Other mods: Michelin Pilot Sport 4S in stock 18″ sizing, lighter wheels, polestar
I’m always very skeptical about changing one aspect of the suspension system–things are engineered a certain way for a reason and come with compromises. But at the price for a sway bar and simplicity of installation it was worth a flyer. Also, I am fairly confident I won’t run afoul of my extended warranty as most suspension components simply wear out and aren’t covered by it anyways.
My goal was to reduce roll and and feeling of the inside front tire unweighting in turns, especially when I have the car loaded up with people and a full roof box. I have no illusions about this increasing grip and I tend to believe some roll is a good thing in most vehicles. With the stock setup however, there is always this feeling of a very high CG, I don’t know how else to describe it. High speeds S-turns and quick darting turns around the city tend to bring out this feeling and even make it seems like you are going faster than you are to passengers.
It is an overall subtle difference despite how beefy this thing is compared to the dainty stock bar. Most drivers probably wouldn’t even notice the change. That being said, roll is definitely reduced, especially on turn initiation–it really keeps that inside front corner better pinned down. It really feels more eager to change direction–I hesitate to say “pointier” as this is all relative to previous behaviors which I will emphasize. My other car is a modified, corner balanced, etc air cooled 911, this is not that at all lol, but I am very happy and I can now attack off ramps a bit better while I have my baby and dog in the back which the 911 cannot.
Downsides?
Not really anything to report. I would classify the ill behaviors brought out by it as more NVH than poor handling. It does feel out of sync every once in a while with the stock shocks (now with 80k miles too). You can feel the back end shimmy/rock when exiting steep parking lots and such but nothing severe. I work in an area with horrible roads and it doesn’t feel all that bad and in fact it almost seems better? Its hard to describe but it seems to ride a bit better on messy pavement which is counter-intuitive.
Anyways, I debated whether to go with the V90 bar or something and I’m glad I just got the beefiest one available. I’m planning on swapping in the bilsteins sometime this year too which is about as far as I’m willing to go with this vehicle. I think that will achieve a nice balance of OEM-like comfort with some added control/sportiness that wasn’t present in the stock vehicle. An important note is that the Pilot Sport 4S’s have made the largest difference of all to the behavior of the car (grip, turn-in, rain, everything), especially in the 18″ size as they have some decent compliance.
Install notes:
Easy peasy. Don’t try and install without removing the rear wheels. I felt like doing it on ramps and wasted time because I had to take the wheels off anyways to get at the end link bolts easier. If I had done that from the outset it would have been an hour, max. Also, loosening the exhaust gave the clearance to pull the sway bar much easier, I screwed around for a bit trying to get it out first but couldn’t make it work.
No pics. Its a blue sway bar.