Sway bars in AutoX.
 

Who here tried auto crossing with and without sway bars? Are the aftermarket rear sway bars matter on this car? If so, can you explain?
Also, the front sway bar. How will it assist when combining it with a rear sway bar.

Bonus question. Are there any benefits from having those hood brace bars?(rear too)

A front sway makes an amazing difference. You can get on the gas much earlier.

A front sway makes an amazing difference. You can get on the gas much earlier. Don't bother with a rear bar.

First of all, is there a specific class you are looking to run in?

Like has been said, a larger front swaybar will actually help front end grip by maintaining camber, and will also keep weight on the inside rear wheel which reduces wheelspin.

Upgrading the rear bar only will just make you lift the inside rear wheel and be prone to oversteer. Upgrading both helps keep some balance but you'll still have issues in the rear with the lack of independent movement and putting power down. Or even going into driveways at an angle...

Hood brace bars? Strut tower bars? Generally no there isn't a big benefit to it, if you want flashier looks under the hood maybe. Money is better spent elsewhere.

I'll be going with novice until I have a race set up. I figured tower braces are meant for looks.
Am I looking to increase or decrease oversteer? Do I keep a stiff front and a loose back to maintain balance or the opposite ?

these cars are prone to oversteer, so to balance it out, you want a stiffer front

I'd suggest driving it first, then report back what needs fixing. Throwing parts at a car for the hell of it is often a good way to throw away money.

As for generalities,
stiffer rear and/or softer front = oversteer
stiffer front and/or softer rear = understeer

There are a bunch of underlying assumptions though - in particular, it is assumed the car is already set up like a race car. Most stock or stockich cars aren't set up that well.

Another big thing is your own personal driving style. Depending on what that is you may want your car to behave differently than what other people like. Drive it and see what things you want to tweak before buying parts randomly.

This very much. Go to an event and see what you would like to improve. It's tempting to jump-in head first but it's worthwhile to dip your toes in the water first. I'm not sure if that's a great metaphor but you get the point.

- andy

I'll add that I had a great time auto-xing the car on stock rubber and stock trim for a couple of events last year. I added a Strano 22mm bar on Sunday, went for a drive, and drove with it a couple hours today.

The turn in and steering response are greatly improved, and overall I'm really happy with it just in a DD application. I can only imagine that a quicker turn in will lead to quicker times, especially on slower courses.

I've already autoX'd twice. The thing I did not like is how slowly the car came back to equilibrium after a sharp turn. I feel if it came to equilibrium faster I can take the next turn smoother and quicker. Felt wobbly and had a little hop to the direction it was turning to.

Go in stock first, if you don't set a baseline on how much or how little to tune the sway bar stiffness, you may end up regretting your decision after you find out a sway bar doesn't produce the desired effect, either that or you find out that you don't like the extra over/understeer from the added sway bar and you would have wasted your money if stock was already good enough.

Lol, did not refresh before I posted.

If your desire is to get back to neutral quicker exiting a turn, your answer might lie in springs and dampers instead.

Swaybars control how much contact you have with the ground, during cornering load; dampers and springs have more control of weight transfer when you corner. But all suspension pieces have some overlapping jobs. I think you might have a more desirable effect that you want with springs/damper changes rather than swaybar.

Also tirepressure has a significant affect on grip as well.