No front anti-sway bar=a better ride

[Fastbrew]

Best ride for least money is stock.

[Captain Snooze]

Originally Posted by Fastbrew

Best ride for least money is stock.

That made me laugh! So succinct! I totally agree though.

[HunterGreene]

Originally Posted by KoolBRZ

...but I'm actually interested in getting the best ride for the least money.

I am really questioning why you bought this car if all the reason you bought it for was for comfort.

If that's all you are looking for, here, these have good ride quality, and aren't expensive:

Ford Fusion


Ford Focus


Nissan Altima:


Chevy Sonic


And pretty much anything Buick makes

[Shady195]

Seriously why did you buy this car?

I'm really not trying to be a **** when I say that. However you bought a car whos SHINING wonderful characteristic was that it handles extremely well for its price point, then you go and fuck that up by trying to make it ride like a Cadillac.

There are plenty of sporty fun cars that would seem to cater to your needs much better.

I get it, its your car and you can do what you want but you're wasting time and money and frankly making yourself look like a clown on here by trying to turn it into something its not.

You bought the wrong car if you wanted to ride around on a cloud and haul shit in the back like a truck.

[Dimman]

Originally Posted by KoolBRZ

Free speech is your right, but I'm actually interested in getting the best ride for the least money. I have a hydraulic coil spring compressor, so it makes changing springs much quicker than with the hook style threaded compressors. I've had all my struts out and springs changed 4 times in the last 3 days. I'm seriously wearing the threads off my wheels studs though. It wasn't till last night that I got my suspension to give a halfway decent ride.

Suspension isn't the only thing I've changed recently. Just this morning I discovered how the AVCS tables need to be adjusted to compensate for the lowered back-pressure of a free-flowing exhaust. I tried reducing the valve overlap previously, but that made it worse, so this morning I increased the overlap and behold, more power, and better mileage. So this week has been a two-fer for me, better suspension, and a better running engine.

#Winning!

[wparsons]

Originally Posted by KoolBRZ

With no preload there is almost no shock travel left before hitting the bumpstops. Spring pressure, strength or preload gives shock travel, and the adjustable mounts give height. Sway bars add to the spring strength of the struts. My front springs are too soft, so I am using the front sway bar to help stiffen them up. The rear springs are firmer, so I've removed the rear sway bar. I'll probably increase the front preload and decrease the rear to help balance the difference between the two.

With all this playing, did you bother looking at the stock spring rate ratio front to rear, combined with the motion ratios, when deciding on what rates you want and removing the rear sway bar?

You do realize that the sway bars only add stiffness to independent motion right?? If both wheels hit a bump the sway bars aren't adding any stiffness at all.

[Hyper4mance2k]

Originally Posted by wparsons

With all this playing, did you bother looking at the stock spring rate ratio front to rear, combined with the motion ratios, when deciding on what rates you want and removing the rear sway bar?

You do realize that the sway bars only add stiffness to independent motion right?? If both wheels hit a bump the sway bars aren't adding any stiffness at all.

He doesn't and doesn't care to learn. Everything everyone has posted in his threads has yet to change a single opinion or thought on how thing do, or should, work.

[KoolBRZ]

Originally Posted by HunterGreene

I am really questioning why you bought this car if all the reason you bought it for was for comfort.

If that's all you are looking for, here, these have good ride quality, and aren't expensive:

]

I grew up in snow country, and after I learned to drive, drove mostly rear-wheel-drive cars. I used to love going out driving in the new snow, sliding sideways, feathering he throttle to keep the slide going... One thing I learned, you can't slide a front-wheel-drive car in the snow. It's just going to hit a curb. Four-wheel-drive cars are almost as bad as front-wheel-drive cars in the snow. They can't slide for shit.

This car slides wonderfully in the snow. It's even fun in the rain. Those front-wheel-drive cars you've shown are just transportation. They're no fun in the snow or rain. You can't drift them. They suck.

Life's too short to drive a car that's just transportation, that sucks, even if it is a hybrid.

Now I'll agree my efforts have been full of mistakes, but when I cancel out all the wrong choices, that sure narrows down the right ones. There is method to my madness however, by starting out making the wrong changes, they point out the right direction to go to make the right changes. For example, I thought I would get a better ride with softer dampening and softer springs. I found out, by making this change, that that is wrong. The heavy wheels/tires shake the whole car when they move very far up and down because the car was designed for lighter weight 16" wheels/tires. (Little-known-fact that.) The sway bars are what actually communicates that shaking to the rest of the car. By keeping the front sway bar and removing the rear one I keep the ability to corner the car, but I've reduced the shaking transmitted by the sway bars by 50%.

I'm trained in my daily work to question everything. But, just because I question things about these cars, doesn't mean I don't love them. It means I believe there are things the factory could have done better.

[Pat]

Originally Posted by KoolBRZ

Four-wheel-drive cars are almost as bad as front-wheel-drive cars in the snow. They can't slide for shit.

While I agree RWD cars are easier to slide than most AWD cars, saying AWD/4WD cars, "can't slide for shit" is taking it waaay too far in my opinion. I used to drift my A4 in the snow much more than my BRZ now. In fact, I once drifted it for several miles on end at speeds between 70 and 110 mph. It was an absolute blast, and something the BRZ would have a tough time replicating.

[HunterGreene]

Originally Posted by KoolBRZ

I grew up in snow country, and after I learned to drive, drove mostly rear-wheel-drive cars. I used to love going out driving in the new snow, sliding sideways, feathering he throttle to keep the slide going... One thing I learned, you can't slide a front-wheel-drive car in the snow. It's just going to hit a curb. Four-wheel-drive cars are almost as bad as front-wheel-drive cars in the snow. They can't slide for shit.

This car slides wonderfully in the snow. It's even fun in the rain. Those front-wheel-drive cars you've shown are just transportation. They're no fun in the snow or rain. You can't drift them. They suck.

Life's too short to drive a car that's just transportation, that sucks, even if it is a hybrid.

Now I'll agree my efforts have been full of mistakes, but when I cancel out all the wrong choices, that sure narrows down the right ones. There is method to my madness however, by starting out making the wrong changes, they point out the right direction to go to make the right changes. For example, I thought I would get a better ride with softer dampening and softer springs. I found out, by making this change, that that is wrong. The heavy wheels/tires shake the whole car when they move very far up and down because the car was designed for lighter weight 16" wheels/tires. (Little-known-fact that.) The sway bars are what actually communicates that shaking to the rest of the car. By keeping the front sway bar and removing the rear one I keep the ability to corner the car, but I've reduced the shaking transmitted by the sway bars by 50%.

I'm trained in my daily work to question everything. But, just because I question things about these cars, doesn't mean I don't love them. It means I believe there are things the factory could have done better.

I applaud your willingness to experiment and try new things--Personally, I just don't see the point in doing it with something that costs as much as my car, especially as I DD this and I don't really have the time. If this was a weekend toy or I had a ton of money, I would be less critical, of course.

As to your point I highlighted above--so why aren't our cars shipped with 16" wheels? What's your source for this info? The wheels aren't the selling point of these cars, so I don't see why the car would be designed with them in mind. I realize some of the trim levels overseas come on 16" wheels, but the vast majority have 17" wheels.

[Kostamojen]

Originally Posted by HunterGreene

As to your point I highlighted above--so why aren't our cars shipped with 16" wheels? What's your source for this info? The wheels aren't the selling point of these cars, so I don't see why the car would be designed with them in mind. I realize some of the trim levels overseas come on 16" wheels, but the vast majority have 17" wheels.

Actually all of the "base" models in the rest of the world come with 16's. Equivalent to the "premium" BRZ for example.

This car loves 16's. The reduced weight brings the drivetrain to life, the extra sidewall helps keep the rear end traction intact, and you can even run shorter sidewalls for better gearing.

[HunterGreene]

Originally Posted by Kostamojen

Actually all of the "base" models in the rest of the world come with 16's. Equivalent to the "premium" BRZ for example.

This car loves 16's. The reduced weight brings the drivetrain to life, the extra sidewall helps keep the rear end traction intact, and you can even run shorter sidewalls for better gearing.

Its funny, I was going to say the same thing about the wheels, I figured it was just my "butt dyno" talking when I have the 16" wheels on during the winter.

On that much, I stand corrected.

[Captain Snooze]

Originally Posted by Kostamojen

This car loves 16's. The reduced weight brings the drivetrain to life,

I do not know about the oem 16" wheels but when I was considering 16" wheels I found there wasn't much difference in weight between 16 & 17 inch wheels.
RPF1 17x8 + Yoko AD08 17x8 18 kgs
RPF1 16x8 + Yoko AD08 16x8 17 kgs

T66-F 17x8 + Kumho V710 16.8 kgs
T66-F 16x7 + Kumho V710 15.8 kgs

[RJasonKlein]

Originally Posted by KoolBRZ

I'm trained in my daily work to question everything.

I'm quite fascinated by your problem solving abilities - may I ask what it is that you do in your 'daily work'?