I'm trying to decide on which 19mm sway bar to get.

The H-Sport has zerk fittings for easy lubrication (no squeaking), but would require periodic lubrication. Also, the bar is hollow. I don't know whether that makes it less stiff than the solid 19mm bars because it may be a different grade of steel. One piece with forged ends.

The H&R has a special urethane/Teflon composite bushings that are supposed to never need lubrication and remain quiet. The bar is made of 50CrV4 spring steel, and may be solid (not sure). This is the least expensive of the three. Also one piece.

The Alta has welded ends and doesn't mention what it's made of (may be mild steel). Somewhere I heard that its bushing will squeak, but can be replaced by H&R bushings. Price is about the same as the H-Sport.

Anyone have more info on the bars, or thoughts and preferences?

Somewhere I saw % numbers on the different settings, but can't find them at the moment.

 

No matter what bar you go with, wrapping teflon plummers tape around the bar 3 or 4 times underneath the bushings will help ensure no squeak/creaks...

 

Thanks for the tip. Does it last, or wear out after awhile?

 

It will last a long time, I think forever but wrap a good amount on the bar. I had an 05 and did not do this (h-sport bar w/ zerk) and it made noise within 6 months.

I have the same bar on an 06 w/ the tape and it has not made the noise and I have had it on for over a year.

The teflon tape deal is one of those 'unspoken' thing deals....

 

FWIW, I have an H&R bar on my R53, and I'm happy enough with it to buy another one for my R56. It is one piece (flattened ends) & has a nice hard sort of anthracite-colored finish. It never made any noises & I thought even on the soft setting, it perfectly complemented the sport suspension - a few minor tire pressure tweaks & you could rotate as much or little as you want. I autocross with the Boston BMWCCA, and we tend to have relatively large/high-speed course layouts. Possibly, if you run on very tight courses, you'd want the car a little more tail-happy, but I still can't imagine how the guys can use a 22mm rear bar on the stiff setting & stay on the course/track.

 

I have the H&R 19mm on the hardest setting. No squeaks. I'm thinking of backing off to the softer setting as oversteer is very easy to achieve on the street.

 

I have the 19mm H&R on my R52 and have been happy with it. I chose it over others exactly for the permanently lubricated bushings. I wanted it to be an install-and-forget item, and I didn't want to deal with any maintenance, ever.

Someone posted here about buying a used H&R bar without the bushings, and he had to go through a lot of trouble to obtain new bushings from H&R (he did succeed finally). Understandably, H&R want to protect sales of their bars and not make the bushings easily available separately.

The downsides to H&R are that a solid bar is heavier, and (at least in the 19mm) their bar has 2 settings instead of 3 like the competitors. My opinion is that fine-tuning the setting is more important in the larger sizes but 2 settings for 19mm works perfectly fine.

 

Just to add to the confusion - I have the RDR 19mm bar (Helix) 3 holes, solid, bushings and lock rings so there is no side movement.

3 years - middle setting - no problems of any kind.

 

Bahamabart,

I Googled "Helix RDR 19mm" and got your review, and "Inhibition of Transcription of HIV-1 in Infected Human Cells by..."

When I go to http://www.helix13.com/mini/products/suspension-chasis all I see are the H-Sport sway bars.

Have they discontinued the RDR 19mm sway bar?

What kind of bushings does it have? Thanks.

 

Just a correction. The Hsport 19mm bar is NOT hollow, only the competition 25.5mm bar is hollow. Giving the comp bar the similar rates as a solid 22mm bar. Both Hsport bars do come with greaseable mounts. A great feature.

 

That's what I first thought, but I found this on the hotchkis.net web site:

Did they get it wrong?

 

The bushing are urethane and came w/ a little grease tube. Strange for I thought that RDR and Helix were affiliated. Oh well.

 

19mm solid
25.5mm comp tubular.

 

Yes it must be. I have the 19mm bars here and they are def. solid bars.

 

Thanks.

 

.....No matter what bar you go with, wrapping teflon plummers tape around the bar 3 or 4 times underneath the bushings will help ensure no squeak/creaks...


I am installing front and rear swaybars in the morning and wanted to say how lucky I was to trip accross this. Thanks.

 

I have a stock 2004 MC. I do not intend on doing any racing but I enjoy pushing the car and driving the twisties on the weekend for fun. So I do want to upgrade the rear sway. What are peoples' opinions? 19mm on high setting or 22mm on low? Will 22 be too much even on low? I don't race but have been driving lo these many years!

Murph

 

PS: I know. This is 2nd gen thread. Still...thoughts?

 

From what people have said, it seems that the 1st Gen can are different enough from 2nd Gen that the experience with a 2nd Gen would not be applicable. Best to post your question in 1st Gen Mods.

 

Good to know. Will do.

 

Well, since I have one of each at the moment (R53 + R56), I should comment. I bought the H&R 19mm bar for my R53, and I think that, even on the soft setting, it's the perfect mod for the R53 - what a difference! With the stock *sport suspension* in both cars, I'd say the R53 really needs this mod more than the R56. In the R53, it's quite noticeable on the street, but still very tweakable and controllable for autocross. We'll see about the R56 - soon, I'm going to put the same bar in my '08 MCS.

Just to give you an idea, if you have equal tire pressure F&R, and the 19mm bar installed, you can end up swapping ends if you just completely back off the throttle in a corner without any attempt to "catch it" by applying a little throttle. The stock suspension won't do this; it just plows most of the time. Otherwise, the bar does a terrific job of making the car more "pointable', neutral, and willing to dance.

So, I'll say it again, I can't imagine that installing a 22mm competition swaybar (in a car with stock springs) will result in stable, controllable handling when pushed hard.

 

I highly recommend the H&R 19mm for street driving with otherwise stock suspension. Very noticeable decrease in understeer even in moderately quick driving (using the inside end link holes). No lub required and no noise.

If you don't have stability control I would not recommend going larger for street driving.

 

Perfect. Thanks. 22mm seemed like overkill to me too.

Murph

 

I second the 22mm is generally overkill for most situations. The 19mm gives a LARGE improvement over stock and still give some adjustment.

BTW: Robin, just drove a local client car with your **** and handle in it. NICE stuff! Good job.

Let me know if I can help in anyway further!

 

I just put the 19mm H-Sport (middle position) on my R56 and am very pleased. Wrapped the bar with teflon tape and greased it well.

One note ... To grease it, one really needs to have the wheels off.

My local guru says that an adjustable 19mm bar is fine for daily drivers. Brand wise, he says that it does not make a lot of difference.