Hey guys,
Does anyone have any experience or info on Cusco swaybars for the is250? I know fsport would be the way to go but was wondering about other options.

Thanks

 

Paying more for the name brand; yet receiving basically the exact same lump of metal. The bars are the same OD (outer diameter).

 

Yes and the f-sport is a solid bar too like cusco. There are other brands too but I believe the only one truly different from the rest is the sikky bar (green color) it is an adjustable rear sway. A

 

The front cusco sway bar is 30mm compared to 28.5mm on the f sport & Hotchkis is 32mm...Not sure about fitment but I'll almost try anything heavy duty to make this car handle better.

 

this is the reply I received from Hotchkis

Since I have never been able to find a consensus on just how much stiffer the f-sport is than stock, I can't comment on the stiffness of Hotchkis compared to f-sport.
F-sport rear is (I think) 150% siffer than stock.
Sikky doesn't seem to sell a front sway. The rear "softest" setting is about the same as the f-sport. Sikky includes poly bushings and adjustable end links. If you factor that in, the price is pretty competitive with the f-sport.
Can't remember what I found out about the cusco stiffness, checked old email and see nothing.
The other manufacturer I know of is Jun-tw. I didn't investigate them much.

BTW, I did my investigation for IS350, not IS250 like the OP mentioned. So those stiffness percents are relative to IS350 stock.

 

How does the diameter of the sway bar affect performance?

 

Provided the metal is the same, thicker=stiffer, but you could go to a different steel and get thinner and still be stronger. I am also assuming the bar is solid and not a tube.

 

I wouldn't pay more than the F Sport bar.

 

Judging by the weight of the stock and F-sport bars, they are definitely hollow. Until someone goes through cutting up all of the sways bars for the 2IS to answer the tube-wall thickness questions, we're left up to believe the vendors and their % > stock assumptions. A thicker OD (outer diameter) sway bar won't always = a stiffer sway bar.

 

you could always weight it and then see how much water it displaces to figure out the density. May not be practical, but at least more practical than cutting thru one

 

It actually surprises me that so few of the sways provide information on how stiff they are. I mean, isn't that kind of important?

 

Stronger does not = stiffer From a practical standpoint every steel alloy that would be used in a swaybar has the same stiffness, regardless of the strength.

You don't even need to do that, if the bar is hollow you will be able to see that on the ends of the bar where the bar is "pinched" to attach the end links.

I don't have aftermarket sways, so I've never seen a set for this car, but I am highly doubful that any hollow sways are available. They would be advertised as such, and they would need to be significantly bigger in diameter to provide more stiffness than solid bars.

 

 

The front bar is hollow (wall thickness - 4.8 mm), the rear bar is solid.

http://is.sewellparts.com/accessorie...2009/5408.html

Lou

 

my rear bar is solid. i'm using a sikky bar and i'm judging by the weight of it and the ends are solid too. highly doubt cusco bars are hollow also. not sure what type of bar is in the pic above ^