Suspension Tuning
 

Hey y'all. Ready to do more tuning on my '99 Z28. I have the ST 35/25 sway bars and Kumho Ecsta Supras on my car. I have the Bilstein shocks ready to be installed on my car, along with 4.10 gears. My car is mostly a driver with canyon driving on a regular basis. I see where most people prefer a softer rear bar; how would this change the handling of my car if I were to go softer? Also, what springs would be preferable for my setup? Thanks.

Kenny

The smaller rear bar will allow you to use more power exiting turns without excessive oversteer. Otherwise, handling will not be THAT much different.

Think of the rear bar as a tuning device. Depending on your driving style, habits, and use, the rear bar can fine tune understeer/neutral/oversteer conditions for your car.

I guess I can make make a GENERAL statement for 4th gen cars.

With a stock rear bar (say 19mm) the car will lean toward the understeer end of the spectrum. As you move toward the 21/21.5 (which I have) you get more neutral handling. Move on up to 25mm and you start to lean toward the oversteer side of neutral.

Your car setup (springs, shocks, etc) all come into play here so those examples are very general, but you should get the idea.

Steve,

Can you clarify the understeer/oversteer for me? The way I understand it is understeer is if I pick a given line through a turn the car will actually push outside that line and I will have to add more steering to stay on the desired line.

Is this correct or am I backwards in my thinking?

Thanks.

You are correct.

Understeer occurs when the front of the car "pushes" toward the outside of the turn.

Neutral steering is when both front and rear tires are moving at the same (or close) slip angle.

And of course (all of us with F-Bodies have experienced this!) oversteer is when the rear end try's to come around and pretend like it's the front of the car!

It really comes down to driving style etc as to what you like.
To me, to much understeer is very frustrating. As you progress toward neutral, you have more control over the attitude of the car, in other words, you can "play" with the gas, brakes and steering to get the car in the "attitude" you want. Oversteer is to be avoided unless you're driving in a REALLY tight event OR you want to go drifting.