I'm trying to solve a push off on exit with my dodge neon race car. I'm hearing people say no front bar will help with center off turning. This is for a paved high banked oval. I currently run the biggest bar allowed up front and stock rear bar. Could anyone shed some light,tips, tricks with my situation please. The front bar is under the k frame. I'm new here so please forgive me if this isn't the right form for this. Thanks
I know the guy who has made a neon mini stock go as fast as it is possible to make one go. He no longer runs a swaybar at all.
I should say his car is actually loose. It does not really behave like a FWD any more. Medium banked 1/4 mile paved oval.
Generally a front wheel drive car will benefit from increasing the rear roll stiffness in relation to the front. From your description it sounds like the front bar may be stiffer than stock while the rear is stock. Cheap test would be to remove one of the front swaybar links so it is disconnected and try a few laps. This should make the car looser, but you may find there is too much roll and therefore too much camber loss in the front. Best solution might be the stock front bar and a stiffer rear bar to achieve the same overall balance while also reducing roll.
My experience comes from road racing and dirt oval though, so there may be some differences for paved oval.
I don't know Neons or ovals but in my experience on gen 2 Mazda3s, I leave the front sway stock and add a big rear sway to balance out the factory designed understeer.
Duke
MegaDork
7/5/22 2:23 p.m.
Also no circle track experience, but for general driving and autocross the Neons benefit from a fatter rear bar.
No bar, 20mm, or 22mm is stock for front, depending on the car's original package. No rear bar for base cars, 16mm rear bar for Sport or ACR cars. 19mm and (I think) 22mm rear bars used to be available in the aftermarket.
Generally speaking for a fwd McPherson strut car you want enough front bar to keep the suspension from moving out of the reasonable geometry range, which isn't very far, and a lot of rear bar to get the car to rotate.
However, push on exit is always going to be an issue with FWD particularly if the drive insists on trying to put the power down while they've still got a lot steering input.
APEowner said:
Generally speaking for a fwd McPherson strut car you want enough front bar to keep the suspension from moving out of the reasonable geometry range, which isn't very far, and a lot of rear bar to get the car to rotate.
However, push on exit is always going to be an issue with FWD particularly if the drive insists on trying to put the power down while they've still got a lot steering input.
Came here to say this.
Also, an adjustable length link on the bars can help you dial in weight transfer. Preload the front to try to keep the car flat, hopefully to keep the tires flatter through the corner. Rear bar preload, if you get it right, can dial the loose/tight situation in the direction you want to go.
I've stacked two stock bars on the rear if you want to do it junkyard style.
In reply to bearmtnmartin (Forum Supporter) : could you share his name to me so I may contact him. Thanks
In reply to Mailman865 :
He is not a member here and not a big social media user, but I will ask him if I can pass his phone number along. He has some very interesting ideas. For instance, when he makes suspension changes like setting toe he uses ratchet straps to remove play and simulate a loaded condition so the toe is bang on while at speed. His class does not allow non stock pistons so he bumped compression by welding material to the domes. He sits almost in the back seat with extensions on the pedals to get the weight back. He removed all the gears but second and third from the transmission to reduce weight. Every year his car sits lower and every year he gets a little faster although he still cannot match the guys who buy the right car to begin with. (Vtec Honda's and RWD Nissan 240's)
Who should I say will be calling?
It will probably help on asphalt. Most don't run one on dirt as it causes the car to plow in the corners.
If your on Facebook you should join the front wheel drive racing tech-questions-tips group. Lots on info on many cars including lots of neon info for oval racing.