[Shotimes] Sway Bar Discussion WAS: supercharging

[Josh Salaets]

There, now we can separate these two discussions, since swaybars have
nothing to do with superchargers! : )

> > No actually I have some pretty serious oversteer with the current setup.
> > With the way the car handles, every time I get in it is a joyous
> > experience. The 24 bar is a big improvment.  There was just way too much
> > swinging of the ass with the stock 19mm front bar and the 26mm rear.
The
> > car is a lot more stable now, but still sticks to the road like glue.
>
> Some autocrossers love 19/26 but it's really just a low-speed tail-out
> combination, at higher speed it's a little scary.

I don't understand how so many people have oversteer problems with the 19/26
swaybar combo.  I've had this setup on my car for nearly a year and LOVE
it - it feels VERY balanced!  When I initially installed them, I was told by
several people on the list that I was going to end up sliding backwards into
a tree.  Well it hasn't happened yet, and I push my SHO a lot!  It's been to
a couple autocrosses and a couple track days, and it feels really balanced.
Only once did I have it go into oversteer on the track after I REALLY
screwed up on a corner, but it was fully controllable and I brought it right
back in line (even though my instructor thought we were going into the weeds
and the wall!). : )

I also have subframe connectors, an H-Brace, solid subfame bushings, all new
TPR bushings everywhere, strut tower braces, and Konis mounted in Intrax
springs, so this may be why the 19/26 combination works so well for me, but
I am wondering if those that have had oversteer problems with this swaybar
setup are simply going into turns too hot and not allowing the car to
transition smoothly.

> 24/26 is the opposite direction, consistent understeer, particularly heavy
> in low-speed turns, with a Quaife you can get enough acceleration to
> balance this out, without a Quaife all you get is inside wheelspin.

I've autocrossed a friend of mine's SHO setup similar to mine, but with the
24/26 combo, and made a fool of myself by taking out more cones in one run
than I have taken out in a full season!  I expected it to be somewhat
balanced, but it would just understeer soooo bad that I would just plow
through rows upon rows of cones.  No matter what I did, it just wouldn't
stop understeering.  It was the worst car I've ever driven in an autocross -
I had to fight it around the whole track.  This was before I took my SHO to
an event, and I figured these cars were just terrible for autocrossing, but
was pleasently surprised when I brought my SHO out and had a blast!

On another note, autocrossing a SHO on coilovers is also a blast - I tried
that in another friend's SHO that was equipped with them, and it was FUN!
: )  It was the last event of the season, and I was the last one out on
course, and was determined to beat my initial best time in his car, so at
the finish I came int too hot and was totally out of shape, bringing it
through the finish sideways and in a cloud of smoke trying to pull it out of
an oversteer slide.  I did make it through the finish, and avoided hitting
any cones, getting my best time for the day.  Everyone watching said it was
the most spectacular finish they saw all day, and that was the right way to
drive a borrowed car!  The guy's car I borrowed was riding with me, and he
loved every second of it - he said he had no idea his car could do that! : )

Josh Salaets
95 SHO MTX (See it at: www.cardomain.com/id/sh0gun)
85 Omni GLH-T (Yeah, it's fast)
NWSHOC Member
Eugene, OR