Hey Guys!

Any recommendations on struct bars? I was thinking about getting a set of front and rear carbon strut bars from EVOMS, but was also thinking about the GT3s ones. Any recommendations?

Any how big of a difference will the front and rear struts on an OEM suspension?

Thanks.

Jason

 

Hi Jason,

I "think" you're confusing strut bars and sway bars maybe?

 

Sharkey, I think he's thinking strut bars, unless EvoMS makes CF swaybars, which sounds like a bad idea.

edit: The EvoMS bars appear to be a decent price for CF. I know Subaru STi CF strut bars cost more than that.

I don't think one bar is going to be significantly better than any other bar, so pick whichever one looks coolest or fits your wallet the best.

 

The gt3 doesn't have any strut bracing though? Well unless you mean the same stuff that the turbo and other 996s have?

 

hm.. i think i am confused... what are strut bars and what are sway bars? i thought they were the same thing.. hehe..

 

A strut bar goes across the top of your struts, in effect tying them together. This prevent chassis flex and makes the entire structure more rigid overall. In the subaru world these are regarded as a final item after you've upgraded everything else, or a show piece.

A sway bar is a bar made of spring steel that connects each side of the lower ends of the suspension together. When you take a corner, the outside shock will want to compress more than the inside shock, due to inertia and vehicle weight. This is body roll. The sway bar will absorb this energy by twisting. A stronger sway bar will be able to absorb more energy without twisting as much, making a flatter corner. That sounds good, but...

If your sway bar is too strong, it will prevent the suspension from flexing at all, and all the inertia of the car will be placed on the tires. Since Porsches have very low sidewalls, there isn't much flex there, so it's very easy to overwhelm the amount of traction the tires have and start sliding. This = bad.

Sway bars can also be used to tune the suspension slightly. If you want more understeer, go with a weaker rear swaybar. If you have understeer and want neutral handling, go slightly stronger. If you want snap oversteer so you can drift your car into a lightpole, get a very strong rear swaybar.

Before you opt for neutral handling you should to know what trailing throttle oversteer is and how you cause it and deal effectively with it.

Here's a link with some good reading material. It's all subaru based, but the concepts are there and well worth your time. Especially the on-road driving section.
http://spdusa.com/driving.htm

I suggest giving Sharky a call and going over where you're at now and where you want your car to go. He should be able to tell you exactly what you need. There's no point to buying mods if you buy the wrong thing.

 

thanks jeff! i'll read into it

 

HAHA LOL!

Thanks for that link, good reading...

 

Jason, it is my understanding that these cars have a "built in" strut brace in the front of the car, so no need for the tower strut.
go with the hollow GT3 rear sway bar, really all this car needs.

 

nice writeup

 

thanks tom! it's always you helping me with my stupid suspension questions!!!! thanks for everybodys help!!!

 

Thanks guys. That's just the tip of the iceberg, though.

It's really amazing how little things can drastically affect your handling. For instance, I haven't heard very much if anything about polyurethane bushing kits. I know for subaru's if you do an entire bushing swap everything is tightened dramatically. Shifting, handling, steering, power delivery, etc... Without ever changing springs, struts, or anything. Each line of cars has its own quirks and it's fun to learn about a new vehicle.