DeTomaso Mailing List: May 2001, Message #17

A few points to keep in mind when interpreting the data from your test.  
First, sway bars are not the only components that provide roll stiffness.  
The springs do too.  Fitting different spring rates will change the optimal 
sway bar diameters and vice versa.  Second, the backup structure is not 
infinitely rigid so, at some point, additional roll stiffness just causes 
the unibody to flex.  Third, steady state cornering on a skid pad and 
powering out of a corner are different situations.  A car set up to be 
neutral on a skid pad may be a handful when throttle is applied,
particularly 
if it has a lot of power and a rearward weight bias.  I believe Kip at PPC 
was a believer in dialing in some steady-state understeer in high horsepower

Panteras.  Also, the toe out and camber used in the test are not typical of 
street driving.  You've biased the front end with 1.5 degrees negative
camber 
so it's not surprising that increasing that ends roll stiffness (which would

reduce the camber loss) would provide less overall grip, particularly on a 
car with little weight on the front tires.  In general, lower profile modern

tires are less forgiving of camber changes than the old Pirellis.

Dan Jones
 
>>>Based solely on empirical data gained at a PCNC skidpad event back in
'92, 
I would suggest that 1" bars front and back may be a bit too stiff.