Just picked up a set of suspension techniques 35/25 sway bars. What is better for autox ,the stock rear bar or the 25 mm? When is the 25 mm rear bar supposed to "shine"

 

Depending on your spring rate in the rear you would want a 19 or 21 rear bar. Get rid of the 25.

The ONLY use I can think of for a 25 rear bar is a very very bumpy road course and a stock height car(more travel).
This way you could have soft springs to stay in contact with the surface and the roll resistance needed to maintain balance. But it would have to be a road course. A bar that large will reduce rear traction ALOT in the tight turns of an autocross course. Even on Div and National Tour event courses.

 

I origionally installed the front bar first, then the rear the next day. I didn't notice too much difference when the rear went in.
The suspension tech bars say they are a "tuned set" and they should only be used together. I have a chance to trade the rear bar with a 21mm 1LE bar.Would this work better even though the set is no longer "tuned". My car also has slp bilsteins and sportlines so the supension is quite firm.

 

Was there a group purchase on sportline springs? I have heard of a TON of people using these lately.

Let me offer a few opinions. They are in no way talking down of your car or even you decisions. Just offering some of my experience.

Sportlines are too soft. They do give an increase in spring rate but still too soft. Why in the world Eibach made a spring that lowered so much in the first place, but then to make it relatively soft is beyond me. If you are going for a look I dont doubt it looks great. But you can have a lowered vehicle with a much better working spring combo. Notably the Pro-kit. I know of one guy who trophied in ESP last year at nats using Pro-kits. And the car has a nice stance.
When going that low you introduce suspension binding situations and bumpsteer. You also Kill anti-squat. Although if you are not competing in a class, relocation brackets can solve this.

The SLP shocks are also not working with your spring as well as it should. You are most likely making performance AND ride quality go down. The SLP is Slightly better than the HD just because it has a little more rebound. But less compression. Again beyond me. BTW Strano revalves are Way different from the SLP or HD valving and work great.

I know that almost every book you can read will tell you to purchase "kits" or "systems". I say what a bunch of BS!! In almost all these "systems" there is a better alternative. My car performs great and the ride is not to bad eigther. All piece meal. Your best bet is to make educated decisions on what will work best for you. Forget the company LIT.
Dump the 25. I am shocked you did not see a difference. I can tell a BIG difference just from going from a 19 to 21mm bar. A 2mm difference. And your working with a 6mm difference.

My opinion: If you keep the 35 and trade the 25 for a 21 get the Pro-kit springs and revalved shocks and you will not only be amazed by the difference from stock but from the Sportine/SLP combo.

An example of mismatched parts....I had Hotchkiss springs and KYB AGX shocks and a 32mm front bar on the car at one time. Now setup with revalved and shortened Bilsteins a 35mm front bar and 500lb linear springs on a coil over kit the car rides much better. And there is no comparison in performance.

 

I use stock Z28 springs, Strano revalves and 35f/19r bars. Car is so close to balanced that the only change I'm considering is 1LE front springs. Wouldn't go any stiffer in the rear.

 

Thanx guys for all your input! I bought these parts all used with very low miles on them from local guys.The stock components had over 185,000 kms on them and were not performing.I only decided to stat autocrossing a short time ago and have not much experience in the right combination of parts. I only know that the car seems to handle quite a bit better than stock now.I have yet to autocross or push the car at all so that is why I didn't notice the difference in the rear bar swap. The sportlines gave my car the look I wanted and I still have decent ground clearance(meaning I don't bottom or scrape much) I would like to step up to the prokit/revalved bilstein combo if and when I get serious in autocross but I'll probably just swap the 25mm rear bar for the 1LE piece because the money I have in this setup is about one thid the price of all these parts new.

 

I personally think that a with a 35mm front and 21 mm back u'll get understeer cuz the front is too big for the back

so just talk to that dude who was going to trade u his 21 mm 1le .. he might have a ST 32 mm front to trade for ur 35 mm



just an option .. im sure he wouldnt mind .. looks like he's into drag racing with that 25mm rear that he wants .. now u dont want him to lose it on the street ? so u should think about ur friends well being and let him trade u his 32mm front for ur 35 mm so his car will be more balanced

 

The books would lead you to beleive that it would cause understeer but it DOES NOT.
Better camber control from the 35mm bar adds MORE grip to the front tires.

The 2nd place car at Nationals in FS had a 35mm front bar with a 19mm rear bar.

In my ESP car I had a 21mm rear bar and took it off to put the stock bar back on. It also has a 35mm front bar.

Check out ls1.com ax/rr section. A little better info is had over there.
Remember we are trying to help you not spend money 2 or 3 times. Only once is suffecient it it is done right.

 

IONS94Z is correct. With stock Z28 springs, revalves and 35/19 when it does get twitchy it's oversteer that the issue, not understeer.That's why the only change I'm considering is to SLIGHTLY stiffer front springs[1LE].The rear end simply will not hold traction when the road gets rough if it's too stiff, and that can be caused by too much rear roll resistance.My car is with the tires at 38lbs. front and 30lbs. rear and a very rigid chassis[full frame with front and rear shock tower bracing and roll cage].

 

Instead of trading,maybe I sould put my stock rear bar back on annd sell my 25mm bar to the guy who wants it

You guys think the stock 19 is better than the 1LE piece?

 

I would trade him. Then if you do decide to sell you will get more money out of the 21 than the 25.

I would keep the 21 for now. Just to do some testing with it. I think I could make use of mine. I may try it. Then again I may try a setup that uses a 17mm rear bar out of a V6 Camaro. As it is now though I am sticking with the 19 bar.

If you are going with Pro Kits the 21 is out for sure. Their are better choices than the pro-kit by the way.

 

Street driving at autocross speeds with good transitional capacity=small rear bar, more suspension travel,better dampening.

 

Ok, I'll trade for the 21mm 1LE bar. I'll just leave the rest of the setup as is and see how I can do in autocross right now. This car is my daily driver.My current tires are only H rated Dunlops so I think a better tire would be a smarter upgrade than anything else.

I was just looking at an article on Steve Eguina's Slp prepared Pro Solo II SSR camaro.He uses Eibach springs and I am assuming they are the prokits.It seems that the prokit springs are a future upgrade unless you guys think of a better alternative.

 

No the Eibach they are talking about is 2.5" diameter race springs (what I have) For him they are probably on Global West adjusters/coil over kits. Not sure as he has switched to Penske shocks so they may be a threaded shock. I dont think so though.

In the rear I am using an Eibach 5" diameter race spring with a 4" tall adjustable seat from All Star Performance. This is a strait 5" spring without any pig tailed end.

I assume Steves car is similar. Probably a pig tailed spring with GW adjusters (he is sponsered by Global West.