Racingline's Rear Sway Bar review

[mcheddadi]

First of all, the bar I got IS BEEFY!!! Its thick and sturdy and its not hollow like the Stock one. It's 22mm compared to the hollow stock 18mm. The one I got is a prototype one that at its lowest stiffness is about 15% to 20% stiffer than the Stillen one*. It's two way adjustable.

This prototype RSB's hardest setting doesn't work with stock endlinks but since I had the racingline ones it worked for me perfectly. Joe warned me that I might not be able to use the bar's stiffest setting because the bar sat dangerously close to the brakelines on Blackmobiles 2.5S altima coupe. Didn't have this prob with my 17inch stockers. I was able to test the bar at the highest stiffness. yay!

Btw the bar will have corrections made to it so that both setting will work with the Stock endlinks, so don't think you'll be forced into buying any extra endlinks if you don't want to, although you should because they are awesome and adjustable too.

Ok, so the fun part, the TEST DRIVE!

I did some HEAVY slaloming and you could feel the weight transfer from back to front, it was awesome! in heavy acceleration the car didn't liftoff the front as much as before and it felt really flat and leveled.During the quick left and right maneuvers the car got some awesome liftoff oversteer ( !!!!!!!) which helped a lot in keeping traction at the front. The curves are also soo much more easy to take. Max acceleration until I see the apex then weight transfer and liftoff oversteer into the corner and finally power off at the end. It was AWEEESSSSOOOOMMME!!!

This might seem counter intuitive but the ride quality has improved!!!Like "wtf?!" you might be telling yourselves.Well instead of the rear bouncing up left-right right-left (was very slight before but it added to the effect) now its like the whole car bounces (needs a seriously crappy road for that) but stays leveled! The potholes don't seem to disturb the rear of the car as much.

Pics:

Verdict:LOVE THIS UPGRADE.

Pros: Less squat when acceleratingLiftoff oversteerBetter weight transfer(hard turns make the car lift the rear inside wheel so all the weight is supported by the 3 other wheels making the front wheel get more traction)Rear doesn't bounce as much as beforeBetter perceived ride quality

Cons: None at this time

*based on Joe's words (Racingline owner)[...] 15-20% stiffer then Stillens ( which is claimed to be 20% over stock).We've made the bar quite stiff LOL, but it feels great so far. [...]

[PHENOMenalVinyl]

nice.....seems like a great mod

[hamandbacon]

when is racingline releasing it? group buy!

[LongBeachCoupe]

I am sure Joe (racingline) will chime in and let you guys know pricing and GB info as soon as it is available!

I am interested to see this in action this weekend at Carlisle!

[Blackmobile]

i think mchedaddi put it into words a whole lot better than I could. but i'd have to agree with everything he's said and more.. with the sway bar installed, handling feels much better, i can feel the confidence to accelerate through turns that i couldn't do before. Also keep in mind that i had the sway bar installed on my stock endlinks and still felt a world of difference.

I had the sway bar installed, then took my girlfriend on a drive without telling her i had it installed, taking hard turns at high speeds and she even told me she was impressed with the handling capability of my car which she's never mentioned before. i believe i can quote her saying "you're going so fast through the turn but it's so smooth"

[il duce]

one thing to note ... the stock sway bar is hollow for a reason. if you take 2 bars, one hollow and one solid, both with the same thickness, you will find that the hollow one is stiffer and more resistant to bending. this is due to its shape factor.

now since this racingline one is 22mm thick and the stock is 18, there should be an improvement in handling due to the ~20% increase in thickness, and the observations here seem to agree with that.

i've noticed the car stock seems prone to understeer, i am interested in rectifying this by stiffening the back end. hopefully by changing both front and rear endlinks, the overall driving dynamic of the car will remain the same and then adding the rsb should make it more prone to oversteer, which is what i'm going for. any word on pricing and availability?

[Ricko]

Nothing official but . . .

MAYBE,

4 weeks out and around 140 bucks

[nissan_star]

one thing to note ... the stock sway bar is hollow for a reason. if you take 2 bars, one hollow and one solid, both with the same thickness, you will find that the hollow one is stiffer and more resistant to bending. this is due to its shape factor.

FYI: This is wrong. Given the SAME thickness bars the solid bar will be more solid and stiff then a hollow bar of the same material, always. BUT a hollow bar has the potential to be more solid by increasing radius AND still weigh less then the solid bar, which is why hollow bars are used.

[Blackmobile]

that's what I figured, but i'm no engineer. I always thought oem bars were hollow because they're cheaper to make

[il duce]

FYI: This is wrong. Given the SAME thickness bars the solid bar will be more solid and stiff then a hollow bar of the same material, always. BUT a hollow bar has the potential to be more solid by increasing radius AND still weigh less then the solid bar, which is why hollow bars are used.

Uh that's not right. Ok ... 2 bars same material same OD, one hollow one solid. keep in mind this means that both bars have the same stress/strain curve, just translated.

if you stress the solid bar at 2 points with a pivot point in the middle, looking at a cross sectional area of the pivot point here's the scenario. you have compression forces at the bottom (assuming the 2 evenly spaced forces are pushing down against the fulcrum) and tension forces at the top.this translates to a stress strain curve with a slope of x (for simplification we will use a linear model). due to the mechanical behaviour of materials, the solid bar will have plastic deformation (irreversibly bend out of shape) at a certain stress.

now if you look at the hollow bar, same cross sectional area diagram, you have much less cross sectional area for the stress to be spread out over because of its hollowness. this translates to a stress strain curve with a slope of Ax (A > 1), meaning that more stress is required to cause the same plastic deformation as with the solid bar. however since the bar is not solid and therefore the forces are focussed at smaller areas (tube walls as opposed to a solid bar), the bar will shear before it deforms.

so to wrap things up:if you take the deformation stress of the solid bar and apply it to the hollow bar, the hollow bar will not be deformed (materials dependent, but for these purposes ... ie a common steel bar ... this fact can be negated). HOWEVER, if you take the stress required to shear (break) the hollow bar and apply it to the solid bar, the solid bar will only deform and not break ... the solid bar requires a higher stress to break. but obviously, a deformed solid bar is no good for the suspension.

[Blackmobile]

but when we're talking about a rear sway bar aren't we talking about torsional stress? the bar goes through stresses as it's being twisted, not pressure applied to "bend" it. i think i'm outta my league here, i don't remember any of my physics i learned in university, too long ago, plus i'm not the smartest bulb on the xmas tree. maybe i should leave it alone and say that because the material being used is stronger than the OEM bar that it'll be stronger. sounds good to me. uh huh

[nissan_star]

Uh that's not right. Ok ... 2 bars same material same OD, one hollow one solid. keep in mind this means that both bars have the same stress/strain curve, just translated.

if you stress the solid bar at 2 points with a pivot point in the middle, looking at a cross sectional area of the pivot point here's the scenario. you have compression forces at the bottom (assuming the 2 evenly spaced forces are pushing down against the fulcrum) and tension forces at the top.this translates to a stress strain curve with a slope of x (for simplification we will use a linear model). due to the mechanical behaviour of materials, the solid bar will have plastic deformation (irreversibly bend out of shape) at a certain stress.

now if you look at the hollow bar, same cross sectional area diagram, you have much less cross sectional area for the stress to be spread out over because of its hollowness. this translates to a stress strain curve with a slope of Ax (A > 1), meaning that more stress is required to cause the same plastic deformation as with the solid bar. however since the bar is not solid and therefore the forces are focussed at smaller areas (tube walls as opposed to a solid bar), the bar will shear before it deforms.

I took a bridge building class that dissagrees with you, but whatever. You are still wrong. What you mean to say is that bars of the same MASS will show a hollow bar would be stronger then the solid of the SAME MASS. On a solid bar the innermost material is not greatly benificial to the strength, but still is benificial none the less. The hollow bar is stronger when the mass from the middle of the solid bar is moved to the outside, therefore increasing radius or OD of the bar. So when two bars of same material and OD are used the solid is stronger, fyi bending is deffinatly better then breaking, but given the same mass and increasing radius to the hollow bar, it becomes stronger.

You still said this though:

if you take the deformation stress of the solid bar and apply it to the hollow bar, the hollow bar will not be deformed (materials dependent, but for these purposes ... ie a common steel bar ... this fact can be negated). HOWEVER, if you take the stress required to shear (break) the hollow bar and apply it to the solid bar, the solid bar will only deform and not break ... the solid bar requires a higher stress to break. but obviously, a deformed solid bar is no good for the suspension.

so you would rather have a broken sway bar then a bent sway bar, ok...

[Ricko]

Cannot wait till this upgrade comes out so i can buy my strut and sway at the same time! Already have the Eibachs, endlinks, and fatty tires . . Going to go play in the hills!

[SilkySmoove]

Any new word on a possible release date and pricing?

[Ricko]

should be less then 4 weeks away and about 150 bucks, plus or minus. (From what I hear)

[RaiderKID]

Any updates on this item?

[Racingline]

it is in the factory and should be ready in a few weeks. The jigs are all made up and ready, just waiting on material to arrive. Should be ready in roughly 3 more weeks

[DaCoupe]

it is in the factory and should be ready in a few weeks. The jigs are all made up and ready, just waiting on material to arrive. Should be ready in roughly 3 more weeks

[1125Altima3.5]

Quick confirmation - hard corners make you lift the rear inside wheel when the RSB is installed? I'm wondering whether that was more due to the RSB or to aggressive driving during your road test.

Thanks for the writeup - I actually would not want my car to be oversteer-prone, so I probably won't be getting this (or the Stillen) RSB. Seems like you'd need a fair amount of practice on safe roads to learn the new handling limits; don't want to leave the highway interchange tail-first!

Nice graph of lift-off oversteer w/ inside rear wheel leaving the ground:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F...s.jpg

[desertdragon]

so, Mehdi, I have a question:I already have the Stillen RSB, should I change it to Racingline RSB for better handling of the car?

Would it be that much of an upgrade? Just wanted your opinion.

Thanks

[SHIFT_COUPE]

so, Mehdi, I have a question:I already have the Stillen RSB, should I change it to Racingline RSB for better handling of the car?

Would it be that much of an upgrade? Just wanted your opinion.

Thanks

I'd also be curious to know the difference between the two.

[RaiderKID]

Any updates?

[DaCoupe]

I'd also be curious to know the difference between the two.

[Ricko]

I am going email RL again. From the last email he said should be out next week. But I think its going to be delayed . . . again

That's the car business though

[RaiderKID]

Good looking out Ricko. thanks! im waiting on this to get the stb at the same time.

[SneakyFish]

is there gonna be a gb on this?

[Ricko]

I think it is too hot of an item to do a GB on this. Plus they are going to be sold out the day they are released! so get ready. Still haven't heard fom RL.

[SneakyFish]

do we have a release date or even time frame? sorry for all the questions but really interested in this buy

[Ricko]

SHOULD be a week away if my last email was correct but I just emailed them again and they should get back to me by tomorrow or Monday for sure.

[Ricko]

SHOULD be a week away if my last email was correct but I just emailed them again and they should get back to me by tomorrow or Monday for sure.

they are at the benders now waiting in que, so they should be ready really soon

Thanks,

Joe