Jim :
A roll-bar lets you increase the roll stiffness without increasing suspension
stiffness. This means a better ride, and a better ability to keep the tires on
the road when hitting bumps, pot holes, railroad tracks, etc. Even a racetrack
is not perfectly flat, and the surface twists at the entrance to a banked curve
(for example) can cause unwanted weight transfer if your suspension is too
stiff.
Multiple leaf springs also have a lot of internal friction, which aggravates the
'stiff suspension' problem. In effect, their dynamic spring rate is higher than
their static spring rate, which is one of the reasons they are viewed as being
less than optimum for a car suspension.
Roll bars are also a lot easier to change and adjust.
C&D did a comparison quite a few years ago, between the 'stiff springs' and
'rollbar' approaches (using a Camaro, as I recall). The 'rollbar' car won the
handling competition by a wide margin, while one of the reviewers said he needed
to have his fillings tightened after driving the 'stiff springs' car on the
street.
Randall
wallaces@superaje.com wrote :
>
> So here's the question: what's the difference between installing an anti-sway
> bar and just getting higher rate springs (at the same end of the car of
> course)? I must be missing something obvious; it seems like you'd get
> the same
> result.
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