Steeda Front Sway Bar! It is awesome. Transforms the car into what it should be.

[LeWe]

I used the firmest setting per Mark's advice. And thanks again @markboris for your advice and encouragement!

I'm pleased to hear how well it went for you!

I'm wondering about firmest setting. Are you worried about understeer or oversteer or ride comfort?

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[markboris]

I'm pleased to hear how well it went for you!

I'm wondering about firmest setting. Are you worried about understeer or oversteer or ride comfort?

Hey Will, I am going to comment on my recommendation to Mike setting the bars to the firmest setting and ride comfort.

Here's my take on setting sway bar firmness after installing them on many cars. It might be ass backwards but it's the way I've always done it. Usually it's recommended to start at the softest or medium setting and go from there. All depending on the car, tires, firmness setting of the bars, roads you drive and how much the driver is pushing the car may give you under or oversteer.

Usually if you first set up the bars on the softest setting, there isn't a huge difference in handling from the OEM setup and unless you're just trying to fine tune the suspension you already have then that's ok I figure, if you're spending money on the suspension to make the car handle better and go through the trouble of installing (really isn't that difficult) then might as well find out the most it can do from the start.

So you have the bars set to firmest setting and you are a typical driver that likes to have a bit of fun driving but never really push things to the limit, you will end up with a car the handles much better (stays very flat cornering) without any under or oversteer because you aren't pushing it to extreme and you are still on OEM tires.

Ok, say you're the type of driver that really pushes the car or tracks/autocross the car, well then you're going to have some issues with the front or rear end sliding out (under/oversteer) so you have a couple of choices. First would be to start backing off on the firmness setting on the bars until you can achieve the proper under/oversteer with the tires you have. Second choice would be to get wider, more grippy tires. The OEM tires on the Mach-E, in my opinion, are too narrow so getting a wider tire will definitely improve things. Also the type of tire makes a huge difference in how grippy the tire is. For ultra high performance all season tires, I recommend Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4, Pirelli P Zero All Season, Continental Extremecontact DWS 06 Plus. For ultra high performance summer tires (most grip) my go to has always been the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S although the Pirelli P Zero PZ4 is a great tire too.

I always get asked how the range is affected after going with wider, grippier tires and I always answer, I could care less about that because if it did, I wouldn't touch the car from it's stock setup. That said, I don't think I've ever gotten a huge drop in range. Not sure what I would be getting with the OEM setup the way I drive as I changed out my wheels and tires after only 200 miles but I consistently get between 240-260 miles on a 100% charge.

You also asked about the ride quality if the bars are set to the firmest setting. I don't think I've ever noticed a difference between softer or firmer settings. Not really sure why I would as it doesn't affect any up and down motion changing the firmness settings. I have mentioned this before in my review of the Steeda front bar earlier in this thread that the ride is actually a bit softer (less harsh) after installing both bars. I don't feel the small irregularities in the road as much as I use to. While it is slight, I do believe it is a better ride. I attribute this to the Steeda bars having the typical type of bushings that allow the bar to easily move up and down. The OEM bars have bushings that are clamped to the bars and it is impossible for you to move those bars when they are mounted on the car (without the end links attached). To me, I would think that could cause a more harsh ride and also have something to do with bounce but I haven't noticed a change in that. I am looking forward to what Mike thinks about the ride quality after he gets some miles on his car.

 

[mkhuffman]

I have not driven many miles yet, but I noticed understeer in the front when I hit a sharp turn, going too fast, and going downhill. It is a turn into a parking lot, so the speed was maybe 20 mph. I have done the exact maneuver before and didn't have that happen. So Mark is right on the money about how it could cause sliding. But as Mark said, that only happens when you push the car really hard, and now that I know about it, I can anticipate and compensate.

As far as ride quality, it is still too early to say but I agree with Mark so far - it does feel smoother. I am simultaneously playing around with tire air pressure, and that impacts ride quality as well. I will need a week of driving before I can really assess how it impacts straight line bounce and harshness.

However, the bounce is still there, just different. It may be better, but I don't have a lot of roads around me to test that. I am driving up to DC this week, so I will have a lot of opportunity to see how it does.

The bounce I experience is different from what most people are complaining about. My complaint is GT specific, I think, and I am most bothered by the bounce in the front of the car. When hitting sharp bumps, the front pops up too aggressively and is not damped enough, IMO. It also seems unsettled on uneven pavement. I think the sway bar may help significantly with the unsettled feeling, and so far I think that is correct, but again I really need to drive it more.

 

[HuntingPudel]

I have not driven many miles yet, but I noticed understeer in the front when I hit a sharp turn, going too fast, and going downhill. It is a turn into a parking lot, so the speed was maybe 20 mph. I have done the exact maneuver before and didn't have that happen. So Mark is right on the money about how it could cause sliding. But as Mark said, that only happens when you push the car really hard, and now that I know about it, I can anticipate and compensate.

As far as ride quality, it is still too early to say but I agree with Mark so far - it does feel smoother. I am simultaneously playing around with tire air pressure, and that impacts ride quality as well. I will need a week of driving before I can really assess how it impacts straight line bounce and harshness.

However, the bounce is still there, just different. It may be better, but I don't have a lot of roads around me to test that. I am driving up to DC this week, so I will have a lot of opportunity to see how it does.

The bounce I experience is different from what most people are complaining about. My complaint is GT specific, I think, and I am most bothered by the bounce in the front of the car. When hitting sharp bumps, the front pops up too aggressively and is not damped enough, IMO. It also seems unsettled on uneven pavement. I think the sway bar may help significantly with the unsettled feeling, and so far I think that is correct, but again I really need to drive it more.

Mike, depending on how severe the understeer is, try a little (or a lot) less air pressure in front or a little more in the rear tires. It seems to me that your complaint about the front feeling a little unsettled would respond to the front tires getting a half psi or more removed. Not having been in the car, I am only guessing based on past experiences. ??

Hey @steeda how about some suspension tuning stuff like camber plates? ??

 

[mkhuffman]

Mike, depending on how severe the understeer is, try a little (or a lot) less air pressure in front or a little more in the rear tires. It seems to me that your complaint about the front feeling a little unsettled would respond to the front tires getting a half psi or more removed. Not having been in the car, I am only guessing based on past experiences. ??

That is a great point. I also rotated my tires when I installed the bars yesterday and prior to the rotate, the rears had 40 psi and the fronts 32. I reversed them but didn't adjust the air pressure, so I had 40 in the front and 32 in the rear when I did the parking lot entrance manuever. So maybe part of the reason for the understeer was tire pressure. I will put the tire pressure back to where it was in the front and rear so I can get a better comparison.

By the way, yesterday I was seeing higher efficiency (mi/kWh) than normal after rotating the tires, I think because of the tire pressure in the front. Much higher - it almost shocked me, and I don't shock easily. It could not be coincidence.

I had lower pressure in the front to reduce harshness, and it did help, but maybe that harshness will be mitigated by the new bars, so I can put the pressure back up to 40 and get better range again. More playing around with tire pressure is needed...

 

[Space Ghost GT]

Any update on tire pressure influence?

 

[mkhuffman]

Any update on tire pressure influence?

I lowed the pressure in the front to 32, and put the rear at 40. Steve was right. The car feels perfectly balanced around curves now, with no understeer or oversteer. It feels freaking awesome.

More insights to come after I finish my trip to DC...

 

[Space Ghost GT]

I lowed the pressure in the front to 32, and put the rear at 40. Steve was right. The car feels perfectly balanced around curves now, with no understeer or oversteer. It feels freaking awesome.

More insights to come after I finish my trip to DC...

Awesomeness! Good to hear the tire pressure did the trick.
I wanna get those bars!! Soon as Mach E gets here.

 

[mkhuffman]

Awesomeness! Good to hear the tire pressure did the trick.
I wanna get those bars!! Soon as Mach E gets here.

Dude, IMO, they correct almost everything that is wrong with the suspension. I think this is must have on every GT. Can't say how they work on other models, obviously, but I know @markboris thinks they are amazing on the GTPE.

 

[PalsyWalsy]

Do you guys get a kick back from Steeda? Cuz now I HAVE to get these for my GT and slap them on (when I get my car back after having the new connectors corrected for my HBVJB).

I did not feel my bounce, suspension was bad enough (for me) to do the KW coil overs yet, but this sounds about right in what I have been feeling is needed. Look like now we will find out.

 

[HuntingPudel]

Do you guys get a kick back from Steeda? Cuz now I HAVE to get these for my GT and slap them on (when I get my car back after having the new connectors corrected for my HBVJB).

I did not feel my bounce, suspension was bad enough (for me) to do the KW coil overs yet, but this sounds about right in what I have been feeling is needed. Look like now we will find out.

LOL as soon as I can scrape the pennies together I am getting a set. They match my car’s paint. ??

Seriously, one of the first mods I make to most of my cars is suspension. I am so happy to see an upgrade in the anti-sway bars. It means I don’t have to bend some up and heat treat them. ?? Now we just need some camber plates. ??

 

[kennethjk]

Dude, IMO, they correct almost everything that is wrong with the suspension. I think this is must have on every GT. Can't say how they work on other models, obviously, but I know @markboris thinks they are amazing on the GTPE.

now I need to decide do I get front sway bar on my premium

 

[Totallyford]

now I need to decide do I get front sway bar on my premium

Same here , I like what the rear bar did for my premium, look like a posable Xmas ? from the wife.

 

[kennethjk]

Same here , I like what the rear bar did for my premium, look like a posable Xmas ? from the wife.

I think the rear sway bar did help a bit. I also need bigger tires but will hold off on those For a little while.

 

[strangeengine]

Mike, depending on how severe the understeer is, try a little (or a lot) less air pressure in front or a little more in the rear tires. It seems to me that your complaint about the front feeling a little unsettled would respond to the front tires getting a half psi or more removed. Not having been in the car, I am only guessing based on past experiences. ??

So the front and rear bars do not have to be set to the same stiffness. Stiffening the rear more will reduce understeer ("soften the end that isn't working" is the suspension setup rule of thumb).

Modern cars have a lot of understeer dialed in at the factory to prevent lawsuits. The fact that the GT actually allows a little tail-wagging in stock trim is both awesome and shocking. ?

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