What brand of Sway bars do you have?
 

And how do you like them??? I have the Daizen sway bars and I absolutely love them! I have them set to oversteer and my car just glides around the corners like it was effortless. I have really been pleased with the performance of these and will continue to use them. Daizen just needs to make some coilovers for the IS and we'll be set!

What do you have on your IS? Or what have you thought about purchasing? TELL ME! ;) :D

been running the TRD yellow sways for the last 2+ years....
and i luv them...! :D
w/ my springs & shox, it makes a nice neutral feeling
could induce oversteer when i want to...
just gotta get better tires

I have L-Tuned.

Just because the sways cost more or are stiffer doesn't mean they're better. ;) Just ask the auto-x guys.

i have the daizen and can love them, totally change the handling of teh car and makes it even beter

I've got hotchkis. They are adjustable and I've had them on the stiffest setting for over a year. They also have a nice grease fitting so you can grease the bushings without taking the bar off.

I'm ready to buy Daizens momentarily.
How do you decide what setting to set the rear bar to?

if you have stiff springs/shocks/coilover, i would be a bit easy on the rear sway settings. if you have staggered and wide wheel setup in the back, you can put it on more aggressive setup i say

I have the now defunked Area51 sway bars. They are BLUE, they are stiffer and I think they were the best mod I did to the IS300. They are no longer produced due to company failure.

Have the same ones!!!! Aren't they sweet?

Not too overkill like the hotchkis bars. Very good and balanced set.

Still don't get why the daizen are so popular yet so pricey? thanks.

well.... how popular are they really..???

. i have only heard about mabey 3-4 people having them & most of them say they are SSSSTTTIIIIIIFFFF!!..

which is good when you are say....drifting?... .or have oem or "softer :" suspension components like shox & springs...& are building the suspenision step by step....but ideally you want the SOFTEST swaybar that will help the correctly dialed shock & springs from getting over taxed while they support the chassis off the road... stiffer sways are a " crutch" for inadequate Shcock valving & damping & spring rates...

FWIW : You will get a MUCH better handling car if you can adjust the shock damping/ valving & spring rate/ preload to your desired handling characteristics & then use the softest sways possible to help augment the efforts of the shox to control the body... buig ass stiff sways prevent the shocks fro mdoign their job basically.. for unsophisticated shocks.. . no biggie.. .but with a really nice set of shox.. . stiff ass sways can hurt you much more than help you...


again.. .unless you are settign it up for drifting.....:D

As you increase shock stiffness and Traction, you will see more body roll even with a good set of coilovers, they simpley cannot compensate for the side ways forces that the body incounters when cornering. Sways are a must and they are an integral component of a good handling car. Now I'm not saying to use a piece of galvanized pipe as a sway bar but in GENERAL when it comes to cornering performance stiffer is better

pretty much right on... but my point is that the "stiffness" you are looking for & referring to is best derived MOSTLY from the shox and springs Vs the sways for ultimate handling performance...

...... you'll note i did not say " stop running Swaybars altogether".... hehehe...


BUT...extensive testing has shown that with the right application of fully adjustable Coilovers with the proper level of damping & spring rate....going with stiffer sways will IMPAIR the ability of the car/ suspension to GRIP the road more & they WILL create more sliding than grip.

This is great for tail out, opposite lock, fun & games but it is NOT the fastest way thru a corner....

i believe the webmaster at is300.net also did some sway testing & found his fastest times on a set course were with upgraded shox & springs or even coilovers etc, but with NO rear sway at all... not sure what he had up front... i will check into it... but this supports the findings of several others who actively track their cars & have spent many a dollar on track time to dial in their suspension for the best grip & fastest times thru a corner... either on the road or on the trrack...

Since sophisticated Coilovers with the extensive adjustability needed to properly adjust and dial in your suspension performance,.......not to mention having the place to do this testing in a controlled environment where you can repeat the "lap" and measure the effect of adjustments are probably outside the budget of or above the level of commitment for MOST car owners even if they had a place to do this testing.... most folks go with less expensive coilovers & or upgraded shox & spring setups... this makes for a perfect reason to introduce stiffer sways to help meet the shox some where in the middle so the cars handling performance is improved significantly over stock with out an investment of a few thousand dollars.

this is why there are so many options for swaybars available..... a set of upgraded springs & shocks can be as little as $500 bux ... add in a set of Eibach Prokit/ Ltuned sways .. .& you have a nice riding & pretty nice handling car for under $750 bux...

but that is not necessarily the right solution if you want the BEST handling possible out of the IS or any Chassis.......



Edward

I'll go along with all of that. sways help but the majority of the handlin is in the coilover or shocks.

I read some information about the rear sway bar effect. It turns out that if the rear bar is to rigid the car has a hard time transfering power to the drive wheels becuase the weight doesnt transfer from side to side as well as it should. I guess that is why the run smaller bars in the rear than the front.

..exactly....... plus the front of the cars are usually much heavier than the rear and also the front of the car 's chassis structure also anchors the steering components etc. etc. ( not many rear wheel steering cars out there that i know of,... & fork lifts need not apply ...hahaha) so the front bars are always much bigger...

... & for 90% of the drivers out there, even better/ more agressive ;) drivers who venture closer to the limits of the car...a set of upgraded springs & shox with some damping adjustment plus a set of good sways will do the trick. i love the hotchkis because they are adjustable front & rear.. & plenty stiff for an upgraded shock spring setup..

It is easy tho for someone just learning about all this stuff to get caught up the common thinking that: "stiffer is always better!!!".. .when in fact if they plan on upgrading to a good set of coilovers later.. .it is proably better to, for example,....stick with theProkit/ Ltuned sways & then invest/upgrade to adjustable coilovers... Vs jumping in to a more expensive & stiffer sway bar setup right off the bat.. saves som cash for the coilovers too....

I was one of those who did not think clearly about my plans & I went thru Ltuned Sways & then Area51 sways (stiffer) & eventually swapped those out for the Hotchkis (stiffer still i believe...) sways I have now... partially for the adjustability the Hotchkis offer...Vs the Area 51's...

...Had i been more thoughtful about that progression l should/could have kept the LTuned sways & then tested those against the Hotchkis & with the Tein Flex shox & most likely found,( as i am expecting to find as soon as i can snap up a set of the Eibach/ Ltuned sways & test...) .that the softer sway can be made to work "better" with the Tein Flex than the Hotchkis, simply because I can & will spend some time dialiing the coilovers in.. :egads: Now I need to hit up Darrel over at Sewel Lexus & snap up a set of those Ltuned sways....

regardless,......I have learned alot about some of the suspension upgrade options for these cars & have had fun doing it.... .


:D

i have the Area 51 sways.......looks great and handles great..... :bigthumbu