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Sway Bars: What did you choose & why?
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Kludos
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Have done a fair bit of testing with sway bars now, and decided to go from the whiteline to stillen.
Whiteline:
Ran these in the stiffest setting front and rear, which is 7% softer than stock at the front and 17.7% stiffer in the rear. This gave the car a bit more steering, without any weirdness. With the softer front setting (-19.8%) the front of the car would continue to roll/dive into the corner and produce late rotation.
I also tried the rear bar in the stiffest setting with the stock front bar and felt that was better overall, the initial turn in was better than with the whiteline bar, and the stiffer rear helped prevent understeer on exit.
Stillen:
Since I've been tracking my car I wanted to have much stiffer options so I went with the stillen kit and it was an immediate improvement. I ran the softest settings on the street which is 37% stiffer at the front and 21% stiffer than stock at the rear. The car sat usefully flatter and I saw a 0.1 improvement in max G both direction on my local mountain pass that I drive regularly.
At the track the car also improved (along with some other changes), but I was still getting more body roll than I felt was optimal. I tried the firmest setting both ends (70% stiffer front, 37% stiffer rear and the car was much more stable in high speed sweepers, and had developed some nice mid corner rotation. I've yet to properly try these settings on the street, but my feeling from driving the car home is the front bar is too stiff for the street and the middle hole might be better for spirited driving, or if not go back to soft at both ends.
I've got a lot more tinkering ahead, and obviously there are other setting to adjust to dial in our out steering/oversteer.
tl;dr:
Both sets of sway bars are good. Whiteline is best if you're looking to change the balance of the car without affecting the roll characteristics too much, Stillen is better if you're looking for stiffer options for track use.
And TBH even though the numbers sound like a lot - e.g. 70% stiffer - while the changes are noticeable, sway bars are more like fine tuning compared to other adjustments like toe and camber.
Whiteline:
Ran these in the stiffest setting front and rear, which is 7% softer than stock at the front and 17.7% stiffer in the rear. This gave the car a bit more steering, without any weirdness. With the softer front setting (-19.8%) the front of the car would continue to roll/dive into the corner and produce late rotation.
I also tried the rear bar in the stiffest setting with the stock front bar and felt that was better overall, the initial turn in was better than with the whiteline bar, and the stiffer rear helped prevent understeer on exit.
Stillen:
Since I've been tracking my car I wanted to have much stiffer options so I went with the stillen kit and it was an immediate improvement. I ran the softest settings on the street which is 37% stiffer at the front and 21% stiffer than stock at the rear. The car sat usefully flatter and I saw a 0.1 improvement in max G both direction on my local mountain pass that I drive regularly.
At the track the car also improved (along with some other changes), but I was still getting more body roll than I felt was optimal. I tried the firmest setting both ends (70% stiffer front, 37% stiffer rear and the car was much more stable in high speed sweepers, and had developed some nice mid corner rotation. I've yet to properly try these settings on the street, but my feeling from driving the car home is the front bar is too stiff for the street and the middle hole might be better for spirited driving, or if not go back to soft at both ends.
I've got a lot more tinkering ahead, and obviously there are other setting to adjust to dial in our out steering/oversteer.
tl;dr:
Both sets of sway bars are good. Whiteline is best if you're looking to change the balance of the car without affecting the roll characteristics too much, Stillen is better if you're looking for stiffer options for track use.
And TBH even though the numbers sound like a lot - e.g. 70% stiffer - while the changes are noticeable, sway bars are more like fine tuning compared to other adjustments like toe and camber.
tractng
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Good stuff. I am going to upgrade swaybars next, probably Stillen.
trackratZ
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Stillen at full stiff front and soft rear gave me the best balance, both track and road, more immediate turn-in and still forgiving at rear gave confidence, no snap-oversteers as long as you don't overpower the rear, easy to do.
Durango 95
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Appreciate the list. I will soon be adding Ohlins DFV Road & Track to my Performance Z. I have Z1 sways and Z1 end links installed front and rear at their "tightest" setting. I was thinking of lessening the tension on those after installing the coilovers. I'm spirited road only. Not sure.which way to go because I'm also wondering if I should maybe change out the sway bars entirely and go with a different brand. Do you think that would be advisable? Regardless of which brand how "tight" do you think they should be set? Just kind of thinking with the new coilovers that loosening the tension on the sways might be a better way to go.. Not really sure.
Katum68
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On my 2024 Z Performance I chose a Stillen Sway bar. On my 2027 Z performance, I am going with the Z1 swaybarper my mechanic but even stock the car feel very good, BUT!!!!! only 210 miles.
socketz67
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As others have noted, stiffer is not always better on this platform.
Good read here on the topic: https://blog.stillen.com/stillen-buying-guide-sway-bars/
Good read here on the topic: https://blog.stillen.com/stillen-buying-guide-sway-bars/
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Durango 95
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Good article. It's got me thinking that maybe backing off a bit might be the way to go on the sway bar.
socketz67
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You can probably find a set of OEM Nismo Bars used since so many buy the car and immediately think larger is better and toss the OEM bars (which as 2mm larger than the Performance model and include air deflectors)
More here: https://www.nissanzclub.com/forum/threads/installation-of-nismo-sway-bars-on-23-performance.3555/
Durango 95
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Michelin PS4S. Not sure if this is the number (UTQG Treadwear Rating) that you're talking about but this site lists the tire at :
Uniform Tire Quality Grade
UTQG Treadwear Rating: 300
UTQG Traction Rating: A-AA
UTQG Temperature Rating: A
https://tiregrades.com/buying-guides/reviews/michelin-pilot-sport-4s-review/
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Durango 95
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I'm thinking those could be an option along with the Stillen.
KyleWI
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Yeah, PS4S are the king of what I consider street-summer tires. They're fine for track use too, but once you surpass the skill level of PS4S, you'll delaminate them.
I would say these could also stay stiffest setting as they give audible feedback at their limits.
socketz67
Active Member
PilotSport 4 S = Black Magic. You will let go before these tires decide to do the same. There's a reason why other performance summer tires often use these as the benchmark. They are even stable in the rain.
Just be careful allowing them to sit for long periods of time (flat spots), or drive on them below 40 degrees (roller skates).
KrackaC8
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With a stiffer/tighter coilover, you'll need less swaybar. The Z1 bars are about as stiff as it gets for the Z. Too much bar can actually be a bad thing and cause you to lose grip earlier than you otherwise would. Since you already have them though, I think step #1 would be to set them full soft after the coilover install as a starting point, and dial them in from there. It may be worth getting Z1's opinion as well since they sold you both the bars & coilovers. Are you using the adjustable end-links to pre-tension the bars or just hold them level & neutral?