Eibach Rear Sway Bar Impressions

[AV8R]

One guy over here has them on hard but he does alot of track driving and time trials.

 

[Stinger GT SS]

I would bet for my style of driving just the rear on soft or both with the front on soft and rear on firm gives flatter, playful handling. The rear of these things has way too much body roll for me. Too softly spung. The guy that installed these theorized that they have enough body roll in the rear that on hard cornering the outside rear wheel may hit the bump stop which results in the rear end jigging if an significant imperfection in the road is hit in the corner. By cornering flatter the outside spring is not compressed as much due to excessive body roll.

He did say that he has installed several of these and the entire kit as well and that if installed correctly he has not had complaints about squeaking and groaning with the front. I will install the front, wouldn't you know it arrived today hours after I had the rear installed. As picky as I am I would bet I end up trying both settings on the rear once the front is installed on soft.

I just noticed that you are a vendor so you probably have way more experience than I do on these. The guy that did mine does a lot of work for the three Kia dealers in our area and builds race cars he is pretty sharp about knowing what to do to get the kind of handling the customer wants.

Your driving style sounds very much like mine & I totally agree with how you describe the rear end when stock, I have both front & rear bars installed on “softest” setting which vastly improved the rear twitchiness.
You may want to also consider heavy duty end links to compliment the sway up grade, I did this 2 weeks ago & it does not disappoint, steering when pushing hard into corners is firm & precise.

 

[Ruturaj]

I would bet for my style of driving just the rear on soft or both with the front on soft and rear on firm gives flatter, playful handling. The rear of these things has way too much body roll for me. Too softly spung. The guy that installed these theorized that they have enough body roll in the rear that on hard cornering the outside rear wheel may hit the bump stop which results in the rear end jigging if an significant imperfection in the road is hit in the corner. By cornering flatter the outside spring is not compressed as much due to excessive body roll.

He did say that he has installed several of these and the entire kit as well and that if installed correctly he has not had complaints about squeaking and groaning with the front. I will install the front, wouldn't you know it arrived today hours after I had the rear installed. As picky as I am I would bet I end up trying both settings on the rear once the front is installed on soft.

I just noticed that you are a vendor so you probably have way more experience than I do on these. The guy that did mine does a lot of work for the three Kia dealers in our area and builds race cars he is pretty sharp about knowing what to do to get the kind of handling the customer wants.

Would love to hear how you like rear only vs both. I ordered both but might end up doing just rear on soft.

 

[Manaz]

There are plenty of people with other cars who use different sway bar settings front and rear to influence how the car behaves - either soft/hard variations front to rear, or using thicker bars on one end of the car to the other.

If there's sufficient flex in the chassis that this causes additional creaking, that'd be a worry...

 

[itguy61]

Not hearing any creaking as of yet. I would bet there would be creaking if I add the front on firmest setting though. I was surprised at how skimpy the stock bar was. the stock front bar is beefier than the rear.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Not hearing any creaking as of yet. I would bet there would be creaking if I add the front on firmest setting though. I was surprised at how skimpy the stock bar was. the stock front bar is beefier than the rear.

Nobody with no "creaking" before both bars, has reported creaking after both bars, even on "stiff". What is reported is an uncomfortable ride and oversteer.

 

[friss]

Nobody with no "creaking" before both bars, has reported creaking after both bars, even on "stiff". What is reported is an uncomfortable ride and oversteer.

I didn't have any creaks before my bars went in but now I have a very noticeable one from the front bars when going over dips in the road. I figure it wasn't enough grease when they installed them. On flat roads the car is completely silent and is a dream.

Awd with both front and rear in soft settings.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I didn't have any creaks before my bars went in but now I have a very noticeable one from the front bars when going over dips in the road. I figure it wasn't enough grease when they installed them. On flat roads the car is completely silent and is a dream.

Awd with both front and rear in soft settings.

I figured my broad assertion that "nobody" has creaking after sway bar install would bring out some who do. It always happens that way. I'm guessing that there was noise before, just so low that you never noticed it before; this is assuming that your bushings were in fact greased properly. Of course if they were not, then that explains any subsequent noises. Are you on "stiff"? (I am out of time to go look, if you already said before what your settings are.)

 

[itguy61]

I suspect the creeping is either lack of lubrication or something not aligned right during installation. I just noticed that the factory rear bar would not rotate inside the bushings. Like they are glued on. Sway bars should be able to rotate in the bushing or they are just being used like an additional spring.

 

[AV8R]

One thing to mention, i printed off the installation instructions for the guy who fitted it. It clearly shows the lubrication and alignment.

 

[itguy61]

Maybe lubricaiton does not last long enough. I just ordered Teff Gel to put on the front when it is installed.

 

[Ruturaj]

Not hearing any creaking as of yet. I would bet there would be creaking if I add the front on firmest setting though. I was surprised at how skimpy the stock bar was. the stock front bar is beefier than the rear.

Stock front is hollow and rear is solid (but they still double in stiffness).

I suspect the creeping is either lack of lubrication or something not aligned right during installation. I just noticed that the factory rear bar would not rotate inside the bushings. Like they are glued on. Sway bars should be able to rotate in the bushing or they are just being used like an additional spring.

That's my concern. Once we swap eibach bars for stock bars which were locked we are kind of decreasing spring stifness, which result in completely different behavior. As we have less spring stiffness and whole new sway which is also stiff.

 

[Stinger GT SS]

Stock front is hollow and rear is solid (but they still double in stiffness).



That's my concern. Once we swap eibach bars for stock bars which were locked we are kind of decreasing spring stifness, which result in completely different behavior. As we have less spring stiffness and whole new sway which is also stiff.

Sway bars have nothing to do with springs or ride quality they only negate body roll when cornering.
The below link will give a good overview of functionality.
Anti-roll bar - Wikipedia

 

[NS_Stinger]

Sway bars have nothing to do with springs or ride quality they only negate body roll when cornering.
The below link will give a good overview of functionality.
Anti-roll bar - Wikipedia

I disagree, while the sway bar isnt connected directly to the springs it does play a role in how much pressure is applied to the springs during cornering. I can also assure you that it does affect ride quality the stiffer or softer your sway bars are. I have felt this difference on many different cars equipped with aftermarket sway bars over the course of 20 years, regardless of suspension design.

 

[Ruturaj]

Sway bars have nothing to do with springs or ride quality they only negate body roll when cornering.
The below link will give a good overview of functionality.
Anti-roll bar - Wikipedia

I know how sways work. Normal sway kind of acts as a spring when only one wheel moves up or down, or both move in opposite directions. I am trying to say is they have overlapping properties (few common and few different). Anyway they do affect ride quality when it comes to motions like above, as they resist in only that case. Ex. One wheel is going in pot hole, sways will affect ride quality. Car going over a bump (both wheels over and off bump at same time), sways won't have affect on ride.

Anyway I was talking about a locked sway (where both sides move independently), it's a completely different thing.

 

[itguy61]

Locked sway bar makes no sense to me. Maybe this is partly whey the rear end is so flaky with the stock bar.

 

[Ruturaj]

Locked sway bar makes no sense to me. Maybe this is partly whey the rear end is so flaky with the stock bar.

I think they did it to reduce wobbly back (up down motion on both sides, unlike one produced when cornering). May be they fixed the issue found later part of development by making sway act as an extra spring.

 

[itguy61]

IMHO they screwed up. This rear end feels so much better with the new sway bar.

 

[Ruturaj]

IMHO they screwed up. This rear end feels so much better with the new sway bar.

Seems like.

 

[Stinger GT SS]

I know how sways work. Normal sway kind of acts as a spring when only one wheel moves up or down, or both move in opposite directions. I am trying to say is they have overlapping properties (few common and few different). Anyway they do affect ride quality when it comes to motions like above, as they resist in only that case. Ex. One wheel is going in pot hole, sways will affect ride quality. Car going over a bump (both wheels over and off bump at same time), sways won't have affect on ride.

Anyway I was talking about a locked sway (where both sides move independently), it's a completely different thing.

This upgrade hasn’t affected my ride quality it has only enhanced it.

I’ve driven this car now with stock & Eibach sways fitted & all I can tell you it IS a vast improvement, everyone has their own opinions & driving style....for me this is now perfect & I can only report my actual experience.

In Comfort mode the car runs smooth & comfortable on the highways but in Sport mode on windy, undulating & twisty roads it becomes a beast taking on the corners it is firmly planted & precise under spirited acceleration which makes it a joy to drive, it puts a smile on my face, it is a true GT which will meet most drivers needs & road conditions with confidence.

For a car that has a wheelbase of 2,910mm (114.4”) it a pretty good result considering it’s size.
Some have been comparing this cars handling with other vehicles with vastly smaller wheelbases which is apples vs oranges & totally irrelevant.

In the end I think a lot of people here are trying to over analyse the pro’s & cons of upgrading swaybars all I can say is if your looking to upgrade your sways, just do it, if it doesn’t suit, make adjustments or remove them it’s a personal thing, nothing more nothing less.