<mailto:garywinblad at comcast.net> <garywinblad at comcast.net<mailto:garywinblad at comcast.net>>
Sent: Thu, Sep 30, 2021 2:20 pm
Subject: RE: [Tigers] Tiger Rear Sway bar

I believe that was LAT 40?

Also, don’t forget that all factory options were legal in SCCA in 1965 and in the AHRA in at least 1965-1967 (I don’t know if anything changed after that in the AHRA).  But that was back when things really mattered for the factory efforts and when the Tiger was a World and National champ in the AHRA and should have been National champ the NHRA but that is another story.

Matthew

From: Michael Wood <mwood24020 at aol.com<mailto:mwood24020 at aol.com>>
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2021 10:21 AM
To: tigers at autox.team.net<mailto:tigers at autox.team.net>; Taylor, Matthew <MTaylor at ea.com<mailto:MTaylor at ea.com>>; garywinblad at comcast.net<mailto:garywinblad at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [Tigers] Tiger Rear Sway bar

Should have added, the TMC rear sway bars did get an LAT number way down the road, but were never a Rootes or factory offered piece. In any case, at that time (and now), the sanctioning body we were running with, SCCA, deemed LAT options as aftermarket, not factory. So, semantics, perhaps.

In any case, there are a lot of moving pieces (literally lol) in any suspension discussion. I'm just sharing my experience, which includes lots of testing and SCCA national level autocross success  :)

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Wood via Tigers <tigers at autox.team.net<mailto:tigers at autox.team.net>>
To: MTaylor at ea.com<mailto:MTaylor at ea.com> <MTaylor at ea.com<mailto:MTaylor at ea.com>>; garywinblad at comcast.net<mailto:garywinblad at comcast.net> <garywinblad at comcast.net<mailto:garywinblad at comcast.net>>; tigers at autox.team.net<mailto:tigers at autox.team.net> <tigers at autox.team.net<mailto:tigers at autox.team.net>>
Sent: Thu, Sep 30, 2021 10:07 am
Subject: Re: [Tigers] Tiger Rear Sway bar

No, my car had less HP at the time (260 with 4bbl and headers) and stock front suspension. We all ran together in SCCA F Stock.  But, I did have KONI's, optimized alignment, limited slip and bolt on TMC traction bars. That all changed when I went to the 302/5spd combo further down the road. Also, I don't believe a rear bar or the motors your Dad and Stan were running were factory options and none of us were technically stock legal (but, the faster Camaro and Mustang drivers didn't care lol) But I might be misremembering, it was a long time ago :)

No doubt, a rear bar can be made to work correctly, just look at Buck's race car. Of course, they also run BIG front springs and bar! The real point I'm making is that installing an off the shelf Addco bar on a stock suspension car has not been optimal in my experience.

-----Original Message-----
From: Taylor, Matthew <MTaylor at ea.com<mailto:MTaylor at ea.com>>
To: Michael Wood <mwood24020 at aol.com<mailto:mwood24020 at aol.com>>; garywinblad at comcast.net<mailto:garywinblad at comcast.net> <garywinblad at comcast.net<mailto:garywinblad at comcast.net>>; tigers at autox.team.net<mailto:tigers at autox.team.net> <tigers at autox.team.net<mailto:tigers at autox.team.net>>
Sent: Thu, Sep 30, 2021 9:49 am
Subject: RE: [Tigers] Tiger Rear Sway bar

I was just comparing two stock Tigers with factory options.  I think you were a bit more modified and Stan runs a 1” front sway bar.  I don’t think he has a rear bar but I’m not positive.

And Gary, the set up isn’t that hard.  100% stock rear springs.  Slightly stiffer front springs.

Matthew

From: Michael Wood <mwood24020 at aol.com<mailto:mwood24020 at aol.com>>
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2021 8:41 AM
To: garywinblad at comcast.net<mailto:garywinblad at comcast.net>; Taylor, Matthew <MTaylor at ea.com<mailto:MTaylor at ea.com>>; tigers at autox.team.net<mailto:tigers at autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: [Tigers] Tiger Rear Sway bar

Yep, Terry and Stan were the bogey when I first started autocrossing my Tiger, both of them were fantastic drivers with tons of experience, But, I ended up getting past them both and I think set up had a lot to do with it. Effectively giving up rear grip to make the car more neutral or "tossable" I don't think makes sense. But, end of day, what you (big "you") are most comfortable with in terms of set up is key and, you're right, for most drivers that will be more important in terms of time on course than ultimate grip :)

-----Original Message-----
From: GARY WINBLAD <garywinblad at comcast.net<mailto:garywinblad at comcast.net>>
To: Taylor, Matthew <MTaylor at ea.com<mailto:MTaylor at ea.com>>; Taylor, Matthew via Tigers <tigers at autox.team.net<mailto:tigers at autox.team.net>>; Michael Wood <mwood24020 at aol.com<mailto:mwood24020 at aol.com>>
Sent: Thu, Sep 30, 2021 8:21 am
Subject: Re: [Tigers] Tiger Rear Sway bar

I have seen your dad(a long time ago), him and his car are VERY fast.

It seems to be set up very hard like a go-cart.  The rear bar makes it loose and he steers it (wags the tail) around the cones with power and his posi.

Very impressive and fast.

Gary

On 09/30/2021 10:07 AM Taylor, Matthew via Tigers <tigers at autox.team.net<mailto:tigers at autox.team.net>> wrote:

I don’t know about “total grip capability,” but you have seen my dad drive his Tiger with the rear sway bar and it works great.  I’ve driven and autocrossed Tigers that are set up properly with or without the rear sway bar and they both handle great but different.  A good driver can adjust to the differences and take advantages of the differences, but I doubt one is much faster than the other.  It’s possible that one could be faster than the other depending on the type of course, but it would be fractions of a second based on my autocross experiences.

Matthew

From: Tigers <tigers-bounces at autox.team.net<mailto:tigers-bounces at autox.team.net>> On Behalf Of Michael Wood via Tigers
Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2021 6:28 PM
To: tigers at autox.team.net<mailto:tigers at autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: [Tigers] Tiger Rear Sway bar

Like said, any rear bar on a Tiger is an aftermarket solution...and I've yet to see one (not counting custom fabricated with heim joints, correct angles, adjustability etc used in conjunction with front end improvements) that made any sense or was additive to total grip capability.

Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: Joel Martin via Tigers <tigers at autox.team.net<mailto:tigers at autox.team.net>>
To: Tiger List Serve <tigers at autox.team.net<mailto:tigers at autox.team.net>>
Sent: Wed, Sep 29, 2021 1:54 pm
Subject: [Tigers] Tiger Rear Sway bar

Was a rear sway bar originally fitted on the Tiger or was it a LAT option or not?  Size, mounting points? Either way could someone post some pictures of how they were suppose to be mounted and installed?

Thanks

Joel Martin
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