Sway bars (stock and aftermarket)
#1
Leased a 2009 Milan base for my wife. Understeers a ton. So I looked around for an aftermarket rear bar. Steeda sells the smallest diameter rear bar for $129. Bought that.
Installed it today. I''ll get back to everyone on whether it''s tail happy or not. I have been to the grocery store, but not a clover-leaf freeway interchange.
Here''s a pic of the stock rear bar and of the Steeda rear bar, with measurements. (I hadn''t taken measurements of the front bar at the time of this pic,..so I edited them in.)
[img]uploads/duckstu/Steeda_rear_bar_comparo.JPG[/img]
The Fusion is supposed to have a 24mm front bar and a 19mm rear. Milan is supposed to be the same.
But when I measured them,...the front was a close 23.875,..but the rear is only 13.46 mm. Wowa, that''s tiny.
The Steeda wasn''t quite 24mm either. Rather it''s 22.2mm.
I was expecting a 5 mm bump in diameter,..but I got an 8.75 bump. We''ll see how that works out.
#3
Well the verdict is in. The difference is HUGE!!!
And I''m not talking about something that only a racer would notice and the rest of us might not,..the difference in cornering is huge.
Tried it out for the first time on a clover-leaf interchange a couple days ago. Before on an uphill one, the front tires were squealing mercilessly and the car wasn''t going all that fast.
This time,..it was on a down-hill cloverleaf, soI expected to find squealing from one end or the other pretty easilly. Well,...I didn''t. Instead I found a new problem. Even withthe gas pedalto the floor (4cyl)and going down-hill,...I couldn''t get going fast enough to make either end slide. The front tires made just the slightest bit of noise and that''s it. I was truely amazed at how well it corners.
Consider this. The Fusions and Milans all have 24mm front sway bars. The Fusion Sport package has a 19mm rear,..but my Milan only had a 13mm rear bar. The Steeda is 22.2.
Another option for Milan owners wanting to save a couple bucks is just to buy a Fusion Sport Package rear bar and bushings. Although I can''t see the bar and bushings comming in at that much under $129.
Definately an A+ mod.
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yonderfishin
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04-23-2011 02:54 PM