Removing the Front Sway Bar for Drag Racing?
- Thread starter suspenceful
- Start date
I would think it would retard your time due to unstable chassis. Only a few pounds shed, meanwhile your stability goes down noticeably. Weight loss is important, but so is structural integrity when it comes to power to the ground.
I think the gain is more for the front end lift and weight transfer to the rear rather than weight savings
Why does it not help these cars? This was a widely done 'mod' in the fox body era and was easily worth .05 to .1 off the 60 ft. The front sway bar helps prevent the front end from rising so disconnecting it should allow more rise and hence weight transfer. I do agree alignment settings can help as well, but I don't think there's no gain from it. There is conjecture that it's just the weight off the front end, but even a tenth in the 1/4 is what - 100lbs? I've yet to see a sway bar weigh 100 lbs.
So the swaybar limits travel?
It pulls the front down with the rear?
You know these answers. Apply that.
Just because someone says something does not mean it true. People are easily swayed by a slick story. Those story's tend to fall apart once facts enter the room.
I have so many runs with and without on this car there is zero doubt in my mind. Removing makes zero difference.
It pulls the front down with the rear?
You know these answers. Apply that.
Just because someone says something does not mean it true. People are easily swayed by a slick story. Those story's tend to fall apart once facts enter the room.
I have so many runs with and without on this car there is zero doubt in my mind. Removing makes zero difference.
Gotta remind yourself that a lot of racing, and even big names "in the game," is just some bros that managed to run better times than others and gained a big following. Some don't actually know anything technical outside of that they bolted some shit to the car and it went fast. Then they sell that to people. I say "some" because there are plenty of knowledgeable people out there too!
If your front sway bar rotates freely, and the end-links are adjusted correctly, it should be have zero affect in rebound or jounce... aka zero affect on a drag run outside of added weight (stock bar is fairly light). There are instances where both front and rear sway bars can actually help the car squat more evenly upon launching though. Ever seen a car squat heavily on one tire? Distribute that load across both rear tires and the car will have more forward traction... With that being said, as the above poster said, "try it, it's free."
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Surprised? They're both Macpherson struts...
FYI this sort of thing is only useful on cars with live axles , where one drive wheel is loaded more than the other under drive torque, which introduces "warp" loads into the suspension. Unhooking the front sway bar goes some way to alleviate those loads, allowing for more equal rear wheel loads and thus more traction. Shouldn't make any difference on an IRS car, assuming the endlink lenghts are properly set.
Racing = monkey see, monkey do. That is why most single turbo N5X cars are still running 11's.
And now what if the car squats on the rear right more than the rear left? Now load is coming off the front left but more-so than the front right. The body of the car is not only pitching but also rolling left to right (most refer to this incorrectly as chassis flex-- which should be very minimal). A front sway in this instance would help re-distribute load to the front left tire thus also loading diagonally to the rear left tire. Overall, the front bar is going to help distribute load to the rear tires more evenly, no? I can't see how removing 10lbs is going to have any measurable impact on weight transfer and I don't see any N5x cars at the strip pulling wheelies to make the argument the swaybar is an issue lol
Primary driver behind weight transfer is acceleration force acting on the cars weight, wheelbase, and cog. Pitch of the car has very little impact and anti-squat is a pretty valuable characteristic in a drag car. Basically, peoples reasoning for pulling a sway is usually way off.
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The reason most N54s are in the 11s is because the majority of this community debates things to death vs going out and trying it.
