I am going racing this weekend and just took off the front sway bar. Should I leave the (I think its called the steering brace/wonderbar) on or off.
Thanks

 

doesnt matter, i say leave it on.

 

jus wondering, why would you take it off? does it help out when your just going in a straight line?

 

Taking off the front swaybar allows the car to twist more which allows more pressure to be put on the passenger side rear wheel which then increases traction. Many also take it off to lose some weight off the front of these already front heavy cars. However, there was a thread posted a while ago where someone actually did comparison runs with the front swaybar on and off and the times only varied by about .01 seconds. Maybe you car is built up more/less which will alter this figure... I don't really know.

I say leave the wonder bar on.

Mike

Edit - For going around any corners, I recommend leaving it on unless you enjoy massive amounts of understeer (the plowing/pushing effect) or you enjoy driving like an old lady... no offense to any of the old ladies on this board...

 

Removing the front stabilizer bar does several things:

1. Lightens the car, which improves acceleration even if only a little bit. Remember that acceleration is a function of your power to weight ratio. Removing weight is usually easier than adding horsepower.
2. Shifts the CG rearward, which is always good for rwd drag cars
3. Allows the front end to react/extend faster, improving weight transfer to the rear
4. Increases oversteer (not understeer)

Many earlier cars, including 2nd gen F-bodies, did not come with rear sway bars in all models. But almost all have front bars to induce understeer, which is the default 'safe' and stable handling characteristic built-in by most auto manufacturers. Installation of a rear sway bar reduces understeer/increases oversteer. Removing the front bar alltogether drastically increases oversteer and makes the car very twitchy in cornering scenarios. Driving an F-body anywhere except the dragstrip without the front sway bar is hazardous to the health of anyone in the vicinity of the car.