Whiteline Sway Bars are AMAZING
 

Just wanted to give a quick review out there for the Whiteline sway bars. It’s not often I feel compelled to do something like this, but these are so much better than the other brands out there in my opinion. For those that don’t know my story, I have had my 370Z since February of 2009. I built it up as a track car back in 2009 then put it completely back to stock in 2010 to try and sell it. Long story short, I obviously decided to keep it and have been slowly building it back up for the track a second time. The first time I built this car back in 2009 the Whiteline sway bars weren’t out yet so I went ahead and got another set of sway bars. I put them on the car, went to my next track event and was sorely disappointed. The front sway bar, which was not adjustable, was just far too stiff for a normal non-race car setup. No matter what I did, the car would understeer mid-corner. I tried everything short of changing spring rates. After that day I decided to go back to the stock sway bars and the car behaved much better.

When the Whiteline sway bars came out with an adjustable front bar I was dead set on getting them. Especially since I loved all of their other products I had on a previous car of mine. So I finally got the Whiteline sway bars and installed them on my car. Based off of my previous experiences I set the Whiteline bars up full soft up front and in the middle out back. Keep in mind that aside from the sway bars and 10mm skinnier front tires, I am running the exact same suspension setup I ran on my first build.

Driving around on the street, of course it feels 10x better than the stock sways, but I wanted to reserve my final judgment on the sways until I got the car up to speed on a track. I finally got a chance to the other day, although it was not a full track day (just a couple of laps I snuck in while doing some coaching). I am super excited to announce that the Whiteline sway bars are downright perfect for this car! There’s still more adjustment to be done to make the car completely perfect but thats my whole point. I can actually adjust what I need to adjust! Thumbs up to Whiteline for offering an adjustable front sway and a package that offers the correct range of stiffness! :driving:

any pics of these sways on the car?

Took this one of the front...

http://bonannimotorsports.files.word...pg?w=640&h=320

2 front, 3 rear.

No brake issues for those few laps, but wasn't too hard on them either.

Sweet! I got a set (front/rear) of these and the rear end links for christmas. They are sitting in the garage next to my sleeping Z. I'm patiently waiting for spring then I'll install them. Sounds like my wife made the right decision getting the Whitelines for me ;)

Whiteline has adjustable rear end links. Nobody has come out with adjustable front end links yet.

Do you know what the spring rates are for the front/rear holes?

I have a set of these waiting for me at Z1 to get installed. Glad to hear a reputable driver giving them his seal of approval. :tup:

So for street and occasional track days, which settings would you go for...? i.e. which holes... :rofl2:

I don't. If someone knows the diameter of the stock bars I could probably figure it out.

I would start with soft up front and middle rear and adjust on the rear from there.

So you're saying the hole closest to the ends on the front and middle hole on the rear bar?

Yep. Thats probably a good generic starting point. Each car is going to be different depending on the rest of your setup/tires/track/etc.

:rofl2: Thanks guys! :tiphat: I'll be sure to have them set it up like that once they get installed.

+1 ... been running these on my car for 12 months and cheapest way to find 1.25 seconds/laps at Sandown International Raceway and Philip Island I ever spent ..

Also had them fitted to MY96 Impreza Rallye Special and MY03 STi - a very good product.

RB

Whose bars did you originally have that you didn't care for?

Great to hear because we love the Whiteline stuff!!

Based on the description it sounds like Hochkis.

I had Hotchkis on last time, but pretty much every other sway bar on the market looks to be the same design. Whiteline is the only one I have seen with a different design and an adjustable front. Why nobody else is doing it is beyond me, but thank god someone is.

Now if only they could hurry up and putout adjustable front endlinks... :icon17:

I have the Stillen sways and my installer recommended I do stiffest in the front and softest on the back to help bring the back around. They feel great on the car and I don't really have understeer issues at all. Back comes around real easy and it makes sense from a physics perspective...am I missing something?

Mmm, that logic is a bit backwards. If you are looking to increase rotation you would go soft front and stiffer rear. The stiffer you go with sway bars the less lateral grip, so that's why it is about finding the balance between body roll, responsiveness and traction. Whiteline actually appears to have put some thought and testing into it, Hotchkis not so much.

I have Stillen sway bars too. 5 different settings in the front and 3 in the back. I found them to be an awesome improvement over stock.

Mike - Glad to see you survived SEMA, I always enjoy reading your blog.

General Question:

I also have the Stillen sways ...
1. Please tell me which hole is softer/harder
2. I suppose you can stagger the setup on either bar (ie. use front hole on one side and back hole on other side of the same bar to have a setting inbetween the two, etc)
3. Any clearance issues with the Whitelines and aftermarket exhaust (ie. fast intentions)

As always, thanks for educating me as I am just entering this awesome (but expensive) addictive hobby

The farther out toward the end of the adjustment blade you go, the softer the setting. So for example, on the front bar, the farther back toward the rear of the car the softer.

I don't forsee any fitment problems with the Whitelines and aftermarket exhaust, but I am still running the stock exhaust so I'm probably not a good one to ask. I am sure there is someone out there with the Whiteline/FI combo that can comment.

Mike,
I just purchased the Whitelines s/b with the rear endlinks (thru Kamispeed). I should be able to comment on the install issues with th FI cbe soon (read: when no more snow in Montreal...).
Did you had the opportunity to test with and without the endlinks? I am curious about the difference...
Phil

I don't have the end links yet. They probably won't make a massive difference, they will just allow you to optimize the effectiveness of the bar and take tension off of the end links so they don't break.

Interesting...I know with these settings my car feels great. Steering is much more responsive and I don't sense too much under steer, especially with some throttle input around corners. On the canyon sometimes I think it's at its limit but I turn the steering wheel more and the car responds without hesitation.

king- if it feels good to you just leave it. on my G im using a slightly stiffer setting on the front vs rear too (stillen bars).

:tup:

The stiffest setting on the Stillen isn't as stiff as on the Hotchkis (only 1 setting - super stiff) so it is probably within reasonable margins. Stillen actually tested what they created, where as Hotchkis just drove down the street, swerved back and forth a couple of times and called it a day.

So I take it you're not very happy with the Hotchkis sways?

They are not well tuned to the car. They work adequately on track but requires you to make suspension tuning adjustments around their settings.

It is a serious consideration. ;)

I've heard good things about the Whitelines as well, was going to go that route until Stillen gave a killer deal on theirs on black friday.

There's nothing wrong with the Stillen package, it is well suited to the street.

I read the thread but am still unsure on what settings I should use with my Stillen sways (have not installed them yet). Besides stripping spare/tools from the rear it has stock suspension.
Stiffer in rear than in front?
Stock setup has the rear wayy too soft IMO

I have mine stiffest in the front and softest in the rear this was recommended to me by Lou @ Amplified and my car feels great but stillen recommends medium for both and you go from there it's up to you

They're adjustable. Start in the middle and go from there. Everyone's cars will be a bit different due to the rest of their setup, spring rates, tire size, track, aero, etc.

Oh I should also mention that I'm running on swift springs.

I have lowered the car 21mm with replacement tyres (F = 245/40R18 and R = 275/35R18 Dunlop Direzza - ride height now 690mm front and back - to top of wheelarch from the ground), but still use OEM springs and dampers.

So standard OEM suspension apart from change in bars - that is it.

RB

Hey Mike, a Japanese company call "Moonface" make's front endlinks Moonface Adjustable Swaybar-Link for G37 (V36), 370Z (Z34) - Front - More Japan :: Since 2003

It's pricy though...