Sway Bars and Bushings

Most people thing of sprigns and shocks when they think suspension, but sway bars and bushings can make huge differences in vehicles handling.

A sway bar works by levering one side of the suspension against the other, effectively keeping the car flatter during cornering. The hinge design of the sway bar means the it moves WITH the suspension when the car hits an obstacle like a railroad track. But in corners, the sway bar acts against the rolling car, to maintain a flatter stance. Sway bars can also affect the front/rear cornering bias by changing the level of grip at one or both ends of the car.

Bushings are soft rubber components designed to isolate the vibrating parts of the car (like the suspension) from the non-vibrating rest of the car. Although the rubber bushings do an excellent job of vibration reduction, changing those bushing to a harder polyurethane compound adds huge amounts of road feel to the car, meaning it feels tighter and more controllable.