Just picked up my 06 JCW and I am looking to tighten up the handling. Probably will not race it. I do not have the JCW suspension. Should I go with H-Sport, Alta or Webb.

Thanks

 

Do a search ... lots of posts about the JCW suspension vs. aftermarket options.

I just installed the JCW kit. It was the only JCW upgrade I did not have the factory install ... I regretted that.

Kit is real nice ... still putting miles on it though.

If you are not tracking hte car, the JCW kit is the perfect compromise.

MiniBull

 

he said sway bar... not suspension kit, i dont think jcw ever made a oversized sway bar

lots of options, street use MCS should go with a 22mm or 19mm effective rate sway bra (22 is better), h-sport is the leader i believe just for the grease slot that allows you to grease the sway bar without taking it off...

h-sport even has a race sway bar that im thinking of getting.... interested in my relatively used h-sport 25mm bar?

 

I just installed the new Gen. 22mm Alta 3 hole swaybar this weekend. For the price, I can't beat it.

It "leveled" the car right out. Much smoother in and out of the corners. Installation was not that difficult if you can follow directions and turn wrenches. One word of advice - make sure that the car is off the ground a good bit. It makes removal and installation a lot easier. Plus, watch out for that wire loom.

 

If you are interested in avoiding any warantee problems, DINAN also makes a 19mm 2-holer. Thats the route I'm taking.

 

I purchased a 22mm bar from R-Speed and am happy with it so far.Q

 

I like my rspeed too!

 

I've got an h-sport comp bar and love it, even the soft setting does wonders to neutral the car out and the grease zerks in the bushings are awesome. Its not tricky but it is a little involved to install (getting rear subframe to line back up was a PITA; just have a long pry bar or really long socket extention to pry it back in line.)

 

I'll pipe up about the webb. I run the extreme version (aka $475 version) This price includes the adjustable droplinks so yes it is more than the other bars out there, but it also far exceeds the quality of all the other bars out there.

Compared to the Alta 22mm I had it seems much more flat in the corners, the rear end seems to float when oversteer starts rather than snapping out. I also find the unlimited adjustment useful. I just backed it off this past weekend after an autoX event and now will take my tools to adjust it at the track to future events. It is that easy.

Well worth the investment in my mind.

 

I too would recommend the end-links... just have not gotten that far yet. Adjustment is a good thing! Having to live with a budget is a bad thing.

 

Not including the new "Race Only" bar from H-sport, I think the stiffest bar is the Rspeed 22mm, forged 4140. The H-sport comp bar is a little stiffer than the Webb Extreme and probably on par with most of the 22mm bars on the market. H-Sport and the Webb Extreme are of course the lightest.

Would you say it's much easier/quicker to adjust than the 3 hole bars?

I am curious to know why Webb designed a bar that will adjust from softer than stock to +350%. (H-sport goes to 383%?) Looks to me like he'd have shot for something starting at stock or just a little stiffer and going to maybe 425-450%.

 

got an h-sport on my 05 S. made a definite improvement in handling on the stock tires with the stock suspension. i had chad install it for me with detroit tuned, and he put it in the middle hole adjustment. the rear of the car definitly is a lot more happy, and if you take a turn pretty fast at speed the rear will begin to howl at you as the tires lose grip and want to come around. gonna put it in the softest next time i have the car up on a lift, then back to medium or full stiff for the auto-x events.

otherwise i can say that i am very happy with it, even though chad talked me into it, as it is a bit more expensive than the alta bar, it is also lighter, and looks good, with no noise issues yet. you cant go wrong with the rear bar, it changes the driving dynamic of the car substantially.

My only ONE complaint is that on the freeway it makes the car wander a bit more when you are going in a straight line, and if you jerk the wheels at high speed, (like 70+) the car turns so hard it almost feels like if you tried to overcorrect , the car would spin out. i will test this theory this weekend at the track, and give a full report..

 

The Webb rear sway works best for cars that have other suspension mods as well. As you make changes to your cars suspension {such as front camber plates & rear a-arms} and thus are able to do an aggressive suspension alignment {for front grip}, you will find that you don't need as much rear sway bar for proper handling.
I made several suspension mods at the same time I install my h-sport rear swaybar and an aggressive alignment. I was shocked at how much I had to soften up the rear sway to keep the back under control.
Some people have had to install front sway bars in order to compensate for the rear sway bar after other mods, in order to fully use the rear sway bar.
I would recommend a lighter sway bar for street only driven cars or at least set in the softest setting.

 

Has anyone tried just replacing the stock rubber bushings with urethane on the stock rear bar?

 

Anybody have any experience with these? They are written up in Motoring.

 

Alta 22mm on low setting in this Thursday with new end links.
Nice and responsive now. 250 bills to have mini put in.

 

Eric is installing H-Sport Sport bar on the 24th. Try out at Pocono East course on May 5th. Come join me for the fun.

Alan

 

Don't forget that both Ultrik and Ireland Engineering have continuously adjustable sway bars, and include adjustable drop links as well. For some reason these are not written up much on NAM. Anyone have experience with these?

 

anyone got a recommendation for those of us running the JCW suspension? Goal is to have a neutral daily driver that I use on the track 20 times a year.

thanks

 

I would say that you are not going to gain much of anything if anyhting at all. Yes, it might make the "connection point" on the sub-frame stiffer, but other than that, nada.

The "wander" problem is real. Be careful with that. If you put "too much" in the rear, you will notice it. It's kinda like it wants to "follow" the dips, grooves, "lines" in the road.

My S10 was like that. You couldn't take your eyes off the road, or you would end up in the next lane or the ditch. The ZQ8 package on it was great for the truck, but not for the daily driver.

The reason I bring that up is this: if you are thinking of doing a sway-bar with no other sus. mods, don't go full on with it. (ie. don't think you have to have the best, most perccentage swaybar out there.) A little will go along way.

 

w0rd. it does wander quite a bit on the h-sport middle hole, thought of moving it to the end to see if it steadys the car any bit.