Anyone with Mugen 26mm sway bars, how do you like it? Pros and cons?

 

The Pro's and Con's for this item more depend on what suspension your are running in conjunction with it.

The simplest answer is that it will promote rotation and oversteer.

Something you may or may not want and may be considered a pro or a con depending on how you look at it.

 

I have Tein HA F8k/R6k, Spoon bushing set, Cusco front and rear upper tower bars, Cusco lower front tie bar, Spoon lower rear tie bar, Skunk2 upper arm, and SPC rear upper arm. Camber for the front is -2.5 and -1.5 for the rear. Front toe is open up a little and 0 in the back. Cross weight is at 50.2%. My R weight in at 2230lbs. I am running 225/45/16 on all four corners.

With my set up, do you think it will be a good upgrade using Mugen 26mm front and rear sway bars? Maybe a 5mm wheel spacers up front?

Thanks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SpoonR617 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have Tein HA F8k/R6k, Spoon bushing set, Cusco front and rear upper tower bars, Cusco lower front tie bar, Spoon lower rear tie bar, Skunk2 upper arm, and SPC rear upper arm. Camber for the front is -2.5 and -1.5 for the rear. Front toe is open up a little and 0 in the back. Cross weight is at 50.2%. My R weight in at 2230lbs. I am running 225/45/16 on all four corners.

With my set up, do you think it will be a good upgrade using Mugen 26mm front and rear sway bars? Maybe a 5mm wheel spacers up front?

Thanks</TD></TR></TABLE>

Upgrade for what?

What is your driving style? Why do you think you need a bigger sway? If you do autocross or HPDE's do you want more or less understeer? more or less oversteer? Do you want a car to react fast or slow to lift off throttle situations? Do you want a car to handle well in slaloms or sweepers or whatever?

In order for people to help you, you have to give us examples.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SpoonR617 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have Tein HA F8k/R6k, Spoon bushing set, Cusco front and rear upper tower bars, Cusco lower front tie bar, Spoon lower rear tie bar, Skunk2 upper arm, and SPC rear upper arm. Camber for the front is -2.5 and -1.5 for the rear. Front toe is open up a little and 0 in the back. Cross weight is at 50.2%. My R weight in at 2230lbs. I am running 225/45/16 on all four corners.

With my set up, do you think it will be a good upgrade using Mugen 26mm front and rear sway bars? Maybe a 5mm wheel spacers up front?

Thanks</TD></TR></TABLE>


Seems to me like you track the car. That setup probably pushes quite abit now. Get one, the car will rotate a lot better.

How are you at 2230 lbs?

 

Well I am doing some track time in HPDE group 3. The reason why I want to upgrade my sway bars is because my car is still understeer in high speed. I want a little bit more oversteering in my car to aid that understeering. Will the Mugen sway bars help? How about wheel spacers up front? Maybe 205 rear tires?

Thanks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SpoonR617 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well I am doing some track time in HPDE group 3. The reason why I want to upgrade my sway bars is because my car is still understeer in high speed. I want a little bit more oversteering in my car to aid that understeering. Will the Mugen sway bars help? How about wheel spacers up front? Maybe 205 rear tires?

Thanks</TD></TR></TABLE>

Try just the Mugen rear bar first. Forget the front one.


How did you get your car that light?

 

Well I saw a really good deal near my area... that's why I am getting the front and the rear. I am going to pick them up this weekend. That's why I want to know if those bars are going to help me a lot or not. I am looking for someone who has the sway bar and tell me about how they feel toward these bars.

About the weight of my car. I took out the A/C, P/S, all interior parts (dashboard and two seats up front are still in there), all under body panels, carbon fiber hood and more.

Thanks

 

I would just put on the rear bar then if you buy the set to see how you like it. Adding the front is not going to increase oversteer.

What else did you remove? Lexan? Bumper supports? The only ITR I've seen that light is Wai's (AJR) Spoon ITR, and that has a fuel cell.

 

Where did you weigh it and do you have the slip?

 

I still find "My R weight in at 2230lbs" hard to swallow even after you brief description.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bbasso &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I still find "My R weight in at 2230lbs" hard to swallow even after you brief description.</TD></TR></TABLE>

He emailed me:

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SpoonR617 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Sorry I couldn't reply in H-T because they wont let a trail user to post more than 5 posts a day. Well I weighted my R at Roger Krause Racing in the bay area (510)5825031. It was over a year ago with only 1/4 tank of gas in it. I do have the corner weight paper result and numbers, but I have to dig into my files. Once I find it I will post it up along with some pics and dyno charts. Thanks for reading my post!

Eddie
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I think the question is could he elaborate more on what else specifically he's done for weight reduction.

I don't necessarily not believe him, I'd just also like to know more specifically what he's done.


PS Rob, pick one avatar and stick with it bubb, what's that the 2nd or 3rd today?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 1GreyTeg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


PS Rob, pick one avatar and stick with it bubb, what's that the 2nd or 3rd today?</TD></TR></TABLE>


I think this one suits me fine

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bbasso &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I still find "My R weight in at 2230lbs" hard to swallow even after you brief description.</TD></TR></TABLE>

My ITR weighs 2240 lbs without fuel. It's not too difficult to do that. Just remove everything you don't need for the track. -&gt; A/C, P/S, interior, bumper supports, C/F hood etc.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DutchITR1689 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

My ITR weighs 2240 lbs without fuel. It's not too difficult to do that. Just remove everything you don't need for the track. -&gt; A/C, P/S, interior, bumper supports, C/F hood etc.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well I guess it is possible,

 

Out of curiousity, do you guys with the completely stripped out cars daily drive your R's? I know I would hate driving without my AC and interior, and wouldn't feel that safe without the bumper supports.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sscguy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Out of curiousity, do you guys with the completely stripped out cars daily drive your R's? I know I would hate driving without my AC and interior, and wouldn't feel that safe without the bumper supports.</TD></TR></TABLE>
I daily drive mine. It's OK for me.
BTW. The stock Euro ITR has no A/C, no bumper supports, no radio, no antenna, no speakers, etc. And it weighs 1100 kg (2420 lbs) empty stock, just like the JDM '98 I think.

 

See, if I was actually racing, and not just doing HPDEs, I'd care a lot more about the weight of the car. As it is, I'll take my creature comforts where I can

Edit: No radio or speakers? Is wiring present like on the STi?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sscguy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Edit: No radio or speakers? Is wiring present like on the STi?</TD></TR></TABLE>
Yes, all wiring is present.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DutchITR1689 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I daily drive mine. It's OK for me.
BTW. The stock Euro ITR has no A/C, no bumper supports, no radio, no antenna, no speakers, etc. And it weighs 1100 kg (2420 lbs) empty stock, just like the JDM '98 I think.</TD></TR></TABLE>

What year is your R? Mine came with everything in it here in Switzerland...never seen an empty version

 

hmmmmm i also have bumper supports in my euro R.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dc2Rgirl &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

What year is your R? Mine came with everything in it here in Switzerland...never seen an empty version </TD></TR></TABLE>
1998.

 

AC,radio,antenna and speakers were options on the euro... mine is also an 98,and i have an antenna,speakers and it propably had a radio as well...

 

I know I must be missing something, but why do we pay so much money for swaybars when the springs are so much cheaper?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by George Knighton &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I know I must be missing something, but why do we pay so much money for swaybars when the springs are so much cheaper?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Does that include the cost of having all four shock re-done for the stiffer springs?

Think of the suspension as a "system".

The primary purpose of the springs/shocks is to carry the weight of the car and damp vertical motion, secondarily to affect lateral dynamics.
Swaybars add options to take care of the front/rear balance (understeer/oversteer) and accompanying lateral dynamics. IMHO