Rear Sway bar
 

Ok... updating my springs to 140lbs all around. Do I keep the rear swaybar for autocross or not?

Rule of thumb is: if it is a six, use it, if it is a four with limited slip, use it, otherwise no. BUT, if you have been using it and like the way the car handles, then keep it. Good luck.

Pretty tough to put 140 lb/in springs on the front...

In general, if your front suspension (springs/torsion bars, sway bar) is about as stiff as the stock pieces (e.g., if they are the stock pieces), then I recommend disconnecting the rear sway bar and probably stiffening the front suspension. I use a 19mm front sway bar with stock torsions and 140 springs.

If the front suspension is significantly stiffer than stock, then it is worth considering hooking up the rear sway bar. If you lack a limited-slip diff, this can result in lifting a rear wheel which isn't so good for traction or acceleration.

It is worth it to just try it and see. If you disconnect one drop link, the sway bar is rendered non-functional--though you may hear the drop link hit the trunk floor sometimes. (Scared the hell out of me the first time it did that!!) In general, connecting the rear bar will make the car more tail-happy, and disconnecting it will keep the tail planted better.

--DD

FWIW I ran a stock rear swaybar on my last teener in street & autox/short-track use, and it handled well. 19mm front bar and 140lb rear springs; Bilstein Sports; DOT-R tires. That was a stock 73 2.0 and did not seem to have the torque to easily spin the inside rear even when unweighted. For autox and short-track time-trials the extra "rotation" (oversteer) is often beneficial; for big-track driving or aggressive street driving, it could definitely be a non-asset.

My current car (lighter, and with at least 30% more power) had a Welt rear bar when I bought it...I yanked it very quickly as the car was almost undrivable, even on the street. The rears would chirp under hard acceleration over rises or curves of any sort.

I've hung onto the bar to do some more testing when I have an LSD, hopefully later in the year. So far it seems doubtful I will ever use it, though.