What Swaybars (and settings) do you use

Wheels, Suspension, Brakes & Tyres questions and answers

Moderators: timk, Stu, -alex, miata, zombie, Andrew

User avatar
Alex
Racing Driver
Posts: 1654
Joined: Thu Jan 04, 2007 6:54 am
Vehicle: NB8A
Location: Sydney

What Swaybars (and settings) do you use

Postby Alex » Sun Dec 14, 2008 8:18 am

Well I've picked up a set of whiteline adjustable swaybars and was wondering what settings people run them on, I've done lots of searching here and it didn't come up with much on matching the adjustable's (but there was a nice table on miata.net for thickness matching).

So if you could post up what you run and how

for 3 settings use soft, medium, hard (soft being the one closest to the end of the bar)
for 2 settings soft or hard

Car: (NA6, NA8, NB8A, NB8B, NB8B, NC)

Front Bar: (brand/type)
Front Setting: (soft, medium, hard, or none if not adjustable)
Front Thickness: (even if it's adjustable, and if it is hollow or solid)
Rear Bar:
Rear Setting:
Rear Thickness:

Comments: (oversteer, understeer, low speed oversteer, bit of both, anything else you might want to add)

If you only have one bar then put "stock" in whichever field it is
If your running stock front and back then don't bother
And if like Stan your running swaybars from different models then post it up as well.

Thanks in advance to anyone who replies, especially if they have an NB with whitelines 8)
Image
Red NB8A - BD rollbar - Hardtop

User avatar
Steampunk
Speed Racer
Posts: 4670
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2007 9:16 am
Vehicle: NA6
Location: Southside of Breeze-bane

What Swaybars (and settings) do you use

Postby Steampunk » Sun Dec 14, 2008 8:00 pm

Car: NA8
Front Bar: Racing Beat
Front Setting: non-adjustable
Front Thickness: 23.5mm, solid

Rear Bar: Whiteline
Rear Setting: Medium
Rear Thickness: 12.5mm, solid

Comments: Mostly neutral, but understeers slightly when pushed hard around sharp, 120degree or more acute, corners.
Keep in mind I have Eibach springs and Koni dampers set to fairly hard, so they exarcebate the handling characteristics when installing harder sways.
Previously had Whiteline 22mm non-adjustable front bar, and it was better balanced, and quite luverly in the wet, eh Fatty? 8)
Image

User avatar
Garry
Speed Racer
Posts: 3481
Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2003 11:00 am
Vehicle: NB SP
Location: God's Country
Contact:

What Swaybars (and settings) do you use

Postby Garry » Sun Dec 14, 2008 8:24 pm

Car: NB8B SP
Front Bar: Whiteline
Front Setting: non-adjustable
Front Thickness: 24mm, solid

Rear Bar: KMac special order
Rear Setting: non-adjustable
Rear Thickness: 14mm, solid

Comments: Originally fitted with stock springs and dampers. Great bang for your buck mod. Makes the car feel a bit more planted on the road without turning it into a kidney busting go-kart. I originally had the Whiteline 16mm adjustable bar on the rear but even on the softest setting with SP power I found it oversteered a bit more than I wanted it to. I switched back to the stock 12mm bar and it turned into an understeering dog, especially in the wet. Switching to the 14mm bar meant there was a bit less oversteer and the handling was more neutral than with the 16mm bar. The bars were my first suspension mod and started to turn the to softly sprung NB8B back into an MX5. I have since changed the dampers and have to admit that they made a much bigger difference than the bars. But if you want to tighten up your MX5 a little without upsetting the Mrs and tune the handling a bit to suit your driving style and your on a tight budget the bars are a great place to start.
Shiney black one with added red bits. Member of the fart club. Now with extra doof and Sunlong. - deceased and gone to heaven

User avatar
Okibi
Speed Racer
Posts: 10910
Joined: Thu Aug 21, 2003 11:00 am
Vehicle: NB SE
Location: Perth, Western Australia
Contact:

What Swaybars (and settings) do you use

Postby Okibi » Mon Dec 15, 2008 2:55 pm

Car: (NB8A)

Front Bar: Racing Beat
Front Setting: Hard
Front Thickness:Tubular .125” OD (31.75mm)
Rear Bar: Racing Beat
Rear Setting: Soft
Rear Thickness: Solid 5/8-inches (15.8750mm)

Comments: I have my rear dampers set harder than the front to reduce overseer, seems fairly neutral on the track but I need more time to test.
If you had access to a car like this, would you take it back right away? Neither would I.

User avatar
CT
Racing Driver
Posts: 1418
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2003 11:00 am
Vehicle: NB SP
Location: By the lake...
Contact:

What Swaybars (and settings) do you use

Postby CT » Fri Aug 28, 2009 5:05 pm

This thread would be more useful if it included spring rates too......
2006 Z06 Corvette - 650hp of wow!

User avatar
Hellmun
Racing Driver
Posts: 979
Joined: Sat Feb 10, 2007 1:15 pm
Vehicle: NB8B - Turbo
Location: Wollongong,NSW

What Swaybars (and settings) do you use

Postby Hellmun » Fri Aug 28, 2009 11:30 pm

I run monoflex shocks with a 7kg/6kg Front/Rear setup.
Signiture adjustable front 24mm on the standard endlinks at hardest.
Signiture ajustable rear is a 16mm unit on medium but I put adjustable rear endlinks on it and pulled a little bit of pre-load off them.
I run 8 off full hard on the front and 12 on the rear for the shocks with an EDFC.

Cars feels awesomely neutral in the dry but extremely oversteery in the wet.

dorifta
Fast Driver
Posts: 152
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2008 3:03 am
Vehicle: ND - 2 GT
Location: Melbourne

What Swaybars (and settings) do you use

Postby dorifta » Mon Aug 31, 2009 5:36 am

would hard/hard to too stiff with stock nb8a suspension?

also difference between whiteline and the signature bars?
get busy living or get busy dying

User avatar
marcusus
Speed Racer
Posts: 2919
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 12:07 am
Vehicle: NB8A

What Swaybars (and settings) do you use

Postby marcusus » Tue Sep 01, 2009 8:15 pm

dorifta wrote:would hard/hard to too stiff with stock nb8a suspension?

also difference between whiteline and the signature bars?

You can only try and find out! I ran hard/hard for a bit on my NB8A (admittedly I have super streets) but found it wasn't quite as balanced as I would've liked, so I think I put the rears back to medium.

As for a difference between the two bars, as far as I recall there is no difference physically. They even come out of the same factory, so I've been told (or at least used to?). I went the signatures because they were cheaper and they come powder coated in certain colours. Green sways match my green MX :mrgreen:

User avatar
Steampunk
Speed Racer
Posts: 4670
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2007 9:16 am
Vehicle: NA6
Location: Southside of Breeze-bane

What Swaybars (and settings) do you use

Postby Steampunk » Wed Sep 02, 2009 11:33 am

marcusus wrote:
dorifta wrote:would hard/hard to too stiff with stock nb8a suspension?

also difference between whiteline and the signature bars?


They even come out of the same factory, so I've been told (or at least used to?). :


Depends on the stiffness of the bars, as all manufacturers have different stiffnesses even though they are the same diameter.

If Whiteline and Signature are from the same factory, then that would be Selby's
Image

User avatar
marcusus
Speed Racer
Posts: 2919
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 12:07 am
Vehicle: NB8A

What Swaybars (and settings) do you use

Postby marcusus » Wed Sep 02, 2009 4:59 pm

1red5 wrote:If Whiteline and Signature are from the same factory, then that would be Selby's

That too sounds familiar.

Sailor
Racing Driver
Posts: 1064
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2009 5:49 pm
Vehicle: NC
Location: Southie...NOT from " the Shire " :/.

What Swaybars (and settings) do you use

Postby Sailor » Wed Sep 02, 2009 5:11 pm

And Don Selby bent my Pedders adjustable bars for my NC....
Rob


05 NCLE, Cosworth SC,PF01,Ohlins,Selby,GWR exh
"We're only given a tiny spark of madness.We mustn't lose it"(Robin Williams)

matt9111
Fast Driver
Posts: 198
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2008 9:56 am
Vehicle: NB8B
Location: Melbourne

What Swaybars (and settings) do you use

Postby matt9111 » Mon Oct 05, 2009 8:49 pm

Car: 2002 NB8B

Front Bar: Whiteline Adjustable
Front Setting: SOFT
Front Thickness: 24mm Solid
Rear Bar: Whiteline Adjustable
Rear Setting: HARD
Rear Thickness: 16mm Solid
Shockers: Standard
Springs: Tein S Tech Coils
Spring Rate Front: 336lbs
Spring Rate Rear: 252lbs
Also have a Carbing Alloy Rear Strut Brace fitted

Comments: Car did perform better than standard, felt much more stable and planted on the road, but still under-steered more than I liked when I was driving at medium pace to hard in dry weather (No wet weather experienced, but I would assume it would under-steer horribly, considering how much it did in the dry). So I adjusted the front swaybar setting to SOFT and it now handles like a dream, it over-steers only slightly when pushed hard, if the car had a bit more power I could quite easily hold a decent slide on the current settings, if dríven properly, it is superb, car communicates much better, great addition to an MX5 it just doesn't stop holding unless you plant it 8)

Cheers

Matty
Great looking 02 BLACK NB8B, Tein S Tech Coils, Whiteline Adjustable Sways F&R, Carbing Alloy Rear Strut Brace ;)

gundam
Driver
Posts: 75
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 10:45 pm
Vehicle: NA8

What Swaybars (and settings) do you use

Postby gundam » Sat Oct 10, 2009 7:53 pm

Car: NC

Front Bar: Whiteline
Front Setting: hard
Rear Bar: Whiteline
Rear Setting: soft


Comments: understeers at low speed, rear end breaks into a nice and controllable drift at higher (60km/h+). Good if you like heavier/ meatier steering.


Return to “MX5 Wheels, Suspension, Brakes & Tyres”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 9 guests