So I've installed Hotchkis swaybars, and set front to Stiffiest and rear to Softest as per instruction.

REALLY don't feel much difference.

I could care less about ride comfort. Just want to achieve best handling. Any ideas what settings I should be using?

There are 4 holes on the front bar, and 3 holes on the rear.



I AM getting a set of KW V3. I sure hope to God after installing them, I'd actually feel the difference.

 

It could be several things. Maybe you don't push the car hard enough for it to even be noticible. Driving around town you shouldn't notice that much difference. It's hard turns and slaloms during an autocross or a day at the track will really make it seem obvious.

You could have some loose suspension components that are negating the extra stiffness of the sways.

Personally, I found full stiff on the front to be wayyyy too much. Medium-Stiff was more than sufficient for autox or track for me.

 

I just did a bit of searching before your response, and realized that:

1) I should use 2nd hole closes to the bar on the front, instead of the Stiffiest. Original front bar only had 3 holes, new front bar has 4. If 1 is stiffest and 4 is softest, I am better off using 2.

2) I should consider installing Powergrid endlinks, as stock ones don't last very long.


Right?

 

if you got a full coilover and the complements off adjustments, get the car balanced, i didn't feel much a a difference either, but after i got it balanced, making each corner 25%, i felt the difference, the sway bar is now set like 2nd hole and 3rd hole in front

 

I am still running stock suspension.

Right now I've got front set to 4 - apparently that is BAD, and will eat away stock endlink in days. Going back to the shop on Monday to set it to 2 or 3.

Rear is set to 1 right now. I think this makes sense as I am running stock 265 @ back, and 1 provides more (?) traction as it's softer.

I just want to eliminate / further reduce understeer. HATE UNDERSTEER.

 

A stiffer front swaybar INCREASES understeer, not decreases it. The reason that we put a stiffer one on the Z is to decrease body roll. Because of our limited front camber, decreasing the body roll helps keep the front tires flat on the ground (more traction = less understeer).

Like anything else, it's a compromise. You're increasing the stiffness which in the classic sense would increase understeer, but up to a point, the decreased body roll reduces understeer caused by that effect.

Reducing understeer is a balance of sway bar, shocks, tires and driver. It took me a while to learn how to fix the driver. You can't dial out all the understeer to be able to make an impossible turn.

Check out some of the posts in the Autocross/Road forum. There's lots of info on swaybar settings and dealing with understeer. Personally, unless you're in an autocross or on the track, you should never see understeer. If that happens, you're driving dangerously on the street.

 

I wonder if it'd help, if I get a mid-engine car next.

But that's years away, so let's focus on the beloved Z for now.

I am going to the shop on Monday to tune back from Hole 4 to Hole 3 on the front. But I still want to be able to roll in town until Monday. I should be OK to drive for a few hours on Hole 4 without wrecking my stock endlinks, right man?

 

Yes you'll be okay, the stock endlink are not that fragile.

 

Thanks man!

I will post feedback again, after adjusting to Front Hole 3 + Rear Hole 1.

 

Read the specs. You want to increase the rear bar stiffness more than you increase the front to reduce understreer. If you have 265's out back i would go full soft 80% stiffer than stock, next you want the front bar set to a setting less than 80% stiffer than stock.

And actually body roll is a good thing for handling if you don't have an aggressive alignment setting. You gain camber as the suspension compresses, on a stock height car with stock spring, you take that away with stiff sways. The car looses traction faster in a corner.

 

If I want to have stiffer setting at rear than front, shouldn't I set the rear to 125%

I am planning on going 48% on the front, and 80% or 125% at the back.

 

He wrote 80% STIFFER THAN stock, NOT 80% as stiff as. Just tricky wording.

 

Also the stiffer the bars, the heavier your springs need to be, the heavier your springs are , the wider and stickier your tires need to be. The softer settings on the hotchkis bars are great for narrow street tires and soft street springs.

Bar Rates:
350Z Front
Hole 1 = 1525 lbs/in (22% Stiffer than stock)
Hole 2 = 1845 lbs/in (48% Stiffer than stock)
Hole 3 = 2270 lbs/in (82% Stiffer than stock)
Hole 4 = 2855 lbs/in (129% Stiffer than stock)


Rear:
Hole 1 = 520 lbs/in (80% Stiffer than stock)
Hole 2 = 655 lbs/in (125% Stiffer than stock)
Hole 3 = 840 lbs/in (185% Stiffer than stock)

Hole 1 front and rear works great with stock suspension.



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I could be mistaken but my bar only has 3 holes in the front? and back?

 

Older sets were like that. So are Stillen bars.

 

I just bought some Hotchkis sways and wondering what setting I should be using?

Mods:
Isc coilovers
front 255-35 9.5"
rear 285-35 tires 10.5"

Nismo 350Z if that matters

I like to auto-x only 3-4 times a year and I go down to Zdayz and have some fun on the dragon.

 

Pretty much the same setup and I have mine on hole#3 front and hole#1 rear. Seems to work well. Very close to neutral. Have my shocks full stiff in the rear and medium stiff in the front.

 

I'm set at hole #3 front and #2 rear and that is plenty stiff, plus that is recommended; I'm sure for track you may change that up. I know that terrasmak has specific settings for his track car.

 

Guys, just to clarify, when you're saying "hole #3", you are referring to the hole farthest from the end, yes? If so, you've set the front full stiff (on older bars) or 3/4 of the way on the newer 4-hole bars. Rear set at medium stiff.

This setting should be fairly neutral based on your stated shock settings, but if you need more oversteer (reduce understeer), go softer on the front bar, say hole 2 or 1. IOW, you have a lot more to go on adjustability if you want it.

FTR, I'm on Hotchkis, Full "soft" (hole #1) on front, Medium-stiff rear (hole#2) with shocks all set to medium-firm all the way around. Oversteer is mild at limit, throttle oversteer, a mere mash on the volume control (loud pedal) when needed.

Disclaimer/Warning: probably not a good idea for novice drivers so beware. Not saying you guys, but anyone not familiar with that level of car control, this is NOT one of those, "Hey, I'm gonna do that mod cuz racecar." Heh heh.

 

^ I should have clarified; I'm on #3 of 4 holes fronts (from bar going out), #2 of 3 holes rear on Hotchkis bars. #4 (very stiff) in front torques the end links quite a bit with the angle; I'd like to try it out though.