Sway Bars - So Many Choices

[TeeLew]

exactly so either leave the PP1 alone or source one from the Mach1.
Chassis lean is a good thing (within reason). I don't get this 'flat-ride uber alles' stuff.

You're not supposed to sing the 'Uber Alles' version...

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[TeeLew]

I made that

Except I lost the screenshot I had so time to save it again haha

For reference, the HPP model has a 34mm FARB & 24mm RARB.

 

[shogun32]

and @Epiphany made this one.

 

[TeeLew]

The shear number of options these engineers come up with is pretty silly. Look at those front springs.

194 #/in
211 #/in
240 #/in
251 #/in
268 #/in

For sure there are at least this many others in the mix when you add the various versions of GT and Eco.

Those could easily be reduced to two, maybe a 220 & 270 #/in. If you wanted a softer spring for the 'daily' GT's, then maybe throw a 170 in the mix. They should spend a less time tinkering with meaningless spring rate changes and a little more time figuring out how dampers work.

 

[NightmareMoon]

The shear number of options these engineers come up with is pretty silly. Look at those front springs.

194 #/in
211 #/in
240 #/in
251 #/in
268 #/in

For sure there are at least this many others in the mix when you add the various versions of GT and Eco.

Those could easily be reduced to two, maybe a 220 & 270 #/in. If you wanted a softer spring for the 'daily' GT's, then maybe throw a 170 in the mix. They should spend a less time tinkering with meaningless spring rate changes and a little more time figuring out how dampers work.

Lol @ figuring out how dampers work.

For the OEM, I'm sure they have some internal targets for ride frequency or body roll or something. Spec'ing a different shock valving or spring rate is not even a speedbump in their pipeline. They just don't need to share springs across vehicles for such a simple and known quantity part.

 

[TeeLew]

For the OEM, I'm sure they have some internal targets for ride frequency or body roll or something. Spec'ing a different shock valving or spring rate is not even a speedbump in their pipeline. They just don't need to share springs across vehicles for such a simple and known quantity part.

You're less cynical than I am. My guess would be they have a ride and handling lead engineer on each variation of the car. That engineer wants to justify his position by spec'ing a slightly different rate than the next, but not so different that any negative comment about the car can be genuinely criticized or likely even felt. So everyone works prove they deserve a paycheck while staying in the box which some internal Alpha dog previously established.

 

[NightmareMoon]

You're less cynical than I am. My guess would be they have a ride and handling lead engineer on each variation of the car. That engineer wants to justify his position by spec'ing a slightly different rate than the next, but not so different that any negative comment about the car can be genuinely criticized or likely even felt. So everyone works prove they deserve a paycheck while staying in the box which some internal Alpha dog previously established.

Having worked on legacy products, yeah, you need to color between the already established lines.

 

[TeeLew]

Having worked on legacy products, yeah, you need to color between the already established lines.

I'm not very good at that. Admittedly, my approach has both positive and negative qualities.

 

[ANS]

A lot of good information here. I have a stock base 2021 ecoboost and have added the GT350 strut tower bar. Going off the information on this thread, is the census to use the GT350 or GT350R sway bars if I am not looking to go crazy at a track but to add more steering feel for street use? I actually prefer the stock springs/dampers as my wife and I do a lot of highway driving in this vehicle city to city here in Texas. It is surprisingly comfortable.

 

[NightmareMoon]

A lot of good information here. I have a stock base 2021 ecoboost and have added the GT350 strut tower bar. Going off the information on this thread, is the census to use the GT350 or GT350R sway bars if I am not looking to go crazy at a track but to add more steering feel for street use? I actually prefer the stock springs/dampers as my wife and I do a lot of highway driving in this vehicle city to city here in Texas. It is surprisingly comfortable.

That wouldn't be a bad way to go. Don't be scared to try a slightly more aggressive bar. The 'R' bars would compliment stock springs IMHO.

 

[TeeLew]

A lot of good information here. I have a stock base 2021 ecoboost and have added the GT350 strut tower bar. Going off the information on this thread, is the census to use the GT350 or GT350R sway bars if I am not looking to go crazy at a track but to add more steering feel for street use? I actually prefer the stock springs/dampers as my wife and I do a lot of highway driving in this vehicle city to city here in Texas. It is surprisingly comfortable.

I have an Eco, too. I'll give you my take. Try the BMR 35mm Front bar. It adds a bit of response to the front and flattens roll a small amount. I did not find it increased understeer. In general, Eco's have less understeer than V8 cars (lower nose weight). I haven't found that I need all that much rear bar. In fact, I moved from a 24mm to a 20mm RARB because I prefer the added rear grip. Keep in mind, my driving style has a lot to do with this choice, so what I call 'balanced' and what you call 'balanced' might be significantly different.

You likely have a 32.0mm front and a 21.7mm rear from the factory. If you were to mix and match, the 35mm bar from BMR could be used with any version of stock rear bar (from 20.0 to 25.4mm) or the BMR 25.0mm rear.

 

[shogun32]

from Brian's spreadsheet. He might have updates but there isn't another public source that I know of.

Swaybar				Front Rate	Rear Rate		Front Wheel Rate	Rear Wheel Rate
GT PP				295	123		290	75
GT350				350	130		344	79
GT350R				350	230		344	140
BMR soft				377	200		371	122
BMR med				439	289		432	176
BMR stiff				501	378		493	230
Eibach soft				372	198		366	120
Eibach med				475	234		467	142
Eibach stiff				515	285		507	173
Steeda soft					280		0	170
Steeda med soft					350		0	213
Steeda med stiff					N/A			N/A
Steeda stiff					425		0	259
Pedders soft				455	170		448	103
Pedders med				492	197		484	120
Pedders stiff				530	224		522	136

 

[NightmareMoon]

Now I want to sticky these swaybar rates.

 

[TeeLew]

from Brian's spreadsheet. He might have updates but there isn't another public source that I know of.

Are you sure he's OK with you posting that?

 

[shogun32]

Are you sure he's OK with you posting that?

his spreadsheet was public when I cloned it. So...

My copy is publicly shared (drop-box link) and I've overhauled the original by replacing almost all of the fields that were fixed values with the actual formulas behind the calculations so it's dynamic. I don't know why his was hard-coded in the first place.

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