Rear Stabilizer or Sway Bar

[Iain Mannix]

On Fri, 17 Nov 2000, Lawrence C Leung wrote:

> I guess the best way to put things is, you must do something at the front
> as well as the rear to make it all work out harmoniously. 

"Must?"  I'm not sure that's accurate.  It may be that a stiffer 
rear bar would make a change at the front desireable, but somehow, 
I doubt it.  Good camber curve or not, I do not believe adding a 
rear bar to a 5k is going to make the car undrivable/constantly 
wanting to spin.

"Common" knowledge only applies in some cases, IME.  The whole 
"no front bar" debate in VW land is a good one; some say NFB, 
as bars promote understeer/make the car spin wheels exiting corners.
Some say you should use a front bar to control camber curve.  

Of course, in the case of the VW, this includes a rear bar - 
you "must" have a rear bar on a VW, right?  

Sure.  Right.  (sarcasm).  Rear bars *can* do good things on a 
vw, but they don't always.  

Point is, adding a rear bar to a 5k _might_ make other changes 
a good idea, but this "must-proper-tuner" stuff makes me itch:).  
It is a car, not rocket science - if you put too much rear bar on, 
spin it at the end of the driveway, maybe something else needs 
doing:).  

My .02.  If it makes sense, try it.


Iain