SoCal Cyco

iTrader: (20)

rear sway will give you more of a noticable feel than the strut bar, but get both like me, lol i also have the 6 link, front lower chassis brace and upper strut bar. i love the way my car handles

sakataj

iTrader: (182)

read the thread title, he says Rear Strut Bar or Rear Underbrace, he never mentions sway bars

i texted daniel about this earlier.... it is indeed a front RMM swaybar modified to fit the rear

again he didnt mention sways guys....

MikeFoxx

iTrader: (8)

^^^^^ right on i thought so

1sWt2GS

iTrader: (6)

if anything rear underbrace would handle better than any of those three! haha. thanks for catching that brian

rogzballz

iTrader: (9)

Read up, do your homework on what you need...

http://autospeed.com/cms/title_Suspe...3/article.html
http://autospeed.com/cms/title_AntiR...7/article.html
http://autospeed.com/cms/title_Rear-...9/article.html

SoCal Cyco

iTrader: (20)

^^good article but they are dealing with fwd cars only. and oops how did i miss that brace not sway. duh

any way if you dont have sways yet and are thinking about strut bar or brace get the sways, biggest improvment you can make. most noticable feel to the car besides coilsovers of course

SDGSPW

Thank you for your input, but like I said, the question I am asking is specific to the GS and RWD, and not in general. Those articles are for FWD cars.

jcat_350

suspension geometry is still suspension geometry. Weight still shifts front to rear under load. The only difference you're going to have from FWD to RWD is how that shift affects traction in cornering.

The point of strut tower bars is to reduce chassis flex. Chassis flex, specifically the strut towers pushing together, is highly unlikely in normal conditions. You're likely to only see it on the track, as the forces on the street most times (i.e. exit ramp at 50) are not enough to cause too much of a problem. Strut bars merely prevent the strut towers from flexing toward each other by transferring that energy across the bar and transmitting it downward on top of the wheel.

An underbrace does pretty much the opposite. An underbrace ties one side to the other the same as a strut bar does, but redirects the flex energy in a different way. Under cornering, the chassis compresses down on one side, with the weight shift tending to lift the other side. What an underbrace is designed to do is pull down on the opposite side to keep it level, thus keeping the tire in full contact with the pavement. Because of this, it's function is basically identical to that of a sway bar, just in a different manner. An underbrace performs the same job, just by tying different suspension parts together.

Those are general suspension principles that apply to ANY car, FWD, AWD or RWD. The only specifics you need to consider with the GS are the extra weight, where that weight shifts during cornering, accel and decel, and it's higher starting point for center of gravity.

If you are already lowered (on what? springs/shocks or coils? how far? what else is done to the suspension?) your best bang for the buck will be strut tower bars. Nice easy install and a more noticeable difference. Follow those with sway bars, then follow those with underbracing. You can't throw parts at a car in any order you want (especially a boat like a GS) and just expect it to handle well.

sakataj

iTrader: (182)

best first mod if you dont have them....TRD sways, then from your list the underbrace. my suspension is very well laid out and i have no rear strut bar nor any plans for one, only cause it will interfere with my sub box

SDGSPW

Excuse me for not being clearer, but I understand the basic principles. I was asking specifically about the GS along with all the specific parameters: RWD, extra weight at the rear, high center of gravity (being a tall sedan), and any other GS-specific characteristics. Your 4th paragraph seems to allude to the answers I was looking for, but still was not clearly aswered. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I already have a rear STB on my other car (lowered hatch), and it even actually has a rear sway bar as well. I was looking for insight from people who have a 2GS and have done either.

For those of you that provided input from your experience with the GS specifically, thank you for your valuable insight.

jcat_350

A car is a car...the specifics of each simply dictate the details in your setup. Higher starting point for center of gravity = you need to get lower. Extra weight = stiffer suspension bits. I wouldn't classify it as having extra weight at the rear, most of it's weight is up front, making your handling considerations more interesting since the power goes out the back. Your focus should be maintaining chassis integrity up front, with a focus more on keeping both tires down and working in the rear.

I guess the real question is, if you know how it all works, what else is there that you need from anyone on here?

rogzballz

iTrader: (9)

Lol - I didn't read the articles and didn't have time at work to be your google slave. But basic principles of physics should apply,I just suggest that you need to determine what your actual needs are before spending money on something that may only improve your handling slightly for real world driving.

My vote is on sways because our chassis is pretty stiff.

SDGSPW

Did you even read any of my posts? Never did I ask you to be my google slave. I actually am doing my research before I spend money on something I don't need, at least I thought I was, by asking input from 2GS owners who have real world experince with the items on their car.

I don't understand why this is so difficult. If there is an article specific to the 2GS on the web, then I would have read up on it, but their is no such article. Hence, I ask the question in the Performance Section of the 2GS Forum. I don't know how I can be more tactical than that. If I wanted a lesson on suspension geometry, then I would have stayed on google and read up on theory. Not every car is the same, so not everything that works well on one will work as well on another.

I don't appreciate being dressed down like a school boy when I pose a legitimate question. If you don't want to provide any insight from your experience with either of the items on your 2GS, then I don't understand why you feel the need to respond to the post just to tell me to do my homework on the web.

SDGSPW

Because I want to hear from people who actually have them on their car. The extra weight on the rear I was referring to is because the diff is back there, not like my hatch that is FWD. I said I understand the basic principles, not that I understand how everything works. Again, I am just looking for real-world input.

DosyBoy

iTrader: (1)

I gotta rear underbrace on my gs400 for the past year now.. And I have an engine sway.. What I do not have is a rear sway so I cannot speak on that...