> Many racers say that adding a sway bar only
> increases the natural understeer of the car.
Which is strange, because normally, adding roll stiffness in the rear decreases
understeer (increases oversteer).
The main argument I've heard against rear bars is that they increase the
tendency to lift the inside rear tire in a hard corner, meaning you can't put
any power to the ground (with the standard open differential).
However without the rear bar, I found I was lifting the wheel anyway, when the
rear suspension ran out of travel. That was worse, IMO, because of the sudden
change in handling, the "throwing up of hands" mentioned in the article I
quoted. I likewise found the sudden change from understeer to oversteer to be
difficult to anticipate and control, so I wanted to eliminate it even at the
expense of higher lap times. Probably for a better driver than I am, that would
be less of a concern.
As I said, it depends heavily on how (and where) you drive the car ... I wasn't
looking for fastest lap time on a race track. But the car did do well on the
only racetrack it ever saw; came home with the 2nd fastest time in the modified
class at the VTR 2000 autocross, running against cars with more preparation. I
don't know who got fastest in class, but I'd be surprised to hear he drove 1000
miles home on the same tires.
Randall
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