I am having sways put on the car and am wondering what the different settings will do for the handling-for example firm rear and soft front, or firm rear and firm front or soft rear with firm front etc.
Can anyone explain the physics of what happens with these different setting options.

 

Stiffer rear, softer front = greater oversteer

Stiffer front, softer rear = greater steering response, greater understeer

 

moving the connection closer to the bar is stiffer and away from the bar is softer

 

Good point and rarely mentioned! I've noted exact same thing: stiffer front suspension components, whether by sway bar setting, or by stiffer spring, makes the steering firmer and more responsive. A "side effect," but there for sure.

 

I think I might be able to go into the "physics" (at amateur level), but I am not sure that you'll want to hear it.

Anti roll bars do 2 things:
1. Decrease body roll
2. Front to rear relative stiffness settings affect understeer/oversteer.
We all know about 1, 2 is what you are asking about. As Bob already mentioned, if the front is relatively soft compared to the rear, understeer is down, oversteer is up. If the front is relatively stiff compared to the rear, understeer is up, oversteer is down.

Then there is one more issue, ride. I have found for example that with the GMG bar the rear, if set to stiff, is very very tough for street driving.

For someone starting out, say for GMG or H&R bar, IMHO starting point is medium for the rear, and medium for the front.
Drive the car, if you feel that it understeers, then change it to medium rear, and soft front. I like to start out with medium front because the steering does feel tighter and more responsive.
This is exactly what I do in my car: Rear is at medium, the front I adjust (very easily done without lifting car) to either medium or soft. People who track the car in general do use soft front, stiff rear.

As for the physics, it has to do with slip angle. When slip angle of front tires is more than that of the rear tires, you have understeer. There is a good article on this if *anyone* is interested http://www.autozine.org/technical_sc..._4.htm#Neutral.

 

Don't know about you guys but I'd rather have my front stiffer!

 

yeah, but what good is it if you can't steer?

 

I generally like the added "greater steering response"!

 

Somehow I can't get my head around greater understeer being equal to greater steering response.

 

I didn't say that greater understeer = greater steering response.

I said a stiffer front, softer rear setting will give you greater steering response and greater understeer.

 

Bob, they are mutually exclusive: you can't have both at the same time.

I think I understand what you are trying to say is that a stiffer front end will cause the steering wheel to feel more direct, but the steering itself, since it is understeering, will in fact be less responsive to what the steering wheel is telling it to do.

 

Quote:
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset" class=alt2>Originally Posted by bbywu
Stiffer front, softer rear = greater steering response, greater understeer







</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Quote:
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset" class=alt2>Originally Posted by GT3 Chuck
yeah, but what good is it if you can't steer?







</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>With a stiffer front, I personally find the tendency to plow straight ahead quite disturbing. The ability to steer and negotiate curves therefore becomes critical. Ah yes... it *is* Saturday night! :-)

 

 

Barry...you are correct.

Steering response is a poor choice of words. I guess I should have said that the steering feels more responsive, but I agree...the car will move less so.

 

il nino, I know I might have said this already, but it's also critical to max out the front camber of the car if you have not done so.

You should be able to bring front camber up to minus 1.2 degree or so. More front negative camber is another important parameter that reduces the Turbo's tendency to understeer. You *will* feel the change in corners and chances are you will love it.