Aftermarket Anti-Roll / Sway Bars

[Reid_S]

Apologies in advance if this has been covered elsewhere, but I had a look around and didn't find anything.

My P3D is arriving next week and I'm thinking ahead to suspension mods. I saw that Unplugged Performance is doing sway bars and I'm really curious if anyone is running them or thinking about it.

I'm coming off a decade or so of AWD turbo cars where sway bars can be a fairly inexpensive way to settle a car down. That said, aside from a few notable exceptions, AWD turbos typically have a fairly high motor mounting position as a result of fitting both the front and center diffs below / just behind the motor. A beefier set of sway bars solves for the high center of gravity, right?

So, the question is, in a Tesla, how much value are you really going to get? I think I read Mountain Pass Performance punted on making an aftermarket sway bar set because they really don't think it's a short coming in the stock suspension setup. My gut tells me MPP is right and UP is trying to make some money on a high margin product, but would love it if someone could give me an educated view on it.

 

[kbecks13]

The car REALLY benefits from sway bars, i'm surprised MPP hasn't pursued them yet and suspect it's more of a capital outlay type situation (it's not cheap to develop and stock lots of parts!)

I have the UP bars and could immediately feel a difference with them installed, especially on track. With stock coilovers the car has tons of body roll and sway bars should do a great job of reducing that.

 

[beastmode13]

I have a set of UP on order. UP said they finalized the design with the feedbacks from Tesla Corsa event a few weeks ago.
Stiffer swaybars would help control the side to side motions without over-reliance on the coilover or spring/damper to increase the compression and rebound rate.

 

[bryanbruin]

I am interested as well. I have an AWD non-P. Given that this car has some understeer, I was thinking perhaps only the rear one from Unplugged Performance?

 

[Reid_S]

I have the UP bars and could immediately feel a difference with them installed, especially on track. With stock coilovers the car has tons of body roll and sway bars should do a great job of reducing that.

So, you feel like you really notice better balance and feedback, improved lap times, etc? For as heavy as the Model 3 is, I guess I shouldn’t be shocked—I just assumed the center of gravity would hide a little more sin.

 

[Lunares]

Imgur

here's how much my P3D rolls in a tight turn (autocross). You bet I'm going to get sway bars + coilovers at some point.

 

[kbecks13]

So, you feel like you really notice better balance and feedback, improved lap times, etc?

I could feel the difference on track with sway bars AFTER already installing very stiff coilovers. I bet just changing the sway bars and leaving stock coilovers will be a pretty significant improvement, especially for the $

 

[beastmode13]

Imgur

here's how much my P3D rolls in a tight turn (autocross). You bet I'm going to get sway bars + coilovers at some point.

Nice wheels. What are they?

 

[Lunares]

Nice wheels. What are they?

I wanted 18" on my P3D to run autocross (minimal weight + easier to get track tires). So I got a custom set from Signature Wheel (they've got a thread here). SV107 in crystal burgundy. Around 19 lbs each, pretty great. Right now I've got too much wheel well with them on (since I run 265-35-18) so going to lower the car at some point.

 

[bryanbruin]

I am interested as well. I have an AWD non-P. Given that this car has some understeer, I was thinking perhaps only the rear one from Unplugged Performance?

I am also considering the rear-only for my AWD non-P. Has anyone installed only the rear? Feedback? Thanks.

 

[Mike Hawk]

I am also considering the rear-only for my AWD non-P. Has anyone installed only the rear? Feedback? Thanks.

I installed a pretty aggressive rear only bar in my AWD Golf R and it helped a bit. The best way to explain it is it felt like someone was now pushing my rear around aggressively.

I need to do the same with my P3D+. It's really really floaty.

Some people will say the earth will end if you only do a rear bar and not a front as well. I didn't have issue. However I don't really drive near the limit anyway to begin with.

 

[kbecks13]

I am also considering the rear-only for my AWD non-P. Has anyone installed only the rear? Feedback? Thanks.

You'll get more oversteer which might not be terrible since without Track Mode the car tends to understeer, i'd give it a shot!

I installed front and rear at the same time, so i can't speak to only doing rear, but man the sway bars make a VERY noticeable difference in general.

 

[bryanbruin]

You'll get more oversteer which might not be terrible since without Track Mode the car tends to understeer, i'd give it a shot!

I installed front and rear at the same time, so i can't speak to only doing rear, but man the sway bars make a VERY noticeable difference in general.

Thank you. Now I need to decide whether to do rear or both.

 

[bryanbruin]

You'll get more oversteer which might not be terrible since without Track Mode the car tends to understeer, i'd give it a shot!

I installed front and rear at the same time, so i can't speak to only doing rear, but man the sway bars make a VERY noticeable difference in general.

Thank you.

 

[Dolemite]

I'm on bone stock non-performance suspension and I'm actually surprised by how flat the car corners. Maybe on fatter, stickier tires there's more roll, but as of now I don't intend on sways.

I'd reached out to MPP a while back asking them why they don't offer sway bars and they said it's simply not a priority for them, considering the stock bars' capabilities. They've set all of their records on the stock bars.

Also what are people ITT referring to as the "stock coilovers?" This car doesn't have stock coilovers?

 

[kbecks13]

Also what are people ITT referring to as the "stock coilovers?" This car doesn't have stock coilovers?

Sure it does! Coilover just means coil over the shock absorber/damper. Stick your head under your front wheel well and get back to me

I joke, but seriously i think it's really just semantics. "Stock damper and spring assembly" if that makes it more clear.

Not sure about your experiences/what specific model car you have, but in general the feeling is definitely that the car has a good bit of body roll on track. Replacing coilovers reducely that dramatically and therefore reduces need for sway bars.

Also consider that when running a business you want products that can compete and bring something new to the table. MPP is incredibly innovative with their products (i.e that new adjustable front upper control arm) and i hate to say it but a simple sway bar is almost beneath them I'd rather them focus engineering/time/money on the complex products and let other people make the bent metal!

 

[Lipham]

I am also considering the rear-only for my AWD non-P. Has anyone installed only the rear? Feedback? Thanks.

I did this in my old Subaru Forester XT, which I foolishly took to AutoX. It helped transition the constant understeer to some much needed balance, and even slight oversteer from time to time. This was something to watch out for on slick roads.

I'm keen to add only a rear sway bar for my LR AWD M3 so I can better balance the car for AutoX and stay in the D Street class (can only add, delete or adjust one sway bar). Just ordered a set of RE-71Rs and am picking up my second set of wheels this weekend.

 

[asian_xl]

MPP will have their sway bar ready in Q3. Price will be similar to its competitors

 

[Dolemite]

FWIW I ended up getting Eibachs after finding out that the P3D+ has a different sway bar than the P3D-. Haven't installed them yet. Hope to, soon.

Also FWIW I shy away from UP based on how quickly they get stuff out.

 

[Lipham]

FWIW I ended up getting Eibachs after finding out that the P3D+ has a different sway bar than the P3D-. Haven't installed them yet. Hope to, soon.

Also FWIW I shy away from UP based on how quickly they get stuff out.

Let us know how the Eibachs are once they come in.