Front anti-roll bar - worthwhile?

[asplodzor]

Hey guys, I'm pretty new to Lancers - just bought my first one last month. My local craigslist seems to be lacking in odds and ends, but I found a couple of people offering upper sway bars on the cheap. I'm wondering if there's any reason to grab one before I upgrade my suspension (likely several months off), or if it will even hurt my handling?

The car is a manual ES, has 110K miles on it, has alloy rims with decent tires, but I think at least the rear struts are shot. I'm definitely not planning on racing this car (it's an ES...) but I do have a ton of driver's roads in my area (twisties! :-D ) and am much more concerned about handling than ride comfort.

Here's an example of the anti-roll bars I am seeing, but any advice on ES suspension in general would be helpful :-)

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/pts/1033057436.html

[blaze_125]

Originally Posted by asplodzor

Here's an example of the anti-roll bars I am seeing, but any advice on ES suspension in general would be helpful :-)

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/pts/1033057436.html

That's has nothing to do with body roll so that ain't a roll-bar.
It ties your strut tower together to keep them from flexing in/outward.
Body roll is when the whole body of the car leans over to one side or the other. A strut bar won't do sh!t for body roll.

If you can, try it before you buy it to make sure it actually fits your car. I know that design isn't best for 02-03 Lancers. It's got very small clearance around the throttle body and cruise control thingy.

[4g94T]

Looks like it's for an EVO

[asplodzor]

Originally Posted by blaze_125

That's has nothing to do with body roll so that ain't a roll-bar.
It ties your strut tower together to keep them from flexing in/outward.
Body roll is when the whole body of the car leans over to one side or the other. A strut bar won't do sh!t for body roll.

If you can, try it before you buy it to make sure it actually fits your car. I know that design isn't best for 02-03 Lancers. It's got very small clearance around the throttle body and cruise control thingy.

Thanks for the info... someone somewhere once told me that upper swaybars lower body roll at the expense of traction - what you're saying is that body roll isn't affected at all?

My Lancer doesn't have cruse control, so I'm not worried about clearance for that, but how close do they get to the throttle body? Also, what Design would you recommend for an ES?

Originally Posted by 4g94T

Looks like it's for an EVO

I believe all of the ones like that that I am seeing are stock parts coming off of Evos. Will they still fit an ES?

[ambystom01]

Originally Posted by asplodzor

Thanks for the info... someone somewhere once told me that upper swaybars lower body roll at the expense of traction - what you're saying is that body roll isn't affected at all?

My Lancer doesn't have cruse control, so I'm not worried about clearance for that, but how close do they get to the throttle body? Also, what Design would you recommend for an ES?



I believe all of the ones like that that I am seeing are stock parts coming off of Evos. Will they still fit an ES?

No, no, no, no, no, struts bars have nothing to do with suspension, they are a chassis stiffening mod. Using strut bars to make a car handle better is like using a grounding kit to make a car faster, it's something you do after everything else has been modded.
If you reduce body roll, you generally increase traction since body roll hurts traction. This doesn't apply to all situations but to make it easier see it as a rule of sorts. Sway bars increase traction by reducing body roll.

[jdparadee]

so where can you get a good anti sway bar from?

[4g94T]

search for a progress rear sway bar, the difference was night and day along with the RRM lower tie bar

[03_Lancer_ES]

There is no aftermarket front anti-sway bar i've ever seen for the lancer, just as 4g94T said, only rear tie bars and rear anti-sway bars

[deftones1868]

if your looking for a strut bar, buy a rrm k bar, i got mine for 30 bucks, and it looks nice too! it fits so nice and looks like it should be there, not some crappy ebay bar.

[SnapDragun]

The Front Sway Bay is beefy enough no need to change that.

Your Best Source for Parts for the Lancer is RoadRaceMotorsports.

[02lancerblue]

RRM K-bar is definitly a good choice and can be had for cheap if you look around. Also try to find an oz rear sway bar with the endlinks and mouting hardware and install that. both will make a noticeable difference in handling of the car.

[ambystom01]

K-bar is not a sway bar, it's a strut bar. They do very different things.

[Punz247]

Doesnt Sway bars go Under the car and strut bars goes over the strut tower. I got a nice RMR Strut bar that came with my car. Looks nice, pretty beefy. When i looked it up tho on the WebSite http://www.rmrproducts.com/store/pc/...?idCategory=44 Its pretty pricey