Reply to "7/8" rear sway bar"

Tom, I have seen a lot of posts on here speaking to changing/improving the handling characteristics of their car. First off, stiffining the suspension is not necessarily going to improve handling simply because there is so much flex in the Pantera (especially the rear) that unless you have siffened the chassis, nothing predictable is going to happen. Mark Donohue's (a famous racer from back in the day) motto was use the softest setup you can to achieve the lowest lap time. When I was racing Covettes back in the '70's, we wanted a softer bar and springs and shock settings so the car would take a set in the corners on short tracks. Faster longer tracks like Road America we went stiffer but not much(mostly just shock settings). The same idea goes with tires, if you have gone to wider lower profile tires, you have already siffened the car some, since sidewall flex is part of the suspension equation. I put 17" 10" wide tires in the back 8" fronts(I got a great deal from Steve Wilkenson) and now have understeer. I'm sure it's because I have way too much tire in the back but they just look soooo good on the car. Also, sorry to state the obvious, but whatever you do tot he rear will affect the way the front handles.

6661's sugar daddy Steve