Pro's and Con's of ATR sway bar.

[wiked87gn]

what Pro's and Con's of installing an ATR sway bar on a stock suspention, i heard that they can ruin your trailing arms, is there anything else you should be aware of. please chimme in.

 

[Jimn8or]

Pros: Far better launch [60']
Far better overall handling
Inexpensive upgrade

Cons:[imo] Supplied with wimpy bolts
for installation, don't use 'em.
Remember to re-torque after a few
miles.
Heard they will crush stock,
unboxed lower control arms, never
brave enough to try, bought HKS
lowers at the same time.
There really isn't any 'Cons' in my opinion as the benefits far outweigh the cons. Another bar to look at is Paul Ferry's new one. www.hrpartsnstuff.com
HTH
Jim

 

[UNGN]

Can result in oversteer, especially if you run small tires in back.

Though I've never spun my car out (I spun out my 5.0's at least 6 different times), the back end can swing out pretty far when driving "aggressively".

At low speeds, like when autocrossing, the ATR bar is great for turning the car.

 

[toofastforyou]

ATR rear sway bar....

I used to have a ATR rear sway bar and from the moment that I installed it on my car, the car was not leaving hard anymore, and never reacted as strongly as it did before.
I was wondering what was wrong with my car and looking for solutions as why wasn'it leaving hard as usual, and I took a chance, crawled under the car, and unbolted it in the pit,and made another pass with both wheels up in the air as it did before!...I'm not saying the ATR bar isn't good...just that is was a bad choice for me....
I suppose it is meant for those looking for better cornering abilities, but judging from my personal experience, it is certainly not ideal for drag racing!!!!!
That's it!...
'bye! Claude

 

[Sinful6]

Claude,

Did your 60' times increase with the bar on? It should help keep you from pulling the tires(wheelies are wasted motion), so, I could see how that could make your launch feel "softer", but I wanted to know if you noticed any actual performance decrease.



-DC

 

[azgn]

the ATR bar is definietly designed for drag racing!

It provides straighter launches, less body twist at launch and better traction without using air bags

if anything, it is overkill in the handling dept...as mentioned, with the front bar intact, your car will overstreer badly...however, without a front bar, the handling is about normal (all the better for drag racing...)

I wouldn't be without mine and the only thing better on a drag car are the race-only "Wolf" type bars

 

[WakkoSS]

Isn't the ATR bar less than $200 and the HRParts bar $475?

 

[toofastforyou]

Replies to "Sinful 6" and "azgn"...

Sinful 6, there was a performance decrease for me because of the 60ft. times being worse than they were before. I cannot really tell you how worse, but overall, the car felt like it was too stiff, not pulling the wheels off the ground like it did before. I know that too much of a wheelie is not good, but I'm not talking about a three foot wheelie here...Just pulling the wheels off the ground about 6 inches...

azgn, I felt that the bar was definitely overkill for good launches, but maybe they're designed for cars making a lot more power than mine though...I understand that body twist is bad, but in my case, it litterally killed my 60ft. times by stiffening the car too much!

Claude

 

[Maltman]

Some people said that had to do some "modifying" to the bar to make it fit, but mine fit without any hassle.

However, I do see some deformation occuring of the LCAs. Nothing serious, but it does take a toll!

HTH

Mark

 

[XxDarkSidexX]

what about the hotchkis bar? it's 1" and is only $169.95? i have it on my car, along with the 6 peice trailing arm set, and the front sway bar. I like to turn too

 

[CopGn]

Would 2 air bags provide the same benifit as the ATR bar? How would the car handle putting on the ATR bar is I am already running a big front sway bar (1.36 I believe). Right now the car feels solid at speed with the new front suspension, shocks and springs all around but understeers at the limit.

 

[The Radius Kid]

The ATR rear bar should bring the car back to neutral or better handling.
Airbags don't do the same thing as a bigger rear bar because there is no transfer of the twisting motion from one side to the other with bags.
They're only for preload.

 

[TRFanatic]

Isn't the Hotchkis swaybar 1"? That is only 25 mm. The ATR I think is 1 5/8" which is like 38mm. Could they even compare ???

 

[J Banning]

I run the ATR rear bar and NO front swaybar. KYB's all around. With dual airbags set at 12psi each, the car launches straight every time. It handles "ok" on the street. Fine for normal driving.

I've put this bar on three cars, however none of them had stock rear lower control arms. They were either SSM or Hotchkis.

Get new Grade 8 bolts before mounting the bar. The supplied hardware is too short.

-Banning.

 

[Justin Terry]

I have taken my front sway bar off and I plan on ordering a ATR rear bar but first I wanna see how much of a difference it makes with out a front one and with a stock one. I have had both stock ones on now since I got it and I think thats whats hurtsing my 60ft is both stock bars. Also would it be absolutly necessary to get boxed lowers at the same time I get the ATR bar.

 

[UNGN]

Originally posted by Justin Terry
Also would it be absolutly necessary to get boxed lowers at the same time I get the ATR bar.

It's not an "absolute necessity" to get the right away, but you will need them eventually. Mine were so buckled when I took them off, the bushing shells were loose in the arms.