This could probably be in the suspension forum but I wanted opinions from autocrossers

ive got tein flex right now for an STU car and i was thinking about upgrading my sway bars. i was wondering if anyone else autocrosses on tein flex and if they have aftermarket sway bars. wondering what will continue to give me neutral handling, also about the actual quality of the bar. i dont really know of stiffer is necessarily better..

thanks

 

I'm not running coil-overs but I'm have the adjustable Agency power bars and like them. Adjustablity is important so look for ones that are on both ends.

On a side note, so how is the autox scene in Hawaii? I've seen that both Maui and Oahu have SCCA regions and now so does the big Island. Do you get decent turn-outs?

 

I'm on Oahu. I hear the other island events are rather small. Our track here on Oahu closed in April this year so we haven't had races for a short time. This past August, Aloha Stadium agreed to give us a 3-event trial in their parking lot which I feel has been going great. At the first event, there was a 120 driver limit which was met and there were still people who wanted to race. So for the September event which was a couple weeks ago, there was a 130 driver limit, which was also maxed out. Our final trial event is on October 15th, I believe they set a 130 driver limit again, I can't wait to race! Then I guess we will wait to see if Aloha Stadium will continue to allow us to race in their lot. Anyway, to answer more directly, I'd say the turn-out has been great so far. It has increased a lot in fact since our track closed. Hopefully we will be able to continue to race

Unfortunately, STU isn't very competitive here. I took first in class for the first 2 trial events, and I don't think I'm all that great a driver :P

As for the sway bars, perhaps I'll consider the the Agency Power bars. I was originally thinking of going with Whiteline, but was told by takahashi not to get them. He recommended Mazdaspeed. Also may consider Racing Beat bars because they're popular, but I don't really know much about them. I just saw the price on the Mazdaspeed, I think they are a bit too much money. Tanabe bars also seem reasonable.

 

I have the Whiteline adjustables. I have put a few hundred road course miles on them and they and the OEM endlinks have been perfect. What were Takahashi's issues?

I think what would be most helpful to you would be to look into the spring rate of each of the bars available to make your decision. Off the top of my head from softest to stiffest is: OEM, Mazdaspeed, Agency Power, Whiteline, Racing Beat. The Racing Beat bars are much stiffer than the others I listed. I'm not sure about where the Tanabe fit in on the list.

I've also spoken to a few forum members that were having install difficulty with the Agency Power bars and the endlinks. Don't really know what the issue was, though.

 

the arms are longer due to the adjustability range, coupled with the larger diameter makes it more of a bear to install in the frony. Easiest way is to just drop the tie-rod ends off the spindle, makes it much easier with them out of the way

 

I have a whiteline front sway bar on the s2000 and while it's a non adjustable one I like it. What is pricing like for the whiteline front sway for the RX8?

 

^^^
www.dpeweb.com

 

would everyone else agree on this? i actually heard RB were rather stiff but oddly enough bigolundh told me he thinks they arent stiff enough!

since autocross involves much tighter courses than a road coarse, i think that overly stiff bars may hurt me instead of help. im thinking for autocross, having the suspension too stiff may make it harder to manage, more easily disrupted. this is why i want to ask here what you guys think. sounds like im not going to want racing beat. im moving away from whiteline because im worried it may be too stiff as well, and itd be a little extra weight compared to the first three (OEM, MS, AP). anymore insights?

also, just wondering, do you all feel that the Tein Flex are relatively stiff or soft for autocross? perhaps this can help me decide if i want a stiffer or softer set of sway bars.

thanks!

 

Tein Flex is almost stock softness at level 16... stiff as a 6 inch sold steel pole at level 0. I like them very much.