I am having Bilstein Damptronics installed by AWE tomorrow. I am not sure if I should get Sway Bars installed too. What difference in ride would sways do as compared to just the Bilsteins.
I am also going to have GT3 alignment settings done too.

 

A stiffer rear sway will reduce understeer dramatically. It is a worthy investment to setup while your car is on the lift.

 

gotta get beefier and lighter ones to compliment your upgraded suspension and more aggressive alignment settings. There are several good sways out there. Make sure to set to full soft front and full stiff rear. This will get rid of the inherent understeer.

 

Get the GMG bars for the 997TT.

 

make sure you go with aftermarket drop links.

 

Tell Mike to give you a deal on them while the car is there!

 

If you are getting the coilovers done, you might as well use this opportunity to get some beefier sways put on as well while the car is in the air. Aftermarket sways are a good investment. It helps dial out all that understeer that is inherent in the turbo.

 

Yes, at least a rear sway, I have gmg..excellent. The gt2 is also a great oem adjustable sway.

 

If you're not going to track it a lot and don't enjoy adjusting the suspension, leave the stock bars on, there is nothing wrong with them. If you intend to track it a bit or would like to adjust the understeer I would strongly endorse the rear GT2 bar, oem and adjustable. I think I paid around $200 for it, installs in about 30" uses stock drop links.
A lot of people have the front adjustable sways but I think it might be overkill.

 

This is EXACTLY what I told il nino.

Swaybars will improve the handling, but do add some stiffness to the ride. Since everyone has different tastes and drives on varying road types, I say to do the coilovers first, learn the nuances of that mod, then if you want to go a step further, add the sways.

Il nino might be happy with the ride quality and handling of just the coilovers. If we do the sways too it might be too much and now we have an unhappy client. That sway money have been better spent elsewhere.

Sways are easy to install, so do one at a time. That is our philosophy.

We don't like to see our clients wasting money on something they don't need. Let us be your guide. We can help tailor the mods to best suit you.

 

Mike, if sways are only addressing side to side how much can this affect the ride? I would think not much. maybe my assessment is wrong in what they are doing?

 

Read this:
http://www.houseofthud.com/cartech/swaybars.htm

 

Great And very informative post.

 

Sage advice by one of the most trusted names on this forum! This is the scheme I adhere to as I mod my own car: one change, one axle at a time. It's a lot more fun and educational this way. You'll have no idea "who" is doing what if you apply multiple changes at time.

 

Chris, the sway bar, particularly in the stiff setting, and particularly in the rear, could have significant effect on ride quality. This is how I think about it: In some way, the sway makes your car act like it has a solid rear axle when there is a bump on one wheel (not both). OTOH, at soft and med settings on the GMG bar, the effect on ride and handling is a lot more subtle than I expected.

I commented on sway bar in post # 72 of my Bilstein thread:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...d-turbo-5.html

Some info on GMG sway that I haven't added to this thread; hope it helps. First as far as H&R or GMG sways: I have no idea how they are different from each other with respect to stiffness/performance. The only reason I went with GMG (actually made by Eibach) was at the time I was going to go with the whole GMG package (later changed my mind to Bilstein PSS10). As it turned out, the GMG bar has 3 very desirable characteristics:
1. Made by Eibach (a gold standard)
2. Hollow
3. Specs of stiffness increase over the stock bar, in percentage, clearly published. No secret and much applauded.

GMG Front Sway: 3 settings: soft, medium, stiff. The front soft setting is 15% stiffer than stock, middle 25%, and stiff 35%.
GMG Rear Sway: 3 settings: soft, medium, stiff. The rear soft setting is 30% stiffer than stock, middle around 45%, and stiff is 60%.

The GMG sway was actually the first suspension component installed in my car. I wanted to find out what it does by itself. The effects are very subtle at medium settings, NOTHING like the transformation of the PSS10. At the medium settings, leaning is reduced a little, but more importantly, the steering feels tighter. There is less free play to the steering wheel as you rock it back and forth for example.
However, note that I have found the full stiff setting IN THE REAR to affect overall ride significantly. It makes the car extremely stiff, too stiff for a daily driver.

To reduce the inherent understeer/neutral steer of the 4WD car, and to have some oversteer (desirable to professional drivers at the track), the usual recommended setting for a track car could/would be full soft front, full stiff rear. For a street car, I've found soft or med front and med rear to be a good compromise for the GMG bar, but of course this is strictly personal preference, no right or wrong and depends on the rest of the components in the car.