[PrematureApex]

Originally Posted by Vidgamer

My ol' Acura TSX (the car in which I replaced the sway bar) had a 17mm bar stock and I replaced it with a 19mm one. Did it handle better than the X1?

I don't know what you're saying (asking?). How the hell should I know what car handled better? But if you're in a stock X1, the TSX would probably be said to "handle" subjectively better. That car actually has a highly-praised chassis tune on it from the factory, at least the first-gen TSX did.

But I hope you didn't pay a lot to "upgrade" the bar a mere 2mm (assuming they were the same construction otherwise). That's not going to a huge difference.

Originally Posted by Vidgamer

The problem is knowing which work, specifically, will improve things, and not just change things. I would be concerned about replacing the FSB alone, as mentioned above. Wouldn't that just introduce more understeer?

No, actually. There's a reason competitive stock-class autox cars with front strut suspensions run monster front swaybars (illegal to change the rear).

There's two reasons the front bar reduces understeer, generally speaking. As with many newer cars, they hit the bumpstops in hard cornering and greatly increase the effective spring rate on the outside front. The stiffer front bar helps eliminate this and keeps the suspension working while cornering. Secondly, with the typically poor camber gain during suspension travel in strut-suspension cars, body roll reduces tire contact. The heavier bar will reduce the roll and keep the tires in better contact.

But more importantly, since you're unlikely to be driving at 10/10ths on the street (and while I've had ours out...it's rare to see one at a DE), and thus will rarely if ever, experience actual understeer...the point of the upgrade is, again, feel. A front bar increases roll stiffness, making the front end much sharper on turn-in, and generally promotes flatter cornering.

It's more fun to drive, at any speed.

The rear bar is felt the most at throttle lift-off, and turn in. Helps liven up the rear, even if just a bit, in addition to the roll stiffness increase.

And remember, they aren't affecting your ride quality in any appreciable way...hence, they're very popular for daily-driven cars.

Seriously, do you think that these are HUGELY popular aftermarket products for no reason at all?

For a daily driver, it's hard to beat stock springs, upgraded struts/shocks (Bilsteins or Konis), and, depending on the car, F and/or R sways. The only reason why one would add springs in the case of the X1 is that you don't need the ground clearance, and prefer the car to look/drive more like the wagon that it really is.