Nismo Sway Bars Installed.. Mini review..
 

Since I had the entire exhaust off the car and up on a lift, thought it would be a perfect time to install my Nismo sway bars.

I bought them not knowing exactly how much thicker (if at all) they were over the stock sways.. The only thing I got with the bars was a hard to read installation guide, but luckily it did specify the bar sizes. I've unfortunately misplaced or accidentally trashed the document but i'm pretty sure it said the front bar was 27.5mm and the rear was 25.2mm. I'm assuming they are hardly thicker than the stock sways because they didn't include new bushings (read, *no* urethane as I hoped for). After having both the stock sways off the car and just holding them compared to the new Nismos, they were definately a bit heavier, but my eyes could not detect a variation in diameter between the two. If anything, they are probably made of a heavier gauge of steel or something.

Does anybody know what the stock sway sizes are? Looking at the Hotchkis sway bar set.. they are substantially thicker than the Nismo at 25mm front and 27mm rears. Wow.

Driving impressions: Good.. Definately a mild upgrade, car feels like it has more turn in than it did before but nothing outrageously different that I can notice.

I think even though they are the same diameter, they are a thicker sidewall, why they feel heavier. Did they improve body roll noticably?

John

It's a hard thing for me to judge on the wide turns I usually take.. I'm sure you'd see a bigger difference when making lots of consequetive turns from lefts to rights, and vice versa. But on my one way turns, I always felt the car felt pretty flat stock! The "sidewall" area you're talking about does look beefier on the Nismos, you can see a 2-piece ply on the stock ones, the Nismo bars are solid.

I always felt for stock the car was a great handling sports car, it just has a little too much body roll for me personally. I am thinking about adding the Stillen sways, they have a good price on them right now. Thanks for the update on the Nismo sways!

John

After installing the Hotchkis bars there is a noticeable difference in body roll, I'm getting so much more traction that the traction control kicks in much later allowing me to exit corners much quicker. Ride is slightly stiffer when hitting larger bumps, but I think most people wouldn't notice much difference.

Mini, how would you rate the Hotchkis versus the Stillen's? Any experience with the Stillen sways?

John

After posting this thread I had to go get spirited with my car and it's definately flatter in the turns with the Nismo bars..

I would say you can't go wrong with any brand of sway bar, they will get your car flatter in the turns.

I will point out that going with adjustable sway bars can be a bad thing as people tend to mislead others saying stiffer = best. My experiences is that I found better performance gains with static (non-adjustable) sway bars than with the adjustable. I've encountered a ton of understeer on stiffer sway bar setups and on other cars, tons of oversteer with a messed up sway bar set up.

Based on the pubished Rates, I suspect the Hotchkiss bars are considerably more aggressive. That said, I was looking for a touch more control without making the car too harsh. I put on the Stillens and am very happy with what it got me. Good compliance on stock springs and shocks, and good roll control and more cornering spring rate while maintaining the cars neutral attitude. Overall very happy with the Stillens..Swaybars are all about balancing the chassis and these do it well. Bigger isn't always better and in most cases setting to the "Hard" adjustment on he rear will get you oversteer. Always dangerous in the hands of inexperienced drivers. Save that setting for the drift kings..

(And yes, even though the Diameters are close to stock, the increased bar rate comes from a thicker wall of the hollow bar design..)

Thanks Modshack. This reinforces what I am looking for on my Z. I don't track it, and intend to keep the stock springs and shocks as well......... additional roll control and better cornering spring rate while maintaining a little more neutral balance than stock sounds great.

John

You'll like the Stillens then John...I'm a bit of a suspension tweeker and these will get you just what you're looking for..:tup:

Cool man, thanks!!! :tiphat:

John

Hey Modshack, I'm thinking about slightly stiffer bars now that I have coilovers on. How do you feel about the hotchkis set?

Hotchkis had my car out at the track, and ran it through the cones. With the stock bars it had a best of 6 runs time of 5.8, after the install it was consistently getting 5.2, 5.3 through the 6 cones 100ft apart. the best time was achieved with the rear bar set at its softest setting. I never got to drive the car when it was set at firm, but I have since taken it through many canyon runs and a 25 mile Mt. Baldy run and there is definitely a noticeable difference on how flat and confident the car feels.
I have no experience with the Stillen bars, I'm only comparing Stock to Hotchkis, and I think they are worth the money.

And I have no experience with the Hotchkiss...Pick your poison!

I like my Hotchkis, they're set at medium in the rear right now and it's not overdone (no super excessive oversteer or anything). But it's definitely stiff enough back there for now, no need for the hard setting. Maybe later when I get the new wheels and coilovers and get the ride height adjusted, etc, I may try out the hard setting just to see if it's too much then.

I took my car on this large sweeping turn a lot faster today to see how flat I would be through it.. and wow, big difference from stock. Sounds like all the sway options are probably worth it.

^ agreed. I think I'm going to go with the hotchkis for the adjustable rear. What about understeer guys? Anything on that?

Has anyone noticed any negative effects on the Z with aftermarket swaybars (besides increased ride rigidity that is)? I'm just wondering because I know for a Mk IV jetta (after much trial and error in the community) it's actually more beneficial to totally take out the front sway bar when coilovers or much stiffer/lower suspension is put on. The car overall feels better and it actually helps with turn in response and mid corner grip. I know it's comparing apples to oranges but I have little to no experience with other cars and swaybars so I just thought I'd ask.

A MK4 Jetta is a completely different chassis situation. Front wheel drive and front weight bias has completely different requirements. I have extensive experience with this chassis on the Audi TT and trust me, other than AutoX stuff, removing the front bar is not the best for precise handling. It is better to reduce understeer by Adding a rear bar (which it does not have stock). Bars reduce body roll. Taking the front one off a MK4 chassis only works with lowered and stiffer springs to control the roll.

The Z, being rear wheel drive with a better weight balance front to rear requires bars on both ends for proper balance of the chassis. We do not have a front heavy understeer problem with this car. It is already well balanced and relatively neutral. The Stillen's (or Nismos, or Hotchkiss) just make a good thing better.

Ok thanks for the info. Yeah as I said I've only had experience with mk IV jettas when it comes to sway bars and yes I meant mostly for auto cross. I knew it's a totally different beast (RWD vs FWD, totally different chassis, meant to be an everyday car vs meant to be a sports car from the factory, etc.) Good to know sway bars add some positive stiffing to the Z's chassis.