i just picked up the front sway and was wandering if i could install just the front and then the back another time

of course you can, just that you'll get a little different handling characteristic, like over or under steering. If i remember correctly, reading somewhere... having a stronger front sway, will induce a more understeer handling.

what he said ^
its a fairly simple install, well after a few times on different rx8's
but be prepared for a few stubborn bolts on the endlinks.(varies in cars)

i thought it was tough getting the sway bar in and out... quite frustrating and a two man job


the endlinks were tough too when it was being stubborn just as kel mentioned which thankfully was only on one side for me

o yeah the front is a b***ch to get out. Man, makes me quiver thinking about that install

proper technique is everything ;)

http://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php?p=953055&postcount=6

You are going to induce more understeer if you keep just front only. The car already understeers, if anything get thicker rear sways.

its no big deal, I did the front first, then got the rear soon after. car does push a hair more, but what I really noticed was the flatter cornering. the front really reduced the body roll.

You are going to induce more understeer if you keep just front only. The car already understeers, if anything get thicker rear sways.

not true, if you have understeer with a Mazdaspeed front bar only then your alignment isn't correct, it's only marginally stiffer than OE, not really worth the money or effort IMO

we run a custom front bar that is stiffer than the Mazdaspeed bar for use with the OE rear bar and don't have an issue, will be offering them FS soon

now you tel me team rx-8

TeamRX8: how does your sway compare to the RB sway in terms of stiffness over stock? I believe the RB sway is something on the order of 200% of the stock unit.

mazdaspeed cant be that bad they race with it and use eibach springs

^cool i was not aware of that :D kudos

Maybe we would have to take Mazda's entire suspension setup to really understand why they designed the bar that way. Afterall, suspension is a team of parts working together. Besides, it's Mazda's car.

I going to shut up though. I'm still running stock (trying to learn as much as I can from the car stock versus my driving style).

mazdaspeed cant be that bad they race with it and use eibach springs
Who are they?

who is mazdaspeed?

^ No. Which pro racing teams are using the same MS bar that we can buy? I find that on the internet it is so easy to say "they" use it with no real data to back it up. The MS suspension system is made to give you a suspension better suited for spirited driving, not real racing. It's what the 8 should have come with.

oh i thought that speedsource uses it i talked to them at watkins glenn and they said they use the mazdaspeed stut bars and sway bars with eibach springs.

oh i thought that speedsource uses it i talked to them at watkins glenn and they said they use the mazdaspeed stut bars and sway bars with eibach springs.
Maybe you are right, but I still have trouble believing that with all of the money Speedsource has invested they don't use custom adjustable anti-sway bars. I can truely belive they use the MS strut bars and Eibach springs on custom adjustable shocks though.

i think there are restictions on what they can use im really not sure but i did see all the cars in the garage and they all had the mazdaspeed strut bar on them

well i would like to find out for sure to if they use the sways. anybody out there know for sure please post.

you can use soft swaybars coupled with extra stiff springs for a dedicated race car, try it on the street and you'll learn the true meaning of misery ...

Maybe you are right, but I still have trouble believing that with all of the money Speedsource has invested they don't use custom adjustable anti-sway bars. I can truely belive they use the MS strut bars and Eibach springs on custom adjustable shocks though.

well, they also use the stock brake calipers, stock tranny, and stock rear sway bar, and a mostly stock engine :o

for reference, the MS sway is about 15% stiffer while the RB sway is about 50% stiffer then stock.

the MS suspension uses stiff springs, stiff shocks, and softer sways - great track setup, but brutal ride comfort on the street. The RB setup uses soft springs, stiff sways, and a medium shock - liveable ride comfort, good performance, but when pushed hard the stiff sways can be a bit unpredictable.

im going with eibach springs and stock shocks i hope this will work

well, they also use the stock brake calipers, stock tranny, and stock rear sway bar, and a mostly stock engine :o

for reference, the MS sway is about 15% stiffer while the RB sway is about 50% stiffer then stock.

the MS suspension uses stiff springs, stiff shocks, and softer sways - great track setup, but brutal ride comfort on the street. The RB setup uses soft springs, stiff sways, and a medium shock - liveable ride comfort, good performance, but when pushed hard the stiff sways can be a bit unpredictable.

If this is true, I'll go with Mazdaspeed.

for reference, the MS sway is about 15% stiffer while the RB sway is about 50% stiffer then stock.


you better recalculate, you're off by a country mile plus some on that RB rate, better yet try Search, been discussed in detail in the Competition area

I still say they're not worth it and certainly aren't the only ones winning well, but it's no skin off my back ...

well last time i opened one of my M.E. books the stiffness aka twist in degrees /(torque*length) of a thin wall tube was something like 1/((PI/2)*((rad outer^4)-(rad inner^4))*material constants) * (180deg/PI radians)

...so plugging in the advertised numbers thats what i got

I did the calcs a while back, and came up with the "J" section inertia value for the RB front bar as being 2.5 times that of the stock bar (rear was abotu 2 times stock, although the shape differences probably make the RB bar more of a stiffness increase over stock than just cross section would indicate).

I'm not sure about the accuracy of the dimensions for the stock front bar that I was using, and just ratioing the stiffness based on section values assumes that material, overall length, and distance from bar centerline to end link lugs are constant between the two parts.


regarding just one bar upgraded, I installed the RB kit (sways and coils) over 2 weekends - front first, and the car felt like a front-drive/front-engine car during agressive cornering in the intervening week.

well last time i opened one of my M.E. books the stiffness aka twist in degrees /(torque*length) of a thin wall tube was something like 1/((PI/2)*((rad outer^4)-(rad inner^4))*material constants) * (180deg/PI radians)

...so plugging in the advertised numbers thats what i got



you should have "got" 233%