Strut Bar or Sway bar?

I am going to do some handling mods and I was wondering what is the difference between the both of them? Can you use the both together or are they used seperately ? could I the Strut brace with out a rear sway bar? Sorry for the stupid questions , I am clueless! Thanks Jim

You can use both together. A strut bar is a brace and won't provide NEARLY as big of an improvement as a sway bar. Get the sway bar and be happy.

they are separate things. No need for a strut bar unless you have done alot of suspension mods....even then, some debate the actual benefits. I am still adding one, because I like the look, though it's a waste of a few hundred bucks.

You can use both together. A strut bar is a brace and won't provide NEARLY as big of an improvement as a sway bar. Get the sway bar and be happy.

 

A strut bar is the last thing you need. If even then. For them to make a noticeable difference you have to have done A LOT of susp. mods first. And you need the softest stickiest tires you'd likely never want to run on the street. And you'll never be able to drive fast enough on the street to need strut bars. Safely or legally.

 

Put on strut bars and expect embarrassing questions from your Subaru dealer and arguments about what's warranteed and what isn't, and why would a "non-abusive" driver need a strut bar anyway? And, "Just how fast do you take corners anyway?"

Put on strut bars and expect embarrassing questions from your Subaru dealer and arguments about what's warranteed and what isn't, and why would a "non-abusive" driver need a strut bar anyway? And, "Just how fast do you take corners anyway?" Do you think they would say the same thing with the sway bars?

Subaru offers a strut bar for the LGT....so no Q's from the dealer.

Subaru offers a strut bar for the LGT....so no Q's from the dealer.

 

Subaru dealers sell a lot of STi (brand named) stuff, that while it might be warranteed, itself, by Subaru, but, if it caused adverse effects on other components, I'd bet they wouldn't be covered. Like, perhaps, CV joints and the added stresses on them.

I think they make a difference on older cars that dont have as much rigity between the two towers or they could have just lost a lot of their rigity over the years. I put one in my 97 audi and while im not sure if it improved cornering capabilities it improved the steering feel a lot.

get sway bars

A wagon benefits from a rear strut bar because of the open space factor. I could feel a great difference in my old WRX wagon after installing one. On the front of any car or on sedan rear, bars are just bling.

Like everyone is say'n........SWAY bars all the way man.

I'm not sure where you'd mount the rear strut bar in the LGT wagon. With the multi-link system, the shock top is buried in the floor panel and not in the wheel humps.

 

To answer the original question, struts bars tighten up, hold the strut towers in alignment relative to the rest of the car and keep them from flexing in and outward on turns, bumps, etc. With Subaru's emphasis on chassis rigidity and resistance to torque, probably unnecessary unless your competing the car.

 

Sway bars on the other hand, mount to each wheel through end links and couple the wheels side-to-side at the front or rear so that as one wheel goes up, the opposite wheel is "pressed" downward. This definitely helps with cornering and reduces body roll as the body is coupled to the strut bars via the strut bar mounts. Think of it as "tightening" up both the handling (better wheel contact - to a point) and less body lean or roll when cornering. In a straight line it adds the same chacteristics, say over a dip in the road surface, etc., it's just that you don't notice it as much.

 

HTH

 

SBT

I'm not sure where you'd mount the rear strut bar in the LGT wagon. With the multi-link system, the shock top is buried in the floor panel and not in the wheel humps.

 

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y124/PatagonianGT/LGT_susp5.jpg

worth a thousand words

rear swaybar and endlinks

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y124/PatagonianGT/LGT_susp5.jpg

 

Yep! Exactly where I thought it would be... right in the middle of my usable floor space. I guess I could build a "bridge" to lessen the impact but not sure the stb would be worth the added hassle, given the structural integrity of the LGT rear shock mounts. Course it's better than the usable air space between the wheel wells where it typically resides on the MacPherson strutted cars.

 

Dan, is this on your car as it appears that it's on a sedan? If it is on your car, what's the value added benefit?

 

SBT

Not my car - it was from Rallitek's site. Given how low it is, I don't think it would impede much. Still, not going on my car.

I'm quite a bit late to this conversation.

 

But to reinforce - although I still cannot say with 100% certainty on the LGT as I have yet to do this to mine - on all of my rides, strut tower braces have been *_much_* more for looks than for performance.

 

I admit to liking their aesthetic appeal as well. And also have used them as mounting/routing for wiring and other such accessories.

 

-A

I had some DC Sports bars on my CRX - they made a difference, but that's a 14 year old Honda. Chassis stiffness has come a LONG way since the 80's.

You know, that's something I've never thought about 'till just now. Very good point, on older cars.

 

-A

What about the usefulness of lower arm bars?

What about the usefulness of lower arm bars?

 

The Cusco underbraces? They are supposed to have some effect. I have a full set sitting in my garage. I have been a bit of a chicken when it comes to installing them.

Anyone that doesn't compete their car (Solo2 or track days) are crazy to even think about either strut bars or sway bars. If you're driving fast enough to notice them (struts, bars) on the street you're just driving too aggressively where you shouldn't be. Nuff said..

 

Put on decent tires, get some negative camber, and leave it at that. It's good for 7/10's cornering and that's as fast as you should be going on roads that can have oil or diesel fuel patches, sand, gravel, deer, bicyclists, some other car overlapping your lane, or who knows what else unexpectedly in the middle of the next corner.

<---- Crazy for having a 20mm RSB? Comeon man.....just can't throw that kind of BS out and not expect to get flamed.

<---- Crazy for having a 20mm RSB? Comeon man.....just can't throw that kind of BS out and not expect to get flamed.

 

I respect your opinion. But every driving school will tell you nobody should be pushing it over 7/10's on a public road. Same thing applies to sport cycles (personal experience).

 

A RSB just increases oversteer that not everyone can handle. Yes, I had a 20mm bar on my WRX and liked it.. it gave neutral handling under power and massive trailing throttle oversteer.