For Drag Racing which rear sway bar is the best?

[desertg8]

I hear alot of people actually use a heavier than stock sway bar to keep the wheels straighter. But it is not that good for handling. Understeer.

Would a bmr rear sway bar be a good compromise? It is stronger. Yet a little lighter. And it would not create alot of understeer especially if you matched it with the front ones.

[hulkss]

No sway bar would be best for drag racing. They are heavy and provide no benefit while driving in a straight line. Save the weight.

A larger rear bar causes oversteer not understeer.

[gr8lover]

No sway bar would be best for drag racing. They are heavy and provide no benefit while driving in a straight line. Save the weight.


+1.... many remove the front bar completely....

[Joeygr8gt]

sways are only good for auto x only if you have stiffer springs or xa. they really provide no help with stock suspension

[GRRRR8]

You might want to do some reading on this. If you removed anything you would remove the front sway bar. Using the Camaro as an example(since they are so similar) Spohn has a rear drag bar for it. Much larger then the sway bar. It will not fit our car with out modifying our spare tire tub. Having said all that....no do not remove it! :)

[GRRRR8]

http://www.spohn.net/shop/2010-Chevrolet-Camaro/Suspension/Sway-Bars-End-Links-Accessories/Pro-Series-Drag-Race-Rear-Anti-Roll-Sway-Bar-2010-Chevrolet-Camaro.html

[desertg8]

not removing mine. and yes, i stand corrected. it would keep the back straighter and when turning would create dangerous over steer with a stronger heavier rear sway bar.

[todds87ss]

not removing mine. and yes, i stand corrected. it would keep the back straighter and when turning would create dangerous over steer with a stronger heavier rear sway bar.

I'm not sure there is ANY WAY to create "dangerous oversteer" with this 4000 pound car. The bar would have to be 1 1/2 inch thick (or more).

[BMR Sales]

Actually a car with independent rear suspension likes a really, really stiff sway bar for drag racing. Installing a really stiff rear sway bar in essence kind of turns the independent suspension into a solid axle by really limiting any kind of movement. Any time you can put a stiffer rear sway bar in the rear it is helpful for all around handling and performance but there is a point were the rear bar will be so stiff that the car will be prone to oversteer. We build a drag bar for the late model Camaros that is super stiff, but it would be difficult to use on a G8 for two reasons. One would be the spare tire well in the trunk and the other would be the unique way the sway bra mounts on the cradle on the G8s. Here are some pictures of our rear G8 sway bar and our Camaro drag bar.

1412114120

[locrzn#92]

I agree, I installed my rear a couple weeks ago and it does feel better when nailing the throttle. On certain pavement it would try to hop once in a while, not now it just runs straight and true. Wish I'd had these on last year at the track when mine wheel hopped just off the line on the first pass and broke the rear on the second pass. I think the stiffer sways in the rear fixed that, I've got mine set on full race so its firm but not harsh. Kyle did a great job explaining to me about the settings. I wouldn't have it any other way. Now I agree on the fronts, need to let the front travel up to plant the rears. I did the front just because I was going to autocross this year and not drag race. If I do make some passes down the drag strip I'd probably disconnect the front and leave the back where it is.

[desertg8]

Whiteline makes a solid rear bar. How would you rate theirs?

[gr8lover]

+1.... many remove it completely....

Oppsss....... -1........ I made a mistake... I know some guys that remove it but failed to mention that they then install a antiroll bar... almost the same but no bushings and eliminates the flex better..(but strictly for drag cars).. .. I should not have commented and sorry for the misunderstanding.... good guys corrected us..... now I know some remove the fronts for sure but really not sure if we would want to if you drive on street ... :)

[gr8lover]

Actually a car with independent rear suspension likes a really, really stiff sway bar for drag racing. Installing a really stiff rear sway bar in essence kind of turns the independent suspension into a solid axle by really limiting any kind of movement. Any time you can put a stiffer rear sway bar in the rear it is helpful for all around handling and performance but there is a point were the rear bar will be so stiff that the car will be prone to oversteer. We build a drag bar for the late model Camaros that is super stiff, but it would be difficult to use on a G8 for two reasons. One would be the spare tire well in the trunk and the other would be the unique way the sway bra mounts on the cradle on the G8s. Here are some pictures of our rear G8 sway bar and our Camaro drag bar.

1412114120

If we eliminated the spare tire area, do you think we could use the camaro one to retrofit to ours?.... I really would like to try the solid antiroll bar but not sure if there is something close enough out there to then modify or if we would just have to fab one up from scratch?... do you think yours is close enough in size to be able to make work if wheel well was removed?... so in your opinion.... on a scale 1 to 10, if the GM stock sway bar was a 2...... what would be a BMR sway bar versus a more solid antiroll bar setup in terms of assisting in drag racing?.... is it close or is the solid one much better? is it worth the difference?...

[G8V8]

I have Pedders bars but the settings for BMR would be about the same. I set the rear bar to full firm (shortest arm) and the front to full soft (longest arm). Even full soft up front is almost twice as stiff as the stock bar. By setting this way I get less lean overall and have moved the sway bar bias to the rear. The effect is reduced understeer, less lean and as much rear stiffness for the IRS that I can get without a drag bar.

[BMR Sales]

If we eliminated the spare tire area, do you think we could use the camaro one to retrofit to ours?.... I really would like to try the solid antiroll bar but not sure if there is something close enough out there to then modify or if we would just have to fab one up from scratch?... do you think yours is close enough in size to be able to make work if wheel well was removed?... so in your opinion.... on a scale 1 to 10, if the GM stock sway bar was a 2...... what would be a BMR sway bar versus a more solid antiroll bar setup in terms of assisting in drag racing?.... is it close or is the solid one much better? is it worth the difference?...

The spare tire well is just one part of the problem. The other part of the problem is the way the rear sway bar mounts to the rear cradle. The G8 uses unique sway bar saddles/brackets that slides into slots and uses one bolt to mount it. The Camaro uses a more traditional 2 bolt rear sway bar saddles/brackets to mount it to the rear cradle.

You may be able to fab something up but the hold up is going to be with how the rear sway bar mounts to the cradle, once you get past that it wouldn't be too bad. The unique rear sway bar mounting on the G8 only allows you to use the factory rear sway bar saddles/brackets which really limits the size of the sway bar you can run in the rear.

If the GM sway bar is a 2 then our regular G8 sway bar would be either a 5 or a 6 and real anti-roll bar like our Camaro one would have to be at the top around a 9 or 10. The difference in stiffness between the regular BMR G8 swaybar and our Camaro anti-roll bar is substantial and would make a large difference on a fast car that is making some good power. If your car is a 11 or 12 second quarter mile car our regular BMR sway bar should work just fine. When you start going faster than that is when you will really see the difference with a more drag oriented ant-roll bar.

[wreckwriter]

If your car is a 11 or 12 second quarter mile car our regular BMR sway bar should work just fine. When you start going faster than that is when you will really see the difference with a more drag oriented ant-roll bar.

So how bout making us one?

[ULTRA Z]

front best removed for drag racing the rear needs to be stiffer for a straighter launch, less chassis flex and so on. removing the rear bar will not help in drag racing not with a solid axle car or IRS

[The Yeti]

My best times came with my front sway bar not connected, and the rear set to stiffest setting. I'm going to adjust my rear endlinks to preload the bar a little more and see what happens.

[desertg8]

what size socket do i need to disconnect the front ones? and is it easy to crawl under the car to loosen them up? i guess i could get under there with my lazy butt. but, no pun intended, it would be nice to have some input.

[BMR Sales]

So how bout making us one?

We are definitely looking into it, the real issue is going to be designing a way to mount the anti-roll bar to the rear cradle and doing it in a way that the customer can do it relatively easily.

[BMR Sales]

My best times came with my front sway bar not connected, and the rear set to stiffest setting. I'm going to adjust my rear endlinks to preload the bar a little more and see what happens.

That is definitely the best way to set up our BMR sway bars for drag racing. Keeping the front bar disconnected and it will free the front suspension and allow the car to transfer weight easier.

[wreckwriter]

We are definitely looking into it, the real issue is going to be designing a way to mount the anti-roll bar to the rear cradle and doing it in a way that the customer can do it relatively easily.

Please look into it harder :)

[gr8lover]

That is definitely the best way to set up our BMR sway bars for drag racing. Keeping the front bar disconnected and it will free the front suspension and allow the car to transfer weight easier.
What about a 9 secong g8?.... there might be a couple of them in a couple weeks... :)

[John@AutoAgenda]

What about a 9 secong g8?.... there might be a couple of them in a couple weeks... :)

I would be very interested to see a four door luxry car running 9's!! :D

[wreckwriter]

I expect 3-4 this year.

[gr8lover]

I would be very interested to see a four door luxry car running 9's!! :D

Two weeks from today :)....

[ULTRA Z]

I would be very interested to see a four door luxry car running 9's!! :D

CTS V have been in the 9s time for the G8s to join in

[ULTRA Z]

We are definitely looking into it, the real issue is going to be designing a way to mount the anti-roll bar to the rear cradle and doing it in a way that the customer can do it relatively easily.

what about a xtreme duty one like the f bodies :) but for the G8

[Joeygr8gt]

how would keeping the front bar off while driving be?

[desertg8]

dangerous. if you need to react quickly it will over react.