[Deviation01]

First thing first what do I need to know to select a good one. I have been looking around.

What would you guys suggest?

I really like the IPD one due to the fact it comes with end links

http://www.ipdusa.com/products/4894/110419-anti-sway-bar-kit-p1-s40-v50-c30-c70-models

Elevate is simple but I have seen people complain that it doesn't fit properly?

http://www.elevatecars.com/s40-2nd-gen/chassis-and-suspension/elevate-volvo-s40n-rear-anti-sway-bar

and Viva has a kit but no just rear sway bar

http://www.vivaperformance.com/anti-sway-bar-set-s40-v50-c30-c70/

What other choices are there that don't require much tweaking. Can someone explain the sizes and what is the difference between each?

Thanks

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

Yeah, let's talk rear sway bars!

I've heard of some people going with Mazda or Focus parts. But how much modifying do those require?

And what is the ideal size? Obviously stock is too small, but can you have too large?

And what about front sway bars? You rarely hear about people upgrading their front bars.

Lastly, what about mid cabin bars? The ones that connect between the B pillars, any improvement with those?

I'm just adding more questions than answers here

 

[Soapman99]

Ready to learn... As this and springs are on my April/Spring purchase list.

Thanks for starting the thread. We need some good input, then try to decide on the one that best suites the majority and try for a nice GB.

 

[Kamau]

Hotchkis offers both front and rear, 32mm hollow bar in rear
H&R offers for both, 25mm in rear I think but at $250 ea. (stiffness vs stock not listed)
Corsport offers rear bar for $200, 24mm, stiffness vs stock (mazda 3) at 180% listed
Ipd offers rear but change end links which is cool, bar weighs in at 22mm, a bit small but endlinks... less moving parts
Racingbeat rear bar is 27mm and price is $170, 3.24 stiffer than stock (mazda 3)

 

[pczeilon]

You guys are killing me. This subject has been beaten to death in several threads.

I'll add to above list a bit. If someone wants to do a full "what's available" list go for it.
Factory Sport rear bar 21mm Cheap & perfect fit. No urethane bushings to wear out, squeak, or grease.
IPD 22mm We can argue but the "stick & bushing" style end link has always sucked & continues to suck.
Elevate 25mm Get the vertical tab version. Avoid the the horizontal since it sucks. Hole for endlink is too large, you need a bushing or other fix. (I'll discuss this a bit later)
Corksport 28.5mm Adjustable, has two mounting points. Nice feature.
Most other rear bars are similar to one of the above.
There are also sets (front & rear) sold by Viva, Hotchkis, etc.

In simple terms.... Sway bars are used as a fine tuning device to adjust under/oversteer. You can also use springs the same way. Stiff springs, smaller bars. Soft springs, larger bars.
Everyone's car is different. FWD, AWD, Wagon, Sedan, etc. Your driving personality, skill level, conditions (Snow), etc. On & on.
The factory setup will always tend to understeer, they don't want you fish-tailing around corners, ever. If we add some more stiffness to the rear bar we can coax it toward neutral. Add too much & you'll get oversteer (maybe not in the Summer, but 1st snowstorm & oops....).

I've autocrossed for 30 years & road raced for just a few. For the majority of you asking I'll throw this out....
If you have the factory comfort suspension, swapping in the factory sport rear is a great improvement & will still keep you out of trouble 99.9% of the time.
If you have factory sport suspension or AWD the Elevate bar (or similar size) is a great choice. We discussed earlier the oversize holes. I'm sure they are large because it's actually intended to be a Mazda Speed 3 bar. The Speed 3 uses a larger post on it's endlink. Regular 3 is the same as ours. If your Volvo has the crappy endlink system upgrade to the better ones. (Used on the early cars & now (big surprise) on the late model R-design.) So, for those dumping the stick/bushing endlink you just need to purchase Speed 3 links instead of the Volvo ones.
If you are on coilovers, lowering springs or want even flatter cornering/less understeer try the CorkSport. It's adjustable, this is a big plus!

You've gone too far if your car swaps ends during the first rain storm, emergency maneuver, or your wife takes it... Be careful, don't over so it, bigger is not always better.

Increasing the front bar will make your car corner flatter, BUT you will spin the inside wheel when trying to put power down exiting a corner. This is why you will notice that the kits all use an even bigger rear bar. This keeps the front/rear ratio in tact. Quite frankly I think the kits are not worth your $$. Let the bigger is better crowd have them & deal with dropping the sub frame to install. They would work best with the factory springs. If you want flat cornering but are unwilling to give up ride height this could be just the ticket, BUT.... Factory ride height in snow & ice. :thumbup: Big sway bars in snow & ice. :thumbdown:

There are plenty of bars out there. Get the one that works for YOU.

 

[Deviation01]

Are the ipd links good upgrade then? So my 05 has better endlinks then new?

 

[pczeilon]

Are the ipd links good upgrade then?

No, they are a downgrade.

So my 05 has better endlinks then new?

Yes
Volvo has returned to the early style (yours) after a few years of trying the stick/bushing. See this recent post.

 

[Deviation01]

What about the front ipd links was thinking on getting them?

Back to swaybar talk it seems like oem is best? Unless you go crazy autox?

 

[mkd28]

My $0.02 is the ms3 rear bar is a nice fit. Got the bar and links off eBay for an easy 40 bucks or so. It seems just right for my sporty co mountain and hwy driving. So something to consider. Btw I believe its 26mm solid. Dont know the overall stiffness improvement but that's a lot more mm for not a lot of money and it bolts right up with NO mods.

 

[kova]

Once you install front strut bar (stock or any other that is of comparable quality) V50 and C70 don't oversteer like without it but instead they handle very neutral in fast turns so I don't really get why the need to swap stock rear sway bar. I have tried Elevate rear sway bar on my C70 and found that it induces more understeer than necessary so I have returned to stock bar.

 

[apav]

How about with my 07? Would the ipd rear anti sway bar be an improvement over stock? Would I also have to purchase anything like end links for the front? Are there any downsides versus stock?

I'm looking to make my car a more comfortable ride, in short. Right now the only ideas I have are replacing my sway bar and engine torque mount (maybe an oem replacement, since the material on my current one is probably worn out, and I don't want the noise and vibration that come with an aftermarket one).

 

[Soapman99]

"My $0.02 is the ms3 rear bar is a nice fit. Got the bar and links off eBay for an easy 40 bucks or so"

So is this the Mazda Speed 3 factory bar? Will it be an improvment and direct fit on my 2011 T5 FWD?

 

[kova]

What kind of "improvement" are you exactly expecting with stiffer sway bar?

 

[mkd28]

"My $0.02 is the ms3 rear bar is a nice fit. Got the bar and links off eBay for an easy 40 bucks or so"

So is this the Mazda Speed 3 factory bar? Will it be an improvment and direct fit on my 2011 T5 FWD?

yes it is the ms3 or bar. It gave me less body roll and less bump sway in the rear. I like it on my 05 but I don't know what kind or setup the 11 has.

 

[pczeilon]

What about the front ipd links was thinking on getting them?

These are fine, they are exactly the same style as stock. Same design as your rears as well. There has been some debate as to whether they actually last longer than stock. In my experience they are a vast improvement over stock on my V70 (And the 850 before it). The S40 factory links seem to last much longer which makes the difference negligible.

Unless you go crazy autox?

That's a bit overstated. I hope I didn't scare you too much!

I'm looking to make my car a more comfortable ride

If you are referring to ride quality (bump, noise & sound isolation) then a sway bar will not help. In fact it will slightly degrade the ride. Again, in simple terms... Let's say you hit a pot hole with your right front wheel. No bar, the wheel moves up & down. Sway bar installed, some of that impact will now be transferred to the left front wheel causing it to rise into the wheel well also.

 

[Adrenaline406]

Yeah, let's talk rear sway bars!

I've heard of some people going with Mazda or Focus parts. But how much modifying do those require?

Basically none. Admittedly my endlink bolts are slightly undersized, but I will be sorting out a shim in the next couple days. Here is the link to my bar http://www.corksport.com/corksport-mazda3-mazdaspeed-3-rear-adjustable-swaybar.html

And what is the ideal size? Obviously stock is too small, but can you have too large?

Yes, you can have too large. But I have no idea where that is, as I have a 28.5mm solid and at my recent autox, I was still dealing with a good amount of understeer.

And what about front sway bars? You rarely hear about people upgrading their front bars.

As you increase the rear, you increase oversteer. As you increase the front, you increase understeer. So in theory one can tune the car to be very neutral, I however find oversteer fun (it comes on very smooth in this car) so I am unlikely to ever upgrade the front.

Lastly, what about mid cabin bars? The ones that connect between the B pillars, any improvement with those?

That goes under chassis stiffening. Yes, but minor compared to components directly attached to the suspension. A B pillar crossbar is likely more useful for a harness set up than anything. Do we have any available for our cars?! I kinda need one.

I'm just adding more questions than answers here

Hope that helps.

 

[kova]

If you would like to reduce understeer you primarily have to work on increasing traction of the front side.

 

[regtor]

Thanks for starting this thread. I am considering either the MazdaSpeed or the Elevate for my C70.

kova - can you tell us more on why you felt the Elevate was not good for the C70? Also, any issues with installation given the additional cross bracing installed on the C70?

Can someone provide more info on the oem "sport" bar? (or is it already on my C70?)

(sorry to digress from S40s/V50s but this is a good thread)

 

[kova]

kova - can you tell us more on why you felt the Elevate was not good for the C70?

I wouldn't say it's not good, but once I installed OEM front strut bar (which increased front handling) Elevate rear sway bar introduced too much oversteer. Once I returned to stock rear sway bar the car handles very neutral which is what suits me best.

In my opinion front strut bar is mandatory but on some markets C70 is delivered without it. I didn't notice any improvements in body roll with Elevate sway bar. In my opinion C70 doesn't have a problem with bump steer.

I had Eibach coilovers for one year and the car handled much better in curves but was too stiff. They only lasted for one year after which they leaked oil. I will now install H&R sport springs with Koni FSD and see how that goes. Hope also to try Bilstein B16 PSS9 in the future.

There are no stock "sport" sway bar options nor stock lowering springs for C70.

 

[TG]

I hate to say Kova but this is one of the few times when your C70 will behave very differently than an S40.
The weight and its distribution will have a bit of an impact on sway bar between the two. I'm not saying you're not implying that in your comments but the other guys should understand that.
You can't use the C70 to properly assess sway bar effects on an S40 unfortunately...
All this said the front traction side theory is true especially for an FWD.

Actually I think it would be good to compare sway bar with FWD vs. AWD.
Being a FWD I know I don't need to think much about the front sway bar, just as you described. But I have no idea what the deal is with AWD cars and sway bars effects.