All my suspension goodies are now on and I was able to take it for a drive. My first impression was that it was quiet. I greased up the bushings well but there is always a concern that they may squeak. We will see how they fare in a few months.
After the squeak-less move out of the driveway my true first impression was that steering felt tighter. That could be in my head, but it felt ever so slightly more responsive. The area near me does not have many curvy roads. In fact I can count on zero hands the number of good driving roads near me with lots of curves. Straight and flat is the name of the game here in the low country for the most part. But I managed to find the odd curve or two as well as interstate on/off ramp. This is where I really felt the improvement the front sway bar made. I found that I was able to take these ramps at a higher rate of speed more confidently. The car felt more planted up front.
The springs and shocks already flattened out the car in corners a good amount. However, the front of the car would still feel like it wanted to wander a bit. With this new bar, the front felt planted. I didn’t push it a lot. I took the corners like I normally would but this time a little faster than normal without really trying. This proved true on every curve/ramp I encountered. Typically, I could feel the car trying to get pulled out of the corner, if that makes sense. Now it just tracked right where I put it. I would have needed even more speed to get that pulling feeling again. The car now inspired more confidence. Result!
That’s all good, but I did realize during my driving that I wasn’t done with the suspension after all. When I had the stock front bar in, the rear bar from the 124 Abarth seemed like a perfect match. The car rotated in corners predictably. It did so, however, at a slower speed than it was capable of now. Nevertheless, it felt good. I thought, at just over 13mm, it would pair well with the new front bar. However, it seems like the Abarth sway is not enough bar now. On the way back home, I had a good feel for the new part. I pushed it some more. I noticed that under harder cornering, the car now feels like it wants to under-steer a lot more than previously. The car definitely has more in it now before hitting the limit. When it starts to approach this limit though, I don’t like how it feels. This is all personal preference, some people like under-steer, some over-steer and others want a more neutral setup.
I say this as if I am a professional driver, which I most certainly am not. But I know how I like a car to feel. To quote Sven the Reindeer from Frozen 2: “You feel what you feel, and those feelings are real”. So I went about adjusting the front bar, putting it on the soft setting and took it for another drive. I never got to approach the limit because I didn’t like how it felt. I much preferred the medium setting it was on prior. So that told me I needed to replace the rear bar. Even though that would absolutely send me over my $1000 budget I set aside for the suspension. So I went looking and…
As luck would have it, I got it cheap. If you remember in Part Ten, I got my front sway bar from a wrecker on eBay. I got this one the same way. From the same wrecker. In fact, this rear sway bar came from the same car as my front one. At a cost of $55. I was surprised they still had it available. I would have bought it with the front one. The Abarth bar was already on the way though, so I didn’t even bother looking. I thought it would be enough for what I wanted out of the car. It wasn’t but in the end it worked out great. Low cost for this bar and it’s the rear RoadsterSport bar that is made to pair with my front one. It will be poetic to get them back together again. Once it arrives I’ll be sure to update with my final impressions. I can sell the Abarth bar to recoup some funds. It still pairs great with the stock one in my opinion.
For someone knowledgeable with suspension setups, my mistake with pairing those bars might be obvious. But that’s part of the fun with modifying and learning. I read up a lot about this car and its handling characteristics. I thought that for my purposes, I was on the right path. As it turns out, the car does handle great now with a higher limit. However, the end result wasn’t exactly what I wanted from the car. It’s almost there; I’m hoping this new bar will let me dial in exactly what I want. It should arrive in a few days and I’ll pop it on. I leave for my trip in less than two weeks. I need to find time before then to dial in my sway bar settings. It’s crunch time! Thank you for reading! I’ll see you in the next one.
Supergoat Garage 