tryg
New Member
If you're serious about your car's handling performance, you will first be looking at lowering the suspension.
In most cases, unless you're a complete petrolhead, this will be more than adequate. However, if you are a keen driver, you will be able to get far better handling out of your car by fitting a couple of other accessories to it. The first thing you should look at is a strut brace.
When you corner, the whole car's chassis is twisting slightly. In the front (and perhaps at the back, but not as often) the suspension pillars will be moving relative to each other because there's no direct physical link between them. A strut brace bolts across the top of the engine to the tops of the two suspension posts and makes that direct physical contact.
The result is that the whole front suspension setup becomes a lot more rigid and there will be virtually no movement relative to each side. In effect, you're adding the fourth side to the open box created by the subframe and the two suspension pillars.
Deformity and twisting of the vehicle chassis during cornering may cause negative handling traits such as understeering and oversteering.
As most modern cars go, car manufacturers employ the FF (Front engine, Front wheel drive) setup. The natural behavior of an FF car is to have a slight understeer, due to its heavier front end.
Understeer
Understeer happens when the front wheels lose their traction and won't turn any sharper, even when the steering is being corrected to turn the car more. This will cause the car to go wide instead of following the line. Understeer can be corrected by stiffening the rear end of the vehicle by adding a Rear Strut Bar and a Rear Anti Roll Bar.
Front wheels lose their traction and cause the car to go wide. Understeer can be corrected by stiffening the vehicle's rear chassis.
Oversteer
Oversteer is when the rear tires lose grip and causing the rear end of the vehicle slides out of a corner. This phenomenon happens particularly to FR (Front engine, Rear wheel drive) or RR (Rear engine, Rear wheel drive) cars. Oversteer can be corrected by stiffening the front end of the vehicle by adding Front Strut Bars and Front Anti Roll Bars.
Rear tyres lose grip and causing the rear end of the vehicle slides out. Oversteer can be corrected by stiffening the vehicle's front chassis.
Other braces:
Front Strut Bar
Mounted at the front chassis for strengthening purposes. To eliminate all the suspension noise and more stability during acceleration, hard driving and braking. What most members have, but usually this is the only one.
Rear Strut Bar
Mounted at rear section of the car chassis (boot). Similar to the function of the front strut bar. The rear strut bar is use to support the rear section of the chassis, so that the force generated during hard braking and driving can be reduced. Some members have these already.
Side Fender Bars
Installed at the left and right side of the vehicle wheel arch or fender. Fender bars can give extra support and strength to the chassis especially during cornering.
Room Bar
To strengthen the upper middle part of the vehicle body, at the B-pillar area. This would only be used for people who are really considering race tracking.. as this impedes people sitting in the cabin with comfort!
Rear Upper Bar
Mounted at the rear passenger seat. Basically the function of a rear upper bar is used to support the rear section of the chassis, so that force generated during hard braking and driving can be reduced. Again, depending on the mounting area, this can interfere with some functions of your rear seat.
Anti Roll Bar
Anti Roll Bars (also known as anti-sway bars, sway bars or lower tie bars) affect the handling of the car on the lower end of the suspension. Thicker sway bars prevent that body roll that you feel when pushing hard into corners. Cons can be that you skid, rather than grip if pushing too hard. But some like the car acting flatter round corners and can learn to predict the skid-point of the turn.
Lower Arm Bar
It is installed at the lower mounting points between the left and right suspension and the vehicle chassis. Tremendously improving the stiffness at the area where the lower arm is connected to the vehicle chassis. The front is usually a four-point and the rear a two point bar.
In most cases, unless you're a complete petrolhead, this will be more than adequate. However, if you are a keen driver, you will be able to get far better handling out of your car by fitting a couple of other accessories to it. The first thing you should look at is a strut brace.
When you corner, the whole car's chassis is twisting slightly. In the front (and perhaps at the back, but not as often) the suspension pillars will be moving relative to each other because there's no direct physical link between them. A strut brace bolts across the top of the engine to the tops of the two suspension posts and makes that direct physical contact.
The result is that the whole front suspension setup becomes a lot more rigid and there will be virtually no movement relative to each side. In effect, you're adding the fourth side to the open box created by the subframe and the two suspension pillars.
Deformity and twisting of the vehicle chassis during cornering may cause negative handling traits such as understeering and oversteering.
As most modern cars go, car manufacturers employ the FF (Front engine, Front wheel drive) setup. The natural behavior of an FF car is to have a slight understeer, due to its heavier front end.
Understeer
Understeer happens when the front wheels lose their traction and won't turn any sharper, even when the steering is being corrected to turn the car more. This will cause the car to go wide instead of following the line. Understeer can be corrected by stiffening the rear end of the vehicle by adding a Rear Strut Bar and a Rear Anti Roll Bar.
Front wheels lose their traction and cause the car to go wide. Understeer can be corrected by stiffening the vehicle's rear chassis.
Oversteer
Oversteer is when the rear tires lose grip and causing the rear end of the vehicle slides out of a corner. This phenomenon happens particularly to FR (Front engine, Rear wheel drive) or RR (Rear engine, Rear wheel drive) cars. Oversteer can be corrected by stiffening the front end of the vehicle by adding Front Strut Bars and Front Anti Roll Bars.
Rear tyres lose grip and causing the rear end of the vehicle slides out. Oversteer can be corrected by stiffening the vehicle's front chassis.
Other braces:
Front Strut Bar
Mounted at the front chassis for strengthening purposes. To eliminate all the suspension noise and more stability during acceleration, hard driving and braking. What most members have, but usually this is the only one.
Rear Strut Bar
Mounted at rear section of the car chassis (boot). Similar to the function of the front strut bar. The rear strut bar is use to support the rear section of the chassis, so that the force generated during hard braking and driving can be reduced. Some members have these already.
Side Fender Bars
Installed at the left and right side of the vehicle wheel arch or fender. Fender bars can give extra support and strength to the chassis especially during cornering.
Room Bar
To strengthen the upper middle part of the vehicle body, at the B-pillar area. This would only be used for people who are really considering race tracking.. as this impedes people sitting in the cabin with comfort!
Rear Upper Bar
Mounted at the rear passenger seat. Basically the function of a rear upper bar is used to support the rear section of the chassis, so that force generated during hard braking and driving can be reduced. Again, depending on the mounting area, this can interfere with some functions of your rear seat.
Anti Roll Bar
Anti Roll Bars (also known as anti-sway bars, sway bars or lower tie bars) affect the handling of the car on the lower end of the suspension. Thicker sway bars prevent that body roll that you feel when pushing hard into corners. Cons can be that you skid, rather than grip if pushing too hard. But some like the car acting flatter round corners and can learn to predict the skid-point of the turn.
Lower Arm Bar
It is installed at the lower mounting points between the left and right suspension and the vehicle chassis. Tremendously improving the stiffness at the area where the lower arm is connected to the vehicle chassis. The front is usually a four-point and the rear a two point bar.
