Re: sway bars

["I.Mannix" <mannix@privatei.com>]

At 02:14 AM 11/21/98 +0000, Ryan Schuermann wrote:
>I have the autotech hollow sway bars (biggest) on my rocco, alogn 
>with coilovers there is 0 body roll. if i take a 90deg turn at 60mph, 

What radius 90d corner?  That'd be determined by street width.


>oh i have avo coilovers...and imean 0  bodyroll when i say it, the 
>tires will break before the body gives.(not recommended for 
>auto-xing)


I don't get this statement - what is not recommended for autocrossing?
Body roll is bad.  Limiting it is good.  Limiting it such that the car is
so stiff that the car cannot absorb bumps is counterproductive.  There's a
happy medium in there.  In my experience, the car gets too stiff from a
bump perspective before all bodyroll is gone - I've put springs in my car
which are too stiff for bumps, but not necessarily too stiff when things
are smooth.  


What spring rates are you using?  Avos use 2.25" springs, AFAIK, which
makes it harder and more expensive to change rates around.  Don't know.  My
car has some bodyroll - 2 or 3 degrees, maybe?  Not a lot, but some, and
with a real tire on it, it will roll SOME.  Not much, which is good.  The
car has to roll some to work - a car which did not roll at ALL would not
work well, IMHO, for street or track.  If you're really wondering whether
the car is rolling, attach some big mudflaps to the fenders, hard plastic
mudflaps.  Leave about 1" clearance.  Go drive around.  You'll hear it rub
the ground(basically, I don't want to argue whether or not your car rolls -
I don't believe it has zero(degrees or otherwise) bodyroll.  It has _some_,
just a matter of how much).  My car is very stiff as far as VWs go.  It
rolls some.  Some roll is needed, as is negative camber(if a car has NO
roll, would it need camber?  Might not, right?  Hmmm).  Camber is needed
because the car rolls/leans, as the springs and bars are soft enough to
allow it to roll.  They allow it to roll in order to absorb bumps.  Sorta a
process there, eh?


I.Mannix


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