Which size Smart Racing sway bars?

[mmasse]

I am looking into buying a set (front and rear) sway bars from SmartRacing and need advice on the size.

My car is a 1976 911 with a 3.6 engine. I am running 245/35 18 front and 295/30 18 rear tires. I have 22mm front and 30mm rear torsion bars. And Koni adjustable shocks all around.

Currently, I have Carrera sway bars front (22mm) and rear (21mm), and the car has some slight understeering issue, which I plan to solve with the adjustability of the SR sway bars.

thanks in advance,

[gtc]

There is a recommendation chart in the Smart Racing catalog, but if you call them they should be able to tell you which ones to buy.

[mmasse]

I have seen it, thanks. I was actually looking feedback from others with a similar setup. They recommend 31r/27f for a track car and 23/23 for stree/track, then they recommend 27/27 for GT (which I am not sure what it means) cars.

My car is used almost exclusively for track (DE events), so I should in pple go for the 31/27 setup, but according to a SR representative this setup is to match 23f/31r torsion bars. As I mentioned in my previous post, my torsion bars are smaller 30/22, so I am not sure which would be the best sway bars for my case.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[JP911]

I'm running the Smart setup for street/track (21/29 torsion bars, 23/23 sway bars) and it's great. The risk with running more sway bar with smaller torsion bars is that the sways will do more "work" in the corners relative to the springs. This can cause sheared rear sway bar mounts and damaged sheet metal where the front bar passes through the trunk.

[304065]

31/27

[Tyson Schmidt]

Originally Posted by mmasse

I have seen it, thanks. I was actually looking feedback from others with a similar setup. They recommend 31r/27f for a track car and 23/23 for stree/track, then they recommend 27/27 for GT (which I am not sure what it means) cars.


Thanks

I think you meant 31F/27R, not the other way around.

There is plenty of adjustability in these bars, so your slightly different torsion bar sizes is not an issue.

Since you say it's almost exclusively a track car, then definitely go 31F 27R.

[mmasse]

why not 27/27?
Wouldn't 31f/27r make my understeering issue worst?

Thanks

[mmasse]

Originally Posted by Tyson Schmidt

I think you meant 31F/27R, not the other way around.

Yes, you are right Tyson. thanks

[rattlsnak]

31/27

[Steve W]

I have 22/29s as a mixed use car and Rich Walton of Smart Racing strongly recommended 31/27s and they're incredible. It's a huge and completely different level of performance over the standard 22 mm adjustables I had previously. Your car will corner so flat, it will be on three wheels if you transition a driveway at a diagonal. Throttle steer will have a whole new definition. Since yours is a DE track car, it should be no question.

You can soften the bars for a softer ride on the street, or stiffen more for track, but the setting I use works well for both and the ride for street is not bad at all.

[911st]

Nice thing about the SR sways is you can interchange the bars beteen the front and rear. And, if you need to you can just buy another bar for a fair price.

I am not a suspention expert but I would look to stiffer torsion bars first as this helps sway and dive. Sways should be more for ballance.

Also, I suspect a relitively large sway's makes for a large varation in effective wheel spring rates in bump, sway, and dive -- making it more difficult to find a shock rate to cover all conditions.

It seem that in the case of a torsion bar 911 where the torsion bar rates are limited, larger sway bars seem to be used as a 'spring substuite' on top of a way to ballance the car.

However, I understand it is easyer to just add stiffer sway bars.

A dual use car is a different story.

[Flieger]

Yes, it is easier to add anti-sway bars but they do not control dive/squat. You can tune the balance of the suspension's roll stiffness easily, though.

[911st]

I think I just said that.

Originally Posted by 911st

...I would look to stiffer torsion bars first as this helps sway and dive. Sways should be more for ballance. ...

[Flieger]

Sorry, I was just poking fun at your spelling. I agree with the comments.

[ja78911sc]

Originally Posted by Steve W

I have 22/29s as a mixed use car and Rich Walton of Smart Racing strongly recommended 31/27s and they're incredible. It's a huge and completely different level of performance over the standard 22 mm adjustables I had previously. Your car will corner so flat, it will be on three wheels if you transition a driveway at a diagonal. Throttle steer will have a whole new definition. Since yours is a DE track car, it should be no question.

You can soften the bars for a softer ride on the street, or stiffen more for track, but the setting I use works well for both and the ride for street is not bad at all.

Question for Steve or others:

I have 22mm Welt sway bar in the front. I was thinking about upgrading to a larger smart bar. Obviously, the bar will be larger which in turn will require a larger hole.

Will I be able to use the three mounting holes I drilled for my Welt bar or will I need new holes?

[911st]

F,

Got it, not a problem. Totally went over my head.

California school system, a little dyslexia, plus pretty much falling through the cracks while the staff at the orphanage was more concerned with when there next Black Panther meeting was and or participating in the free love movement seems to have contributed to my not quite perfect spelling.

Still, California let me get 3 collage degrees at almost no cost so I am still thankful.

I often forget to run spell check. Just forgot that time.


The best my Friend. Keep up the good work.

[Steve W]

Originally Posted by ja78911sc

Question for Steve or others:

I have 22mm Welt sway bar in the front. I was thinking about upgrading to a larger smart bar. Obviously, the bar will be larger which in turn will require a larger hole.

Will I be able to use the three mounting holes I drilled for my Welt bar or will I need new holes?

You use the same holes, plus you drill three more equidistant for a total of six.