Considering one of these and just wondering whether anyone has experienced any "issues." Mainly concerned with bushing longevity/noise. Also curious as to which position folks are liking for "agressive" street driving with this bar and otherwise stock SS+. Any reports from the field would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

Have had the bar on full stiff since Jan. 03 with no problems. Street and track drivng.

 

In your case I'd suggest the softest or middle setting to try first.

The Maddness intake and rear swaybar (early red two hole) were the first mods I did over 2 years ago now. I still have both and they are working just fine.

The three hole bar had some problems fitting with the suspension parts and rubbing but that was corrected. Talk to Randy Webb.

I use the stiffest setting for street, track and autocross. Works for me.
I usually get neutral steering and can get some understeer or oversteer with adjusting tire pressures and being more aggressive on the throttle or brake.

I have had no noise issues or bushing problems.

 

I have had my madness rear bar on since Randy wrote the how-to back in early 2003. I like it a lot and haven't had any issues with the bar. As far as street use, I use the rear position (the one end of the U). Note that I have the original two position bar. Now, I might use the middle possition for street.

 

Installed mine in July 03 and kept it on the softest of the three settings, In the late fall of 04 changed to the middle postition and will not go back now. Don't think I will use the firmest setting as I drive a Feb 02 production Cooper, non-S, with the standard suspension.

I am having some noise rattling problems and it has been traced to the Madness sway bar. It seems that almost any bump or road disturbance causes the bar to hit/knock and the sound is loud because the sound is transmitted and amplified through the car frame/body. Now, I have cahnged the 'down links' and lower rear control arms' and I am willing to attribute the installation of these parts as a cause. I have placed a piece of rubber hose around the sway bar at what appeared to be the point of impact. Next weekend will be devoted to coming up with a more better fix, just don't know exactly what that is as of this time. This is not a saftey issue, just a sanity issue. I have had no problem with tire wear or vehicle tracking issues. As I stated above, it is just knocking/rattle.

Installing a rear sway is an easy and inexpensive performance improvement that I would recommend to any one. The overall steering response with the sway is much quicker and crisper.

 

Thanks very much, Minihune. I'm actually considering buying a new-in-box 3-hole bar from a private party and they don't seem to know when it was purchased.

Any idea how to distinguish the "bad" from "good" 3-hole bars?

 

Thanks to everyone who replied. You've got me all fired up to make this mod!

 

I've had one of the so called "bad" 3 hole bars installed for 2 plus years. The good bar will have a washer welded on each side of the bar to keep it centered. If you have a bar without the washers Madness will supply a pair of clamps you can mount on the bar to keep it centered. I have always used the center hole since the install. The red color also matches my red calipers.

 

Thanks, sanddan. This one has the stops welded on, so sounds like it's ok.

 

I've had the 3-hole bar since Jan 05. The dealer installed it on my 2005 MCS before delivery. I've had a couple of "interesting events." The first was a clunking noise going over dips and bumps. That was fixed by tightening down the bolts on the driver-side retaining clip. Either they had backed out, or the dealer didn't tighten them properly to begin with. The second event just happened at the Dragon (MOTD 3) last weekend. I came back with a bent sway bar link on the driver's side. I can't say for sure that it was caused by the sway bar. However, I called Webb and heard that many/most bent links are caused by sway bars. The sway bar can contact the spring and transfer too much force to the link.

I have always had the bar on the stiffest setting. It took me awhile to get used to the quick response to the steering wheel. My other car is a Prelude which is very neutral and predictable. Maybe ultimately the stiffest setting will prove to be a little too quick for my comfort, but I'm getting to like it. It was great at the Dragon once I learned to control myself and apply minimal force when steering. But the quickness could be disconcerting if you put the new bar on an older car that you have gotten to know well.

 

Same here, I auto x mine and usually keep it on the stiffest setting.
On the occasions that I have a co-driver and at the Evolution driving school even the instructor ran over the first 5 cones as the turn-in was so quick.
It was a good compliment when he suggested I leave the car with him for "training"

 

When the dealer installed the sway bar, did you also have beefier sway bar links installed??? If not, like Randy said, it is the added stress that the thicker bar is applying to the pencil thin links. Get some adjustable sway bar links, they are usually stronger.

Enjoy

 

There's another thread with a discussion of stronger links. See Question about bent sway bar link.