I was under the assumption that the TL-S had "better" sway bars than the standard TL. Is this true?

How much improvement can be gained by replacing them. When I got my springs, I passed on the bars as I thought the TL-S had improved bars. However, I've seen a few posts from TL-S owners who got the Comptechs.

Anyone care to comment?

:-jon

------------------
-------------------------------------------
2002 TL-S NAV Black/Black
w/Spoiler, Body Kit, Bowling Ball Wheel,
Bowling Ball Gauge & Vent Trim Kit
Comptech Springs
Comptech Exhaust
Pictures at:
<A HREF="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumList?u=1626677&f=0

" TARGET=_blank>http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumList?u=1626677&f=0

</A>

 

I was thinking about putting TL-S sways on my 2000 TL. But I checked with the dealer and found out that the two have exactly the same thickness (the TL-S's may be slightly more rigid). So I was told that putting the TL-S sways on my TL wouldn't improve the handling much.

I finally decided to go with the Comptech sways(much thicker than the stock)instead.

 

The standard TL has a 18MM solid sway bar in the rear..The TLS has a 19MM solid bar in the rear. Front tubular bars are the same!

 

I'm still debating wether or not to replace my bars with Comtech ones. The TL-S definately still has some body roll and I am thinking about decreasing it with the bars.

My concern is related to ride though. The TL-S has a firm ride and I don't want to sacrafise the quality of that ride with the stiffer bars. Any comments from others who have replaced theirs?

 

i was thinking the same thing...can someone tell me/us what thickness is on the comptech bars? i couldn't find it on their site.

stock...27.4 tubular/18 solid on tl, and 27.4/19 on tl-s.

thanks!

 

I have a CL-S and put the Comptech swaybars on my car.

I had to re-calc the specs on the bars, since the values that Comptech Sales gives out are not correct.

First -- I was very concerned about the ride in my CL-S, I have 235/45-17" Toyos T1S Proxies with 17x8" SSR Comps (14lbs wheels vs 25+ lbs stock), and love the ride quality (much better than stock). I love the ride so much, I agonized over installing the sways.

So, I finally called up Comptech Engineering and got the data on the sway bars...

The front is the same O.D. (outside diamter) ad the stock CLS (I assume the same 27.4mm as the TL-S).

The front bar on the TL-S and on the Comptech are 27.4mm AND HOLLOW!

The Comptech is something like 0.177 thick and the stock is 0.107 (sorry, I would have to look up that data again). It worked out to less increase in stiffness than they quote.

The back bar from Comptech is 22mm vs the 19mm rear bar (CLS). The CL/TL is 18mm (I'm only sure about the CL bar size.

The calc to compute the increase in stiffness for a solid bar is:

(22^4) / (19^4) = 1.797 = 80% stiffer in back

The Comptech people quote

(22^4) / (18^4) = 2.232 ~ 130% stiffer (they say the rear is 130% stiffer)

So, I really like the stock ride, but the bars were originally designed for the Accord.

If they were ok for a light weight (by comparision) Accord, they must be ok for the TLS/CLS...

Impressions:

Can barely notice any increase in ride stiffness. If your over a really rough road or a "washboard" like surface, you may notice. After one day, I just can't tell at all.

I do notice that the balance is much better, and the roll/sway is much reduced.

I highly recommend it if you like to avoid idiot/moron drivers who pull into your lane at high speeds without warning (or do left turns in your face without warning).

 

Do keep in mind that aside from changing the ride quality that you are also changing the at the limit handling balance of the car towards slightly less understeer and possibly more oversteer (on lift throttle situations at the limit).

 

when i put the comptech sways on the 00TL, i noticed a tremendous difference in body roll, and stiffness wide its negligable... i have the sways sitting in a box for the 02TLS and i'll install them this weekend, i'll let you know how it goes... in order to notice the difference, however, you would have had to drive it stock and try to do some hard cornering... u wont really notice it when ur just driving on straight roads

------------------
'02 Nighthawk TL-S
------------------
Comptech Springs / Comptech Headers
------------------
Alpine CVA-1005 Head Unit / Alpine CDA-7863 CD Player / Alpine G320 EQ / Alpine DVA-5205 DVD / Alpine NVE-N851A Navi / JL Audio XR653-CS 3-Way comps for the front powered by a bridged Alpine MRV-F407 amp / Boston Acoustics 5.5 ProSeries 2-Way comps for the rear powered by Alpine MRV-1002 amp / Dual 10" JL Audio W-6 sub powered by Alpine MRV-1005 amp / Two Alpine CHA-1214 CD Changers / 20% Tint all-around

__________________
'00 Nighthawk TL
------------------
Aem Short Ram / Comptech Sway Bars / Comptech Springs / Cross-Drilled Rotors / Pirelli SP7000 Tires / 35% Tint all-around
-------------
Pics of my TL and Fun/Crazy Pics

 

EricL

Did you put the Comptech springs on too, or just the sways? I have been thinking about going with just the sways for better handling. I like the look of the lowered car but am worried about bottoming out when loaded.

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">[This message has been edited by rockinTLS on May 04, 2001 @ ]</font>

 

Yep, there is less understeer.


And, I had the same thoughts before changing the sways, since I do like a bias towards understeer on "these" cars.

However -- surprise, there should have been more oversteer with the increased roll stiffness in the rear. But, there is something to be said about how much weight is hanging over the front of the car.

The balance is about the same in steady state corners.

As I said, "I was very concerned about "screwing-up" the ride quality and handling."

(I also remove products that I don't like -- I'd hate to tell you how many sets of sways, springs, and shocks I tried on my old Bimmer *and* replaced with other brands...)

 

I have the following:

Toyo T1S 235/45ZR17-97W* Proxies (XL rated tires with higher load rating than stock)
17x8" SSR Competition wheels (48 lbs lighter)
Comptech Sways
Comptech header
AEM CAI

I only put on the sways. The tires gave me the biggest improvement in handling (by far).

The sways got rid of the body roll and help transient's (like getting out of the way of no-warning-lane-changing morons and left-turn-in-your-face-nitwits).

I didn't go with the lowering springs. First, I know someone who did it with my wheels and tires and there is a little rubbing with people and in hard turns at full lock.

The springs really need "dampers" (shocks) that work with the springs (yes, my opinion).

Some of the CL-S "folks" notice a porpoising effect on some roads with the springs. And I notice a lot of the "hard core" lowering people add the shocks after the springs.

I didn't buy the car to knock the fillings out of my teeth (I'm not saying this is what you will get), but I do really enjoy going out for drives and have the car feel "nice".

I'm note sure about "bottoming out". The only problem is -- people in general DON'T like to tell you what DIDN'T work out with their upgrades.

For example -- I will tell you that with the wider tires and wheels, I would have a hard time lowering the car (if I really wanted to). (I would have a bit of rub...)

So, check things out -- or get a ride from someone in a lowered TL (or TLS), and bring along some buddies to pack the car up.

 

There are several ways to make your car oversteer more.

-- Pump up the front tires to a higher pressure than the rear ones.
-- Stiffen the rear shocks, if adjustable.
-- Stiffen the rear sway bars.

However, unless you are always alert to catch the tail of the car if it oversteer, it is safer if the car tends to understeer.

 

Here is a link to a "TireRack" page with a whole list of items to change to increase or decrease understear (as a note, the BFG Comp TA R1 tires, will perform in an opposite fashion vis-a-vis the pressure change). The page is good, as it does have all of the various alignment, shock, swaybar, and other info changes relating to increasing/decreasing understeer and oversteer.

LINK: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/racepres.htm

BTW -- you are correct about the "general" perception of understeer being "safer." However, that said, there were times in my RWD car that I prefered mild oversteer with the use of the throttle to control the attitude of the car in dangerous situations. In the worst case, really bad understear means you just turn the front wheel without any control and just run straight into another car. So, if someone is trained to handle "slides", the oversteer can be used to advantage...



<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">[This message has been edited by EricL on May 05, 2001 @ ]</font>