For those that have done it, I just have two questions:

1) Did you have to remove the entire sway bar, or can you do it by removing the endlinks and rotating it around?

2) How far forward? One of mwood's posts suggested 1/2". It doesn't look like there is much room. Too far forward and the endlinks won't clear. Not forward enough, and it looks like there isn't enough material to grab onto.

Thanks!

 

1) I saw Goeke do his with the bar on the car, just pull the tire and endlink, you should have enough space without turning the bar.

2) Sounds like someplace in between. Maybe 3/8".

 

I'll have to actually measure, 1/2" was what I remembered.

Mine doesn't have any interferenced problems with the end links, but it is pretty close on one side when the bar is at full stiff.

 

if you have fabrication capability, you can pull the OE bars and flatten more of the tube area for a further hole

 

I considered that option...actually, just to move the second set of holes further forward, but wasn't sure what the metal would do if I heated and shaped it, in terms of losing rigidity or possible fatiguing in more "catastrophic" ways...

 

it won't hurt anything, especially as soft as the OE bar is, but a brake press can squeeze it tight without heat

 

Makes sense. I have access to a brake, if I run the RX8 more this year, maybe I'll give it a try (third hole each side), it's only a hour or so of work to press, mark, drill and chamfer.

 

be careful not to exceed the rotational limit of the OE endlink or it can break/bend

 

The 1/2 or 3/8 that's being talked about are hole center to hole center or hole edge to hole edge?

 

Just drilled mine last weekend and went with a 25/64 drill. 3/8 is just a little bit too small.

Like others have said, you can drill the bar without removing it from the car.

 

The OE endlink stud is 10mm (0.394") diameter

the OE endlink can handle at least 5/8" CL change from the OE hole position

 

Anyone tried this program? http://www.buildafastercar.com/tech/...ate-Calculator

 

it just saves you from doing hand calcs with a scientific calculator ...

 

I'm drilling mine this afternoon. Picked up two drill bits - a 25/64 along with a much smaller 3/32 to drill the initial hole on each side. Depedning on time/light, I'll take a few pics...

 

Did my first event on the drilled FSB. The car cornered flatter, seemed to transition faster as well, and overall grip limit 'felt' higher, however, once that limit was reached, the car seemed to push more.

Also felt something weird for the first time in a fast sweeper that led into the finish. Does our torque sensing rear diff go to an open diff if an inside rear tire is lifted?

 

This happened to me last weekend as well. Felt like I had an open rear on a few tight corners.

 

Not open, but it will one-leg just like an S2K when you get the weight off the inside tire.

 

that's due to a soft front bar and usually making RH turns, make it stiffer and this will disappear

not sure why you're seeing it with the new bar holes unless you're just pushing the car harder now, or you're on a high grip surface like Peru which is where the problem will really show itself

 

Thanks Jason. That explains alot.

Fedex stadium has some pretty high grip asphalt, and yesterday was the warmest event we've had all year. I was definitely pushing the car harder than usual and my co-driver's MaxQ showed peak lateral g's in the 1.2 range.

 

you better check and make sure something didn't come loose on the front bar and or endlinks

 

Sipe, I'll double check but everything was nice and snug before and after the event (I made a concious effort to check as this was the first time I ran the drilled FSB). The car was transitioning really well through slaloms and the faster offsets. Definitely didn't behave like the front bar was disconnected. It just developed a little more push at the limit (and the rear diff did that funky one-leg thing probably b/c I was driving harder than before on a decently grippy surface).

 

if you dial that push out it may correct the other then

 

Well, you were right Sipe. I checked all bolts before the event but only checked a few of the FSB bushing bracket bolts afterwards. Silly me, didn't use an allen key to hold the endlink steady as I was tightening the endlink bolts down. One side was so loose I could turn the bolt with my hand...

I informed my co-driver of my findings, and we're going to have to do another event before making a judgement on how we like the drilled FSB. However, our next event is the DC Pro Solo.

 

what do I know I'll take a wild guess that this was happening in a RH turn

you might want to consider tweaking your setup, changing the bar and nothing else isn't likely to provide the balance you want

 

Actually, the push and inside rear tire spin was occuring in both RH and LH turns.

The set-up we were using before was based on a drilled FSB (mwood set-up). My lazy butt just didn't get around to doing it until 1-2 weeks ago!