I have had my Hotchkis TVS Stage 1 bars and springs on for close to 2 years and was looking the other day at my settings. When they were originally installed, the fronts were set to the stiffest setting while the rears were set to the softest setting. I do some moderate AutoX and have noticed that the car will not go in the direction it steers at times. I also like to run The Tail of The Dragon and other mountain roads! So, I guess my question is what is everybody running their bars set on that is doing similar things with their Z/Gs?

 

Put them both in the middle and see how it drives. Too much front stiffness will cause the understeer you're describing.

 

I had mine set at middle for the front and soft for the rear.

 

I've found M/M works best

 

No **** your gonna understeer with the setup you have. Reverse the settings on both and then you wont have to worry about understeer. just dritring into a tree

 

Nice smartass response d!ckhead. I didnt install the bars, Z1 Motorsports did and thats where they put them. I didnt know it until a week or 2 ago while I was under the car. Thus, my question!

 

Wow whats with the hostility How was I suppose to know you didnt know until 2 weeks ago you stated that they installed them 2 years ago on the settings that would induse understreer.

 

Ok, Hotchkis recommends them to be set up full stiff in front and soft in the rear. So Z1 did install them per instructions. After driving mine for almost a year and getting tired of the understear, I change the front to Medium. Now I have a slight understear, yet I like understear better than overstear for AutoX and daily driving. It is much easier to correct and gets me in less trouble with tickets (you can really notice a car when it overstears!).

 

mine are set to medium front and soft rear. With the hotchkis springs and sways on those settings the car understeered a lot less! It is even better with adjustable shocks now

 

The next time my car is in the air, I will probably change the setting to med/med front to rear. Thanks for the help guys!

 

Curious, what is your front camber been set at since the sway bar install? And what tires widths are you running front and rear?

 

I am running -1.5 Camber Front and rear on steet tires. From my tire temps, this works the best for my set up. Obviously, if you have a different suspension set up and different tires, your camber will be different!

I am running 245 front and 275 rear.

I may change the rear sway to medium to lessen the understear. I will probably change it to medium before I take her to the track this weekend and see how it goes.

 

No need to put the car in the air, all you need to do is raise her up a few inches to reach them. Really easy to change, just a couple of 14mm wrenches!
Oh a few more things - Hotchkis recommends lubing the sways once a year. If you have not installed the split shaft collars on the sways yet - do it! Mine was moving so much on the front, that it was binding the suspension at times. Once you install the shaft collars, the sway can't move back and forth (they shouldn't move in this direction) and you have a very predictable suspension! Do a search on this Forum for the info on the split shaft collars.

 

+1 on the collars.

I run M/M and love it. I feel it's fairly nuetral...it can understeer into some corners if I go to fast into them, but as soon as I trail brake or apply power through a corner exit, I can get the rear end out.

*I'm on OE wheels.

 

It is very difficult for me to get under the car with my body kita nd it being lowered! I am not goign to be doing any intense driving in the next month or so, so I will just wait for the next time in the air. I will have to research the collars. Where did you guys get your from and whats involved in installing them?

 

McMaster Carr has them. They are easier to install than changing your oil! The guy who first discovered the problem, gives you all the details on how to order them and how/where to install them. And when you change the settings on them, don't forget to lube the bushings! That way they can work as intended.

 

Just to give an update, with the M/M setting on the sways, my car is now perfectly ballanced (that is with the tires and dampening adjustment I have). Yet, I have to turn off the VDC to drive it this way.

 

so i take it hotchkis hasnt put collars on their sways yet?