Differences between sway bars, anti rolls, braces, torsion bars, strut bars ?

[Fiestastix]

Hi fellas,

Mecanic enthousiast here, still trying to firgure out the difference between all of those. My main personal goal (outside of sheer valuable knowledge) is what I would opt to as one to a few changes to my stock chassis... My driving style is oriented towards twisty mountain roads so I love all those fast curves, I do not do track (for know).
So for other than the differences / or similarities between those parts, if anybody with knowledge can counsel me on a good chassis setup regarding my driving aims. Also one thing to note : I'd prefer something that is to "extremely" hard to fit/remove (swiss law, test every 2 years so...). To me an "extremely hard job still remains
removing and reinstalling my stock cat by myself, with no o2 sensor sockets at hand... Haha just a head's up. Anything that needs the car to be lifted by a pro is out of question

I already have the Cobb motor mount and decent tyres/wheels, but as many mods as I have, that's about it considering "handling" / chassis.

Thanks guys,
Michael

 

[Dpro]

sway bars and anti roll bars are the same thing. Your rear twist beam is in effect a roll bar as well as its twist beam.
Strut braces brace the top of the struts from possible chassis flex. Some car companies now do these stock from the factory on their Sports cars.

Back in the day it was more important than it is today . Reason being a lot of manufacturers making Sports cars today are building extremely stiff chassis. Stock our FiST are actually one of those vehicles as the car is set up pretty stiff chassis wise from the factory. Now you are going to get differing opinion on what is and what is not needed. Also depending on what year your FiST is you might have extra chassis stiffness built in stock. Basically the stock factory suspension was over dampened and Ford used the spring rates to offset in relation. Which led to a bouncy harsh ride. But is hot hatch sports was the mindset .

People complained about the ride so in 2016 they softened the damper and spring setup. To compensate for that they increase the front sway bar size to what. lot consider optimal regardless. They also increased the rear twist beam stiffness 30% Now some claim and feel the 2014-2015 cars has better turn in because of the stiffer shocks and spring with the smaller front sway bar and softer torsion beam aka twist beam.

Though never mind the fact that. lot of 2014-15 owners opted for a bigger front sway and some kind of twist beam stiffener or rear sway bar for the sake of it.
Does our rear really need more stiffening? It’s a good question because it’s already stiff enough that the car 3 wheels in corners when pushed hard due to extreme rear chassis stiffness from the factory already.
So that one is really one’s preferences . Lots track without rear sway bar and don’t blink an eye about it. Autocross guys tend to go for things like s swaybar though because they want fast rotation through corners as a way to get around the autocross course quickly.


Some of us like to put more negative camber in the rear to keep the car more planted in the corners allowing us more cornering grip . Of course that also increases rear break away meaning when it does go it goes at higher speeds. I found with camber plates having a rear sway cause high speed snap break away( not fun ). I do have camber plates and yes you install them, as stock the car does not have rear camber adjustment.

Now given all, a lot of the suspension feel changes if you put in coilovers as they give you damper adjustment and ride height adjustment which can effect everything talked about above.

As far as Chassis bracing.. it goes like I said before the stock chassis is stiff the main places that
scream for anything are a front traction brace that goes between the front control arm mounts on the subframe . This is a flex area due in part to A: the control arms being mounted to the front of the subframe and a using soft rubber bushings for compliance and possible NVH. Using a traction brace addresses these things that help the front suspension feel more connected help with Torque reaction aka TQ steer. If the factory had putt stiffer bushings in the stock arms it would not have been as much of an issue. The braces can be two point , 4 point and 6 point as to how many places they tie into the subframe and or chassis. Two point or 4 point being the most important. Lots of people running two point and perfectly happy.

I use a Swave Summit 4 point because it ties into all points of the front subframe . If one questions this they only need to go look at BMW‘s X brace that came stock on E36 M3 convertibles . All the E36 M3 owners stick X braces on their cars if they don’t have them . On And BMW front control arms connect to the rear of the subframe opposite our cars.

Some of us go full bore and install aftermarket uprated control arm bushings for this reason. I have done this and feel it makes the front end feel a lot tighter with more road feel and just better steering even though stock steering is nothing to sneeze at in these cars . They are point a and shoot machines.

Do you need an upper strut tower brace ? I have not run one but I am putting one in to see. I do have a lot of other suspension mods and my car drives like it’s on rails . I do have MeisterR Coilovers Zeta3’s. I like them a lot.o
rear upper chassis/ trunk brace probably can help . Is it absolutely needed ? Maybe not. Remember our chassis is already pretty damn stiff stock.