K-Mac sway bar... exactly what i wanted...

[Danoid]

Guys!

Thanks for the long reads.... and some informative reads

this is my first post, obviously...

Anyways ill try to be somewhat informative...

So on my purchase of a ZRE 152 Sedan in November '11, i set out to fix the handling - trawled through this forum days on end - and google was also somewhat kind to me... anyways the end result was i had to get an Anti Rear Sway bar.... (Car is still stock)

Not alot of choices, most overseas, and whiteline was no help, i found some on this forum with Kmac who were local and did custom sway bars (prefer to support local).

So i was in discussion with Kmac regarding the adjustable sway bar, i booked my car in for today and had also contacted some forum members for any advise or experience before i went through with it... Ben Yip had responded, funnily he had also booked in his car for a check up @ Kmac on the same day.... anyways i had decided to go ahead with it...

Had got there at the same time as Ben.... he was nice enough to stay there whilst mine was done, special thanks mate...

Was a long day as i had to wait till the sway bar was manufactured and installed - an all day event..

Anyways my expectation was around a 50% improvement, however once it was finally done i took it for a test drive...

So after the run i had a grin on my face for the rest of the day till now...

Around a corner @ normal speeds of around 40km/h and 60km/h i had felt an improvement of around 100%... corners at 80km/h around 150% improvement!!!

This was on the soft setting, cant imagine what the strong setting would feel like, the car feels so much more safer now, im turning into corners with more confidence...

Oh what a bloody feeling :D!! even my wife was able to tell the difference around the first corner..

Anyways some interesting information, Kmac from what i could understand want to perfect this sway bar and are looking for another corolla to have this installed in...

If anyone in NSW does not have an anti sway bar and are interested in getting one for their ZRE, get in contact with Kevin from Kmac hopefully they can make it easier for all us in getting this mod done locally.

[JO00LZ]

How much did you pay?

[ben yip]

$4XX including installation.. it is 20mm adjustable..it uses the middle axle beam to hold one part of the bar as well

The handling is far superior than that in Cusco. They actually manufacture for you on the day !!!

here is my picture

Edited January 15, 2012 by ben yip

[juvenile]

that's new

[Danoid]

thanks Ben, i was going to take a photo as i dont think i could explain this setup as it was explained to us..

The bottom line on the information provided to us was that this bar is by far the most advanced in the market..

[dwee.]

Looks good and nice to hear you're enjoying it. 20mm is thicker than Cusco's 16mm so it will be more superior. Keep in mind though, going excessively thick could be bad for your car.

Others have said you can feel the most difference with the front strut, but I believe the rear sway has more of an effect on ZRE handling. That being said, it could be because I was already on coils and thus, the front strut felt negligible.

that's new

John wants to upgrade his K-mac rear sway...maybe you should ask for a discount John..

[Danoid]

Dwee - Yeah def enjoying it, car is now fun to drive... :-)

I have also heard that a thicker diameter can cause issues, dont actually know what they are yet, and i am somewhat willing to accept the problems when they/if occur, anything is better than the boat like feeling!!

I think my next step will be the front strut, though the guy at Kmac said it wont make much difference, though i think the corolla can do with a bit more stiffness at the front.

I think a discount is on the cards.... give it a go :D

[juvenile]

Looks good and nice to hear you're enjoying it. 20mm is thicker than Cusco's 16mm so it will be more superior. Keep in mind though, going excessively thick could be bad for your car.

Others have said you can feel the most difference with the front strut, but I believe the rear sway has more of an effect on ZRE handling. That being said, it could be because I was already on coils and thus, the front strut felt negligible.

that's new

John wants to upgrade his K-mac rear sway...maybe you should ask for a discount John..

Mine is 20mm as well, but what are the benefits of being adjustable ?

[dwee.]

Dwee - Yeah def enjoying it, car is now fun to drive... :-)

I have also heard that a thicker diameter can cause issues, dont actually know what they are yet, and i am somewhat willing to accept the problems when they/if occur, anything is better than the boat like feeling!!

I think my next step will be the front strut, though the guy at Kmac said it wont make much difference, though i think the corolla can do with a bit more stiffness at the front.

If it's too thick (i.e. chassis becomes too stiff), the only path/area that can absorb the twisting of the chassis would be other (non-metal) components.

I recommend get both front strut and front sway, they will compliment each other. As stated above, I just did not feel much difference when I put it on because I was already on coil overs. Other ZRE owners swear it makes a difference, especially on stock/lowered springs. :)

Mine is 20mm as well, but what are the benefits of being adjustable ?

Haha John, I was just s**tstirring you. :P I think adjustable will not do much on the street (as you won't go as fast enough to properly use it effectively), and might be more beneficial on the track in terms of tweaking?

[jeffy]

Dwee - Yeah def enjoying it, car is now fun to drive... :-)

I have also heard that a thicker diameter can cause issues, dont actually know what they are yet, and i am somewhat willing to accept the problems when they/if occur, anything is better than the boat like feeling!!

I think my next step will be the front strut, though the guy at Kmac said it wont make much difference, though i think the corolla can do with a bit more stiffness at the front.

If it's too thick (i.e. chassis becomes too stiff), the only path/area that can absorb the twisting of the chassis would be other (non-metal) components.

I recommend get both front strut and front sway, they will compliment each other. As stated above, I just did not feel much difference when I put it on because I was already on coil overs. Other ZRE owners swear it makes a difference, especially on stock/lowered springs. :)

'

Thicker Rear than Front ^

With the stiff rear sway bar, you "lift" the rear wheel thus decreasing the amount of grip a the back and makes the back end slide out easier which may be quite a bit more of a handful to handle if you aren't used to it but the 2 front wheels are more "planted" because of this. This allows you to pull the car out of a slide as you will actually be able to put power down better.

[Danoid]

Thanks for the information Dwee and Jeff...

i could only imagine i would have to be pushing the car quite hard to have this effect...

Ill def do alot more testing in the near future...

Currently looking for a strut brace, nothing on ebay from what i can see... and i doubt there are any local manufacturers or suppliers...

[jeffy]

Currently looking for a strut brace, nothing on ebay from what i can see... and i doubt there are any local manufacturers or suppliers...

http://au.toyotaowne...re-corolla-faq/

SECTION 4.

[Danoid]

Currently looking for a strut brace, nothing on ebay from what i can see... and i doubt there are any local manufacturers or suppliers...

http://au.toyotaowne...re-corolla-faq/

SECTION 4.

Hey,

Thanks, i must have been through that FAQ a million times ;-D -

I was looking for a local supplier, or a manufacturer who is willing to make one up... or has them in stock, or even a second hand one would be good enough...

Cant justify shipping costs... unless there is a group buy... which i seem to have missed out on most of them...

[pezzie]

For me, my car is lowered on king springs. There was a little bit of handling improvement after that but it wasn't very noticeable.

After some mixed reviews, i decided to get a greddy front strut. I installed it last week and felt a very nice improvement. The front is alot tighter and more responsive. The car understeers alot less so it was well worth the money.

There is still quite alot of body roll but im sure the rear sway bar will fix that up.

[pezzie]

Sorry! double posted.

Edited January 17, 2012 by pezzie

[Danoid]

For me, my car is lowered on king springs. There was a little bit of handling improvement after that but it wasn't very noticeable.

After some mixed reviews, i decided to get a greddy front strut. I installed it last week and felt a very nice improvement. The front is alot tighter and more responsive. The car understeers alot less so it was well worth the money.

There is still quite alot of body roll but im sure the rear sway bar will fix that up.

Greddy front strut brace? did you buy this locally? or,,,

So i presume you are running stock struts?

I think the effect of my rear bar is so great, that i dont even think i need to lower it, ill only really know once i balance it out with a brace...

[ben yip]

Mine is 20mm as well, but what are the benefits of being adjustable ?

John, your one is already good enough, The adjustable is more for me on the track..

The car understeers alot less so it was well worth the money.

Front Struct brace will increase understeering, I cannot notice anything on the street driving. I can notice some on the track only on high speed corners (probably I am using coilover, it is not that noticable)

explains the advantages of struct brace

I personally recommend you dun buy the front struct brace untill you finished enjoying your rear sway bar..

There is no local supplier so far for this so far, although we want to support local industries

Edited January 17, 2012 by ben yip

[pezzie]

The front strut i purchased is from Japan. It is difficult to find local products for our car.

If you are happy with the rear sway bar, then just keep that for now.

I researched about the front strut and the majority of people say that they feel no difference. People on stock suspension, lowered springs and coilovers have said they have felt no or little difference.

However for me there's a huge improvement and the car is much more fun to drive now.

Im not sure if the design of my front strut bar has anything to do with it. But my bar sits further out towards the engine compared to the C-one and Cusco.