I just had Koni FSD's and an RSpeed 22 mm rear sway bar installed on my MCSC. While driving, I'm now feeling minor road bumps from the rear end much more than I ever did.

Does this seem normal - in other words, will the stiffer rear bar cause the back end to feel harsher? The car definitely feels planted to the road and turn-in is much more neutral as I'd expect, so that's not my concern. It's that when cruising, the vibration gets to be a little annoying. I would have thought the Koni's would have helped. As part of the upgrades, I did have the car aligned and rotated tires. The driver's side front did show some uneven wear due to improper toe-in. Not sure if the tire could be the cause of what I'm feeling.

Thanks for any insights or guidance. I'll call the garage today as well and see if they have any thoughts/recommendations.

 

Yes. The 22mm bar ties the two suspension sides togther with a little more strength. Remember, a sway bar is nothing more than a linear spring. Bigger means less confort, though not as much as installing heavier springs.

As your suspension moves up and down, the sway bar twists. A larger sway bar resists twisting more than a smaller one. The force of this resistance is what make the suspension movements somewhat more assertive, but also as written above, they're now tied together with a bigger spring - load on one side is transmitted with somewhat greater force to the other.

Alignment changes can affect comfort, especially if you're sensitive to subtle changes...like most of us here.

 

I thought the bar might be an influencer, but the garage that installed the struts said the Koni's are more likely the cause of the harsher ride. That concerns me a bit since the FSD's are sold as offering a more comfortable ride w/o losing performance due to their frequency selective damping.

The other thought is that I'm just being 'too acutely sensitive' to the change. I need to get out and really drive them on some dry roads today and make sure I'm happy with the mod (I hope I am, as it wasn't a cheap change.)

 

yes you are more sensitive than before, which is normal, because you are so focused on observing the outcome of your mode, so let it settle for a couple of hundred miles, you will get used to it. BTW gimme more feedback on the FSDs, how is handling, did you take it on any twisties? thanks for the input.

 

I was home today witha killer migrain...never focused on the FSD's. I would expect the entire package to be somewaht more controlled.

I too am curious about the handling during aggressive manuevers?

 

I took advantage of our 62 deg weather yesterday and took the car out for some spirited driving. Overall I am very impressed with the improvements in the car's handling.

The understeer is gone as would be expected with the larger sway bar. And the Koni's provide a much more connected feel to the road. That feel is definitely different - I feel what the rear of the car is doing much more clearly through the seat. This sensation was what initially had me concerned, but I am growing used to the new feel. Taking the car on some back roads that aren't perfectly smooth, the Koni's absorbed the bumps while allowing me to confidently keep my speed up thru the twisties.

I hope my descriptions make sense. Honestly this is the first time I've ever upgraded a car's suspension so I'm still learning what to pay attention to.

 

I can characterize my mini's performance in slow and high speed turns. do you have a comparative basline for the FSD's? I would think the sway bar skews opinions abit.