I know this has been asked before but can find a sure answer. Would adding front sway bars make the car handle? Which is better for the buck 2004 350Z track ed. front or Nismo front?

 

All Z's and G's use the same oem sway bars front and rear.

Why are you only thinking about a front bar? Front bar only modifying is a SCCA enforced rule only. Unless your doing that kind of SCCA event, a front bar only is not the way to go

Sway bars should only be used to fix handling balance issue's, to fine tune the car to your style so that you can extract the most performance that you are capible of getting out of said car. A front bar only means you are out to kill off oversteer and inhance or add understeer.

Best thing to do is to get a adjustable front and rear set of sway bars, Hotchkis ($250) Eibach ($319) or 350EVO ($360) install them mildly set. Then do the testing described here by Loren04coupe and adjust them as needed.http://forums.freshalloy.com/ubbthre...lapsed&sb=5&o=

Adjustable bars have zero to do with racing or autocrossing and everything to do with allowing you to take full advantage of why you choose to add sway bars in the first place. Even if you install them and never adjust them more then once, they allow you to set the car up better the first time around and to make changes when you need to.

I do not support rear bar only moding on these cars.

"All that's necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing.”
Edmund Burke

G35 6mt

 

So let me get this straight if I get rear and or front it would not improve handling musch? Or am I miss-reading it? I was thinking about getting Nismo sways. What about the tower bar over the engine like the 350Z has will that do anything?

 

That was an excellent explaination Gsedan35.

But I think the answer she is looking for is....

Yes your car will handle better. =)

If you put the "tower bar over the engine" (strut tower bar) that will improve your handling also.



www.1911forum.com
www.calguns.net

 

A front bar only is not a improvement, it will make a already understeering car just understeer more.

Front and rear sways are the way to go, fundamental to doing any kind of sway bar tuning and to enhance the car in a meaningfull way. The Nismo bars are not adjustable, I do not recommend them, frankly you can buy better bars for less money their is nothing about them that can be said to support why you should spend more on them, but it's not my car.

You cannot use front strut tower bars on the G35 because Nissan did not bless the G35 with the special welded on mounting tabs required to run such bars like they did in the 350Z. Also, take note that Nissan did not simply put the tower bar mounts on the top of the shock mounts, the welded on mounts they used are superior to that kind of system for rigidity, and they are able to handle higher shear loads.

Here's a post I did what explains the whole G35 tower bar thing. I titled it to make it come up when people run a basic search. https://g35driver.com/forums/showthr...age=&view=&sb=



"All that's necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing.”
Edmund Burke

G35 6mt

 

I'm a bit confused with the information I received from a friend of mine and yours. Perhaps you can explain a bit more.

1. What is the purpose of strut tower bar?
2. Is RWD tend to understeer or oversteer?

My friend said that RWD tends to oversteer and thus strut tower bar would be a better choice over sway bar to enhance the balance during cornering and FWD would be a better choice with sway bars. He adds, of course adding both would definitely be better if you are a hard core tuner and would like to enhance the cornering ability and more adjustibility depending on each driver's different driving habits.

Of course, everyone knows by now there are no strut tower mounts for our Gs..... Errrrr

I read an article from "Automobile" magazine April 2004 edition comparing between Audi A4 and our Gs with AWD vs RWD; article name is "SLIP or GRIP" on page 81 stated and I quote:

"In contrast, the G35x was significantly quicker and more securely stuck in the corners than its rear-wheel-drive counterpart. With stability control disabled, the rear-wheel-drive G35 powers out of the bends with its tail hung luridly wide, while the G35x understeers with the throttle down and oversteers in response to an abrupt liftoff. In other words, the throttle is a highly effective means of adjusting the G35x's cornering line, and attribute missing from the all-wheel-drive Audi."

With my limited ability of decoding this line, "With stability control disabled, the rear-wheel-drive G35 powers out of the bends with its tail hung luridly wide," it's saying that G35 RWD tends to oversteer if you MAX the G35 RWD cornering ability and over/under steer with G35x can be adjusted by using throttle effectively.

I definitely don't know much about over/under steer, and in no way of being on the offensive side, perhaps I misread your reply, I'm simply trying to understand more and what the facts are.

Greatly appreciate any further information you can provide. Thanks much.

 

darn so a tower bar will not fit eaistly. But will it improve handling in any way?

 

A strut tower bar (shock tower bar in our case) will not improve handling all that much. Not noticeable to the average driver. It is designed to stop strut/shock tower flex during hard cornering, thus reducing the amount of camber/caster change in a turn. On our vehicles this is not much of an issue any ways because we do not use a strut-type suspension. In our cases, it is possible to fabricate one, just not the same way as the 350z unless special mounts are welded in. A strut/shock tower bar creates a "cage" around the engine bay to help reduce chasis flex. Many times, they are used more for looks than for function. Especially the flimsy ones that you see on so many ricers. Fr/Rr sways are a great way to improve handling, balance your car, reduce body roll without affecting ride quality, roll center, or camber curves.

'03.5 Silver AT Sedan, Premium, Aero Kit/Package, Sport, Winter, Stillen Air Box, Z pipe, Polk Tweeters, Clifford RSX 3.5, 19" Gram Light 57F Pro's, Hotchkis sways, Borla

 

khsonic03, thanks for the explanation. Your reply seem to stay away from understeer and oversteer. Given that it is understandable Front/Rear sways will improve handling, balance, and reduce body roll. Will Front/Rear sways improve understeer or oversteer? Or is under/over steer not even a question related at all with the use of Front/Rear sways? Thanks.

 

Wow I read this a few times and I am still a little confused. Sorry to be dumb but can I just get a plain and simple answer to the rear sway bar? I understand the tower bar does little effect and is hard to install.

 

OK, sorry. I would purchase the sway bars; in fact, I highly recommend them. You can use sway bars to tune understeer/oversteer by adjusting them. This changes the slip angle of the wheels during cornering. You can pretty much dial in as much understeer or oversteer as you want by changing the settings on the bars. Swaybars are usually sold in sets (front and rear). I would recommend Hotchkis due to price and craftsmanship. They are beautiful, and much less than other brands. Our cars actually do have understeer from the factory. What most people are commenting on is throttle-induced oversteer, which is using the throttle to break the rear wheels loose during cornering. This is not true oversteer.

'03.5 Silver AT Sedan, Premium, Aero Kit/Package, Sport, Winter, Stillen Air Box, Z pipe, Polk Tweeters, Clifford RSX 3.5, 19" Gram Light 57F Pro's, Hotchkis sways, Borla

 

What about sway bars vs. TEIN basics? The TEIN basics cost around $800. Which one gives better handling??

 

You can't really compare sways to coilovers, but for the money, the swaybars are a better value IMO. I don't have Tein Basics, but from what I understand, they have a much higher spring rate which would lead to a much rougher ride. If that is what you are looking for, then by all means go with them. They are going to improve handling more than just sways, but they are about $400 more. I personally am looking for something different than the Teins.

'03.5 Silver AT Sedan, Premium, Aero Kit/Package, Sport, Winter, Stillen Air Box, Z pipe, Polk Tweeters, Clifford RSX 3.5, 19" Gram Light 57F Pro's, Hotchkis sways, Borla

 

Got it. Thanks Khsonic03 for the information. How much is the Hotchkis sways cost usually? Recommend a good place to get them?

 

http://titanmotorsports.com/ I think I got them for $250 shipped.

'03.5 Silver AT Sedan, Premium, Aero Kit/Package, Sport, Winter, Stillen Air Box, Z pipe, Polk Tweeters, Clifford RSX 3.5, 19" Gram Light 57F Pro's, Hotchkis sways, Borla