I just bought a turbo LS, with a GSR tranny. Suspension mods are as follows:
Eibach Pro kit. KYB AGX shocks.

Here is my question. The car has the ITR 22mm rear sway, but I believe it still has the stock LS front sway. So from a technical point of view, how does this affect the handling of the car?

I ended up kicking out the rear end the other night, and while fishtailing, ti was tougher to bring under control than other cars I've driven...

-PHiZ

 

I would get the car's alignment checked first before deciding if it's the sway bars.

 

I'm not saying the sways caused the handling that I experienced. But I would like input on how, theoretically, only upgrading the rear sway would affect handling.

-PHiZ

 

From factory you have a 22mm and itrs have a 24mm so i dont see how it would be such a problem. The goal with swaybars is for the car to be very neutral... 22mm shouldnt be a problem. Yes it will favor the rear but not by much.

 

What do you mean by "favoring the rear." Is that your personal philosphy :naughty:.

hehe, j/k.

My info tells me the ITR bar is 22mm. I've heard stock GSR is something like 18mm. So LS is probably similar to that??

-PHiZ

 

I was listing front swaybar sizes.

 

Hrm, ok. I might not have made my post clear, but I was talking about the rear sways.

-PHiZ

 

increasing the size of the rear sway will increase the wheel rate of the side of the car that is loaded in a turn.

meaning it will make as if you have higher spring rate springs in there.

so if the initial setup (stock) was for understeer, larger front sway bar and the rear sway bar size was increased then it would reduce the understeer some what.

going from 18mm to 22mm is a large jump and given that the front is also 22mm (from reading this thread) I would "guess" that the understeering is probably nearly gone.

what happens when this is done is that people tend to make the car oversteer a lot more, where they used to understeer.

 

The stock LS rear is 14mm I believe. Putting a larger rear swaybar in the rear will make the car more prone to oversteer (as you have already found out... "kicking the rear out"). Most of us like oversteer--or at least more oversteer than Honda gave us (none). This is why I use the smallest swaybar available in the front (5g Si) and the largest available in the rear (itr). The handling difference takes some getting used to, but is very rewarding when driven well. You will have to be a little more careful with mid-corner throttle adjustment and braking so as not to spin the car.

But as Mike mentioned, allignment can have a huge effect on the handling balance of your car, as can the presence of worn bushings... so get both of those checked if you think its a problem.

 

Thanks guys, I'm trying to get a theoretical appreciation for handling. So I can intelligently, diagnose problems. And also so I can be educated on how the car is supposed to be performing.

-PHiZ