avizandum

I run AutoX super stock and in reading the rules, I can use sway bar bushings of any material. Will I see any improvement just changing these to poly?

gkmccready

You'll increase the effective stiffness of the swaybar. Don't most SS cars go for a bigger front bar (and new bushings), anyway?

Solofast

First, only the front sway bar bushings are free, the rears are not...

That said, I have a set of poly bushings and a set of stock bushings and have swapped back and forth depending on the tires and the shock settings, and yes it will increase the total bar stiffness if you go to poly it is in the realm of fine tuning, but it is a lot easier to swap out a set of bushings to make a fine tuning change than it is to change the front bar.

avizandum

I run good street tires, stock sizes and will probably never run R compounds. So every bit of traction I can gain through car setup is crucial. I was thinking the polys would keep the car flatter. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I want to tweak the car where proven. I'm not at all inclined (or able) to try this, that, go back, etc.

I guess I'm looking for the moderate to low-priced low hanging fruit that keeps me in SS. Not looking to win, but I'm improving to the point that I want my car as capable as possible within what I described...

thehammer69

IMHO, any stiffening of the front sway bar using street tires instead of "R" compounds will be detrimental to your autocross performance.

Solofast

Adjusting sway bar bushing stiffness is probably one of the easiest changes that you can make, but it is a tuning tool. It isn't going to drastically change the amount of body roll that you get. At best it is a second order thing.

If your car is loose with the tires and shocks that you are using, then by all means stiffen the bushings first. On a car with bars as stiff as a Corvette, it can make a very noticible difference since the sway bar actually moves the bushings a good bit and that has a significant effect on overall roll stiffness.

You really need to go to a test session and do a back to back series of runs and decide if it is helping you or not. That's really the only way to judge a change this subtle.

avizandum

OK. So there's that...

Any other low hanging fruit?

I see lots of rants on stock Z51 shocks. I can't say anything bad about them because I have no frame of reference.