Eibach Rear Sway Bar Impressions

I'm just trying to make up my mind whether I'm going to go rear sway only on soft or whether I'll do front on soft and rear on stiff.

I am stuck in same dilemma. I have ordered both, I might just end up trying both and then decide which one is for me. Is yours RWD or AWD?

Edit: Just checked your profile, you own a AWD too.
 
I'm on a road trip. The Michelin Pilot Sports are on. New wrinkle: the OE GT rims are not on my car. These TSW "Watkins" rims weigh 13 and 14 lbs less than the OE GT rims do. To what extent this contributes to the handling I am enjoying - and how much of the increase in cornering prowess is me just slowly getting used to my car - I am not able to say.

I can positively say that all the "up and down" sections of the highways (and there are plenty) are only the road, not the car bouncing along with them. The Eibach on "soft" is solid. The road drops or rises and the car does also, without subsequent movement in the vertical. Cornering is really good. I am more daring than I was during the winter on the Nitto Motivo A/S UHP tires and the GT rims.

Unfortunately, my scheduled drives during the week changed and I hardly ever get over to "my skid pad" and high speed interchange (see above). So I don't have an update on how the Pilot Sport tires and the rear sway bar compare in the "Gs" department. I'm going to have to dedicate a spot of time to that and just go do it a few times. Later ...
Keep us posted, looking to hear some more on this. I’ll be getting mine installed once I get back stateside. Been missing my ride and I haven’t seen one in the Philippines, HK or Singapore in the couple of weeks I’ve been here.
So, I have determined that my present setup is better by far than Nitto Motivo UHP A/S on the OE GT rims, as far as "spirited" cornering goes.

Here's the recap: Several months ago I tried to corner on the cloverleaf (skid pad :D) as hard as I could manage, with the above setup: I was curious to test the Motivos against the Pilot Sport 4s. The G meter showed .6 G, then .7 G started the tire noise, and stabs of understeer occurred as I tried to push .8 G. I couldn't hold .8 G.

Since then, I have put the Eibach rear sway in (soft setting); put the Pilot Sports on much lighter rims (TSW "Watkins", weighing 13 and 14 lbs less than the OE GT rims), and wider rims to boot; they are a full inch wider than the GT rims; resulting in stretched sidewalls i.e. stiffer sidewalls resulting in the rubber patch being more planted (so logic says, and so I am told). Today, with this setup, I took the "skid pad" (cloverleaf) onto I-15 northbound from I-215 eastbound, and despite my rather inexpert cornering in the sustained (270 degrees) curve, I was easily able to hold .7 G, and finally near the top, .8 G according to the G meter. I would have powered out of the top of the cloverleaf, beginning with .8 G, but I came up on the exhaust pipe of a motorcycle which was nibbling on the bumper of a vehicle in front of it.

So, .8 G for sure, with Pilot Sport 4s, on rims an inch wider than OE GT rims (and 13, 14 lbs lighter), with an Eibach rear sway bar: and no tire noise, no understeer. I think I can push this to .9 G and hold it, and then power out from there at the top. We'll see! :D

What part of this is the most dynamic? Is it mostly tires? (I'd say yes to that) Followed by the upgraded, aftermarket (much lighter and a bit wider) rims? The Eibach sway bar improves the feel of the cornering, but does it make it faster? I don't think so, but what do I know?

(One other factor going forward: the Wheel Werks guy said that if I had fresher rear tires I'd be able to corner even more aggressively. Right now, my Pilot Sport 4 rears are at 3mm in the center and 4 or 5mm on the edges, while the front tires are 6mm across the tread. This worn rear tread condition means that holding .8 G is likely to change for the better when I get new treads on the rear in another one or two thousand miles.)
 
Good write up, might want to get the Pilot 4 S as the replacements.
 
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I have a GT so no G meter. Does it really show .6, .7, .8...etc? Because right now just sitting here on my computer I'm actually at 1.0...That would bug me.. should be 1.x
 
I have a GT so no G meter. Does it really show .6, .7, .8...etc? Because right now just sitting here on my computer I'm actually at 1.0...That would bug me.. should be 1.x
The lateral directions are all at .0 until the car's motion moves them. So going into that right hander puts the left indicator at .1 to .8 (so far, the highest G force in a turn I've done).
 
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The lateral directions are all at .0 until the car's motion moves them. So going into that right hander puts the left indicator at .1 to .8 (so far, the highest G force in a turn I've done).
Ah, so it shows lateral and directional g-load?
 
Yes.
 
Question: Sway bar install does not require an alignment on this car, correct?
Not that I ever heard of. You're just replacing the OE bar(s), making the upgrade stiffer; not messing around with the suspension per se.
 
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I got my sway bars a few weeks ago, had both installed this week by my old BMW mechanic. I haven't had the opportunity to do any hard, fast corners yet, but the car feels a bit sharper? Very small steering inputs seem to make a much bigger difference. I also feel like the car rides a tad harsher, I am getting more road "feel". In Comfort mode it feels sharper than the Sport mode w/ the old sways.

Am I perhaps imagining this? I wish I had though to set a level in my mind before the change. But it seems to be different.
 
I got my sway bars a few weeks ago, had both installed this week by my old BMW mechanic. I haven't had the opportunity to do any hard, fast corners yet, but the car feels a bit sharper? Very small steering inputs seem to make a much bigger difference. I also feel like the car rides a tad harsher, I am getting more road "feel". In Comfort mode it feels sharper than the Sport mode w/ the old sways.

Am I perhaps imagining this? I wish I had though to set a level in my mind before the change. But it seems to be different.
Not with just the rear bar. But with both front and rear Eibach sway bars, maybe there is a firmer ride. And I would expect a steering enhancement with a front bar (not necessarily a "good" thing for some drivers, I suspect). I'm still toying with the idea of adding the front sway bar.
 
Don't under-estimate your confidence in the car's behaviour as a significant input to how fast you can drive! :)
I've read this over and over, and I can't wrap my tired mind around what you are saying. Sort of in the category as Bilbo's: “I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.” :D

Are you just telling me to be careful?
 
No.

People are questioning whether or not the swaybars make their cars faster.

What I am saying is that if the swaybars make you more confident in the car's behaviour, then you may well be able to drive faster, even if technically the resultant handling is actually not as capable of holding G-forces in a corner.

Why? Because your confidence helps you drive better - to push harder because you're more confident in how the car will behave. You may never have actually pushed as close to the car's limits when you were worried about the rear-end stepping out on a mid-corner dip.
 
From interior to exterior to high performance - everything you need for your Stinger awaits you...
No.

People are questioning whether or not the swaybars make their cars faster.

What I am saying is that if the swaybars make you more confident in the car's behaviour, then you may well be able to drive faster, even if technically the resultant handling is actually not as capable of holding G-forces in a corner.

Why? Because your confidence helps you drive better - to push harder because you're more confident in how the car will behave. You may never have actually pushed as close to the car's limits when you were worried about the rear-end stepping out on a mid-corner dip.
Yes. That is well said. I've questioned my impressions about the "increased handling' of the Eibach rear sway, for exactly the reason you explain here. Before, the "stepping out" was how I got accustomed to the car's handling. It was amazing (compared to bog standard vans, go figure!:P). Ten months in, I get this upgraded sway bar, and presto chango! I am suddenly a "better driver"! :laugh: But I am still reaching for what the car will do on "my skid pad" (cloverleaf).
 
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No.

People are questioning whether or not the swaybars make their cars faster.

You got confused between black sways and red sways then. Red color parts/stickers adds some hp to your car. I have heard red sways add 15hp and the eibach sticker adds like 2 (I came across a informational video when I wanted to change my blinker fluid and muffler bearing, to be clear now, all things in this post are old jokes between car repair forum/groups/youtube channels).
 
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I suspect that while the sway bars apparently help with body roll and the oft-discussed mid-corner 'hop', they probably result in marginal (if any) performance gains on the skid pad. Oftentimes heavier sway bars can tighten up the chassis 'feel', but actually degrade real world cornering performance because of how they modify the designed weight transfer.

I was on the fence about whether to get sway bars, and for a while actually had them on order (in a backorder status). I canceled the order after giving it some more thought, and realizing that beside the time I actually went looking to reproduce the rear end 'hop' in a specific power-on corner, I've experienced that behavior only once in a year of driving.

Now that I hear of the squeaks people are getting with the harder poly bushings, I'm even more satisfied that I've stayed with the original suspension. Other than the odd bit of fun under controlled conditions, realistically I hardly ever push this car anywhere near it's limits.
 
Other than the odd bit of fun under controlled conditions, realistically I hardly ever push this car anywhere near it's limits.
That's the main point here: before, I was pushing faster with a complete lack of experience in performance cars. So everything felt a lot faster than what I had ever done previously. With that experience, I got the rear sway bar, and of course the more planted feeling made me push harder still. I can easily ascribe that to the bar, when it is really me getting more brave. :D
 
I suspect that while the sway bars apparently help with body roll and the oft-discussed mid-corner 'hop', they probably result in marginal (if any) performance gains on the skid pad. Oftentimes heavier sway bars can tighten up the chassis 'feel', but actually degrade real world cornering performance because of how they modify the designed weight transfer.

If this turns out to be the case, I'll be happy with the upgrade. I'm not looking for increased performance, I'm looking solely to get rid of the rear end vagueness during heavy cornering. I find the feeling unsettling. I want it to feel solid, tight, and stable.
 
From interior to exterior to high performance - everything you need for your Stinger awaits you...
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