Which sway bars to buy?

Question

I wish to reduce sway in my 2005 Daihatsu Copen. I have found a number of different vendors, and I have heard good things about Ultra Racing.

They sell the following bars:

Front Upper Strutbar

4-Point Front H-Brace (UR-LA4-1667)

and

4-Point Mid Lower Bar (UR-ML4-1668)

4-Point

Rear Lower Tiebar (UR-RL2-1669)

and

Rear Sway Bar (UR-AR19-381)

Rear

Rear Lower Tiebar(UR-RL2-1670)

Rear Lower Tiebar

I will buy the upper strutbar, and am wondering about the other ones, unless someone can convince me not to purchase the upper strutbar!

What would be the best bar or bars to buy, for someone on a budget - that is, max of two bars.

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 02 '14 at 10:10

For the Daihatsu Copen, the Front Upper Strutbar will do very little in the way of getting "bang for your buck", particularly since the exiting ride quality can best be described as hard.

Realistically, you should be looking at the 4-Point Front H-Brace (UR-LA4-1667) and the 4-Point Mid Lower Bar (UR-ML4-1668) as they will offer better rigidity when turning - this is, of course, specific to this car.

Whilst the Copen has manufacturers braces in the place of the two mid brace position, they aren't great and over time will lead to "wiggle" as they wear out. This is particularly noticeable when turning sharply as there will be a non-trivial amount of body roll.

I'd be careful going over speedbumps with either of the two bottom braces installed, as they stick out a bit more than the manufacturer's braces

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 06 '14 at 17:01

I'm not familiar with this model, but generally speaking the actual swaybars are the best bang for the buck upgrade. They can make a dramatic difference in handling. The strut bars/stress bars/tie bars/etc tend to only be a very minor difference (if you can notice them at all, may not even be effective without significant suspension mods).