As I understand it, way back in the dark ages some cars didn't come with
any sway bars at all. Then some cars came out with them. Those running
cars without successfully argued that they should be able to run one. The
front-only rule was probably either due to the fact that most cars that
came with one came with just a front one, or maybe it was a compromise, or
maybe the SEB was more farsighted than they were with the SP category and
figured that if they allowed both to be changed things would get silly.
There are also a lot of serious oversimplifications flying around about
front sway bars. A bigger one doesn't always cause understeer. It can
reduce oversteer (not the same thing - just ask someone in a '91 MR2!). It
can also actually reduce understeer on some cars (FWD VW's used to do this,
with the reduction in body roll reducing the camber loss, with a net result
of less understeer). Handling isn't the only reason we change things,
either. On the '88 CRX, we all ran a smaller stock CRX HF bar - cheap and
easy to get, and it bolted right on since it was an OEM part - only to
reduce front wheelspin. That, oddly enough, is why RWD cars tend to run a
bigger bar.
In most cases, I don't believe you'd get much benefit on an otherwise-stock
FWD car by going to a larger rear sway bar. Most of them already lift the
inside rear wheel. Once that's done, you've finished transferring weight
to the outside - more bar won't make it oversteer, it'll just make it pick
that inside wheel up a little sooner.
If the rule is to be changed, I'd suggest just stop allowing any changes.
Problem with that is that it's going to mess with the classing structure a
lot more than some people think....
Paul and Meredith Brown
MR2: "Not the easiest car in the world to work on"
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