s2000Junky

If you’re over steering at slow speed auto X situations, you will really have a handful at speed on a road course. If you want to maximize the available grip on this car, you will end up with a staggered fitment due to what the body can accommodate assuming you utilize this, its also more balanced, requiring less suspension modifications to counteract and rebalance the cars traction bias. Adding damping up front will help only traction balance in transitional inputs, not steady state loads, for steady state you need to alter the spring rate, either through the coil or sway bar. The easiest then would be to remove the rear sway which id be on the fence about, but it’s free to try and some like it, or better add an adjustable front sway bar. The best option though, add more rear tire.

DrivenAP2

I promise disconnecting a sway bar end link will not hurt anything, and it's nothing to be scared of, it's literally one nut. I also promise that it will supersize you at how much it helps tame the car. I run in two different autocross events and the best my car has felt so far was with a very mild drop ( .5 .75in ) and no rear bar. I would add that if you are going to do an aggressive front bar leave the rear one on. I rode in a BS AP2 car with a grendron bar last weekend, and it felt awesome!

twohoos

I drove without a rear swaybar for years and loved it, as long as I had a big-bucks coilover system to compensate. But after going back to something more reasonable, I started having issues due to the increased roll (in stock form, the rear bar provides well over 20% of the car's total roll resistance). And a lowered car needs more roll resistance than stock, so you'd need hugely stiff rear springs to make up for the missing bar.

I'd say:
- Leave the AP2 rear bar, get a stiffer front bar and/or front springs. For your '07, you might find that an '00-'01 (or CR) front bar will do
- Even up the ride height (lower the rear and/or raise the front)
- Increase rear toe-in

SlowTeg

With myself going to a square setup next year I find all these posts about different setups interesting/fascinating. Of course, ultimately it comes down to the driver's style/preference which is why there's so much variation. I've seen a lot of folks run w/ no rear bar at the track with a very big front bar AND stiffer front springs (which I would think would be understeer heavy). Plan now is to throw some 10 or 11kg/mm front springs on my kwv3's and leave the 8kg rears, and run w/ the 00 FSB and 06 RSB. If it's too oversteery at the track, I'll just disconnect the rear bar and give that a shot. After doing a day or two perhaps I'll have a good idea if/which changes I want to make.

twohoos

Very true. I once drove two well-prepped S2Ks on track, back-to-back, and each handled beautifully neutrally...but one had a pronounced front spring bias, the other a pronounced rear spring bias. It ain't all spring rates, folks! lol

With this car, you really have to experiment and trust what works for you. But "experimentation" doesn't just mean expensive aftermarket parts (take it from someone who's run A LOT of different setups!). In the OP's case, I think that he can get where he wants to be very cheaply: just an OE bar and an alignment/ride height adjustment. And don't forget the power of tire pressure adjustments between track sessions - it's the cheapest "mod" of all and can be amazingly effective!

SlowTeg

Very true. I try to do a lot of research beforehand to try and get close to the target before spending any money. This hopefully reduces my cost/saves me some money in the long run. I can't afford to be buying a ton of parts and changing things haphazardly. For the OP, I'd say disconnect the rear bar and see what you think. If you aren't autox-ing or driving on the track this might do the trick.

iamxpl

http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticl...ng-Issues.aspx

start here. But if its a must, look into getting a bigger front bar.

SlowTeg

Good article, but the title is very misleading. Those aren't "handling" issues at all (except for #1 and #2). The rest are just good driving habits/correct ways to drive on the track.

I'm very happy with the way my car handles now with kwv3's on a 225/255 stagger and a 00FSB/02RSB. Trail braking is very controllable and throttle steering is perfect. The car is very neutral. I'll see if I can get a square setup next year to the same feel. The larger front tires should help result in shorter braking distances, and more responsive turn in.

iamxpl

exactly! sometimes you think its an issue with the car, but most of the time its driver error. Thats why im back in a stock car with just a bar. Trying to refine my skillset in autocross.

SlowTeg

That's very true, if you haven't tracked your car much or are new to it. After some time though you learn how the car handles and you develop preferences. There's not necessarily anything "wrong" with a car, just preference. Starting out I agree it's important to learn how to adapt your driving style to the car/situation, because it makes you improve as a driver. Past a certain point though, I see nothing wrong with tailoring the car more to your style. Also past a certain extreme, the "handling" of a car is objectively sub-optimal. If a car has "too much" oversteer/understeer, it actually becomes impossible/very difficult to drive the car as fast as possible around a turn (likely the situation for the OP). Of course, knowing that limit usually comes from experience.

Regarding going back to a "stock" setup. There are different schools of thought on this and neither is "wrong" imo. Is it good to track the car stock? Sure.. but if you don't it's not the end of the world either. I'm not the "you absolutely HAVE to track your car stock" guy, but think it's a good idea so you have a good baseline. Those who start tracking with a square setup and tons of mods probably aren't doing themselves any favors. One can certainly make mods to the car and learn afterwards, the learning curve may just be a little steeper.