Okay, I got a bit of a question. Has anyone installed a progress bar on with stock suspension? I have an ls and want to do it without the springs due to 1)no money for pro kit yet and 2) I want to sneak it by the inspection team at autocross and still make it into the G stock class. I know it'd work I am just curious as to whether anyone on here has ever done the same. I just want to know how it handles. Better? Worse? Ride quality?

 

you don't think they're going to see your bar in an auto x event? isn't suspension one of the first things they would check? it's not hard to see from the back of the car at all. don't cheat, grow a set and compete in the correct class.

 

Its a great mod, I would recommend it.

But I highly doubt you will sneak it into your autocross meet.

 

This was one of the first mods I did and it makes the world of difference in the handling of the car. It helps a lot for going around corners. I wouldnt drive my car now without it. I also just added some lowering springs which also is a drastic improvement. You wont be disappointed with this mod. Its money well spent. I just can't say enough good things about it

 

Who to buy from? Progress, TTR, or Bwoody.

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I think i got mine from TTR. I buy a lot of parts from them. Fast and very reliable. TTR also just came out with there own which is a bigger diameter if im not mistaken and may be cheaper than progress.

 

The TTR bar is 25.4mm and I *THINK* the Progress is 24mm.

Doesn't sound like much but the stiffness essentially increases with the fourth power of the diameter, so the extra 1.4mm isn't as trivial as it sounds. Ideally you'll pick the *right* sway bar for the way you want it to handle though, the biggest possible isn't always the best for everybody. For autocross it'll help on the tighter courses though, because the back end will come around easier.. meaning it can also hurt on the looser courses. There's no one single suspension setup that will be ideal for every situation, you have to tune the car to match the application.

 

I have the progress bar on a stock suspension. The only differance is that I have 16" rims and you most likely have 15" rims.

The bar reduces the body roll significantly, and also losens the car up so it rolls through corners better. You might be able to increase your speed by 1-2 miles per hour on highway ramps with the bar added (this is just my estimate and have never actually testes how fast I could go before and after).

A way to simulate how the bar will losen the car up through turns, put 50 to 70 pounds of stuff in the trunk and go around some city street corners. If you feel the differance, the bar might benefit you. If not, you are not going to notice the differance. The average driver will never notice the car is looser, only less body roll. After driving around with 80 pounds of salt, I had to get the bar.

You will not be able to hide the bar, it is visable from the rear and also the sides of the car just in front of the rear wheels.

I still prefer the progress bar over the TTR bar. This is because I have many slanted drives that I must turn in and out of where I live, and a stiffer bar will put more stress on the "spring pockets" (or whatever the bar bolts to). If you don't have this issue, I would recommend the bigger bar.

 

Like I said, the biggest isn't always the best. Wasn't recommending the TTR bar, nor will I advise against it... it all comes down to your application.

 

We have yet to hear 1 Auto cross member, that actually purchase the Turbo Tech Racing Rear Sway bar that stated it was "to" large. It IMO was designed very well and respects the cobalt nicely.

 

I'm not arguing with that. For the vast majority of people it will be quite excellent I'm sure. Some more competitive cars (talking nationals level cars) will often have multiple rear sway bars to choose from (as well as multiple sets of springs etc) to have the perfect setup for each course.

I wasn't knocking your product in any way and if I decide to mod my cobalt much I'll most likely go with your bar, but I'm not sure I even want to start dumping money into it when it's not even the car I race....

 

I would go with the ttr bar. thats what I have its great!

 

X2. i got a LS and i love my TTR bar

 

Hey how do those rear sway bars effect the ride quality they dont' make it ride harsh do they?

 

nope only thing it changes is hardly no more body roll in the rear

 

http://bwoodyperformance.com/index.p...0af2a86f25e9d9

anybody used bwoody

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Considering I am outclassed and stuck in the DS category , since there isnt enough GS to run their own category, I think a slight advantage my way is not such a bad thing. One small advantage over stock isnt going to make much of a difference and the rear bar will look stock enough to pass by. I am a very experienced auto x racer and know what I am doing. Quite frankly enough that I picked up several sponsors with my previous vehicle, so I think I'm ok.

To the rest of you, thank you greatly for the info. I was worried the combination of a hard rear bar with soft suspension would make it handle oddly. Since you guys gave me some great feedback from this I think I'll be ordering it.