ST suspension systems sway bar kit

[morrisonmagic]

I am a new owner of a 2015 FRS base. And I have been tracking cars for years and have read all I can on the forum about sway bars. I know that ST is not a leading brand like some others but looking at their kit it seems to be much more comprehensive than other vendors. Please share your thoughts on this kit specifically I am between this one http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/st-s...g#.Vzj6y2FHanM

Or the Perrin Bars

[Vracer111]

Originally Posted by morrisonmagic

I am a new owner of a 2015 FRS base. And I have been tracking cars for years and have read all I can on the forum about sway bars. I know that ST is not a leading brand like some others but looking at their kit it seems to be much more comprehensive than other vendors. Please share your thoughts on this kit specifically I am between this one http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/st-s...g#.Vzj6y2FHanM

Or the Perrin Bars

In the Honda world they are very well known, I had a set for an Integra track car and ghey worked well, I like how the car was balanced. Personally I would look for anti-roll bars that are hollow though...hollow is always my preference.

[Tor]

It have the ST swaybars. Speedfactory has a wrong picture. First off, it's not FR-S swaybars and second they are grey.

That out of the way, ST Suspension is owned 100% by KW. The ST Swaybars are exactly the same as KW swaybars (except grey color instead of yellow).

[Tor]

This is what they actually look like:
http://www.st-suspensions.de/st-st-s...html?typ=25718

These are the KW:
http://www.kwsuspensions.de/kw-clubs...html?typ=25718

You might notice as well that the websites look similar. And the end of the url of both products are typ=25718

[morrisonmagic]

Originally Posted by Tor

This is what they actually look like:
http://www.st-suspensions.de/st-st-s...html?typ=25718

These are the KW:
http://www.kwsuspensions.de/kw-clubs...html?typ=25718

You might notice as well that the websites look similar. And the end of the url of both products are typ=25718

So what exactly do the come with? And do you like yours? Thank you for your help.

[Tor]

They come with stiffer bushings, a small tube of grease and mounts for the rear. In the front you reuse the old mounts and just insert the new bushing. That's it. Install was easy and you don't anything else.

Except depending on how old your car is, your front end links might be rusted and you might break them taking them off. I would recommend getting some adjustable like the Whiteline while you are at it:
http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/whit...links-616.html

The ST swaybars are the go-to swaybars in Germany. Pretty much everyone doing a swaybar upgrade choose these. Because they are reasonably priced (as you can see from the links I posted 300€$ vs 500€ for yellow KW), they have TÜV approval (for road legality Germany), they have a sensible size and they are adjustable.

My opinion is that the finish/quality looks good and they do what they are supposed to. I installed them together with coilovers, so I can't compare before/after stock. I have them in the soft setting, my car corners and transitions flat, flat, flat.

[morrisonmagic]

Originally Posted by Tor

They come with stiffer bushings, a small tube of grease and mounts for the rear. In the front you reuse the old mounts and just insert the new bushing. That's it. Install was easy and you don't anything else.

Except depending on how old your car is, your front end links might be rusted and you might break them taking them off. I would recommend getting some adjustable like the Whiteline while you are at it:
http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/whit...links-616.html

The ST swaybars are the go-to swaybars in Germany. Pretty much everyone doing a swaybar upgrade choose these. Because they are reasonably priced (as you can see from the links I posted 300€$ vs 500€ for yellow KW), they have TÜV approval (for road legality Germany), they have a sensible size and they are adjustable.

My opinion is that the finish/quality looks good and they do what they are supposed to. I installed them together with coilovers, so I can't compare before/after stock. I have them in the soft setting, my car corners and transitions flat, flat, flat.

What coil overs did you go with? I am debating between going with B16's coil overs or going with lowering springs with Koni Yellows.

[Tor]

Originally Posted by morrisonmagic

What coil overs did you go with? I am debating between going with B16's coil overs or going with lowering springs with Koni Yellows.

I went with ST XTA.

I'm affraid people here are going to start thinking I'm affiliated with ST. Just to make it clear I am not (no discounts or anything either). Infact, I don't think my avid promotion of the XTAs is doing ST a favour. Reason being that ST is 100% owned by KW and my claim is that these are better than KW V3 in 3 aspects:

1) 6 kg/mm front spring rate (V3 only 4 kg/mm) - this is the huge advantage in my opinion!
2) Camber adjustable top mounts included (has to be bought extra for the V3). They are exactly the same as V3/Clubsport top mounts, only black instead of purple. Like with the swaybars, same product, different color, different sticker, much cheaper!
3) Price! They are HALF the price of V3 with top mounts

Disadvantages:
1) Rebound/compression is combined adjustable (V3 separate). In some ways it's an advantage, because they are easier to adjust - atleast for a noob like myself it makes it a lot easier.
2) They WILL rust as they are made from galvanised steel (V3 stainless). If you live/drive the car on salted winter roads I would recommend something else. If not, chances are the dampers are due for replacement before the rust gets too bad. And with the low price I will toss them instead of wasting money on a rebuild. Seeing that you live in California, that wouldn't apply to you at all.

Looking at promotional videos from "ST" (KW really), they assemble the ST XTA in the same facilities as KW. My bet is they are reaching in the same drawers as for V3 when reaching for parts to put in the dampers. They probably pay 25 cents for valves and shims anyway, so why would they bother putting something inferior into the cheaper XTA dampers? The shock bodies are also exactly the same as V3, except for the material. Check it out yourself:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2EuIjSKH1E[/ame]


Because the poor awareness of all this in the US, I contributed with this thread (video unboxing the XTAs in the first post):
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100030

Some install pictures and impressions in my build thread:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99825

If you see the unboxing video, you will see I was worried the lower 5 kg/mm rear spring rate would cause understeer (that's why I got the adjustable swaybars). But that is absolutely not the case, with the swaybars set at soft front and rear, the car is very neutral biased towards oversteer. For me it's perfect!

Here is a video with me driving the car on track for the first time, with the ST XTA coilovers and ST swaybars:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9qqv2lZb-o"]ST XTA coilovers for the GT86/FR-S/BRZ - track day[/ame]

I started out spinning the car on my very first lap because I didn't expect them to oversteer that much. After getting settled (my first track day EVER), I managed to consistently drive 2:08-2:10 at Zolder racetrack (on greasy Pirelli P Zero Nero GT street tires, mushy brakes and with my engine boiling at 265+ deg F). A GT86 friend of mine with a lot more track experience has a best time of 1:58, he is on V3/ST swaybars but with Federal semislicks/BBK/intake/exhaust/tune/short final drive. With semislicks and more experience, I don't see why I shouldn't be able to shave 10 seconds of my best time too (once I'm there he is probably doing 1:50 ).

I would definitively recommend them as good entry level/casual track coilovers. Personally, I wouldn't buy anything else from KW. If I wanted something higher level, I would look for Monotube dampers (like AST), instead of KW/ST's twintube design.

Lastly do not confuse ST XTA and ST X. The damper of the ST X is NOT made by KW. Same goes for KW V1, which by the way are exactly the same as ST X, with the only difference being galvanised/stainless.

I live in Germany and ordered the XTA and the swaybars from 2 different online shops. Both packages were sent directly to me from KWs factory near Stuttgart in southern Germany. Need more proof? These are KW coilovers with another label on them for half the price. I can't stress that enough.

It still seems that very few really cares in the US, "because V3 is the best". I been trying to explain all of the above to deef ears many times now. I hope you will find it useful.