NC: is it possible/advisable to get rid of the sway bars?

[drobbins]

I've been doing some research..

I took my rear sway bar off over the weekend and with it out of the way it was totally obvious that my NC sport's springs are too soft and the dampers are not very effective. I know, old news, but with the bar off I got the full experience.

I had a lot of understeer, which was fun at first but got old pretty quick. But I also noticed that I could feel the left and right rear wheels working independently as they encountered bumps, which was great, and the dreaded lateral head wobble I had been experiencing was gone!

So I think I figured out what's causing the irritating jarring head wobble, the source of which has been confusing me up until now. Too much of my car's roll stiffness is coming from the sway bars, and those sway bars are inducing roll on less than ideal Albuquerque roads and producing a lateral head-wobble sensation at certain speeds. I'm feeling way too much of the bars and not enough springs and dampers.

What's the best way to fix this?

It looks like stiffer dampers and springs would be a better match for the existing bars, and along with lowering the car would help in many areas including roll. So I'd imagine that a good set of coilovers would be a huge help.

After that, would it be possible to remove the front and rear sway bars? Or would this be a bad idea? With a 50/50 weight distribution, are they really needed on this car if roll is kept under control via stiffer springs + dampers? Or are they still helpful or needed even after a suspension upgrade?

-Daniel

[Brian]

You can find a few threads debating this for years at miata.net. On the one hand, certainly removal of the sways maximizes the independent nature of the suspension. On the downside, it takes a LOT of spring rate in your springs to make up for lack of sways. My suggestion is that you try upgrading your springs and shocks with the sways on there first. Right now, the full JIC coilover setup is our only way to go on that but the KONI shocks for NC should be available this Summer to match up with the Eibach springs as an alternative choice.