I just want to start by saying I KNOW the Prius isn't meant to be fun to drive and I KNOW that I'm giving up a manual and stiff suspension for space, reliability, and great mpg. With that out of the way what would be the best was to cut down body roll in a 3rd gen Prius? Sway bars, suspension, what would you guys recommend?
I just bought a rear sway bar for mine. From what I read here the trd rear sway bar gives the most bang for the buck when trying to improve the hanling characteristics of these cars.
I got: TRD rear sway bar Cusco front sway bar TRD springs Cusco front strut tower brace UltraRacing rear strut tower brace 18" G-Sport wheels The handling is awesome! I can take things at 90 that used to be scary at 70. I'd say I saw the biggest benefit from the upgraded sway bars and springs. For a little extra punch I added the APEXi throttle controller. My average MPG over the last couple of thousand miles has been around 37.5.
If you have 15 " wheel/tires move up to 16" wheels/ performance tires going to 17 ,18 your going to feel the imperfections of the road and added stress on suspension, 2nd if you need more frt and rear sway bars mild setup tanbe frt, trd rear , extreme cusco frt and rear
In my opinion the best bang for buck from personal experience in order is as follows. Rear Sway Bar 16 - 17" Wheels Springs Mid Under Brace Front Under Brace Front Sway Bar Front Stut Tower Bar
I just installed the rear sway on my PIP and its a nice improvement but now its simply on par with my old Honda civic hybrid handling wise. I plan on installing coil overs next with the minimal drop. My shocks have 60k on them, if brand new I would probably go TRD springs and be done with it.
I also have PiP and am looking at rear sway bars. Haven't seen anything specific for PiP so which brand did you get? I am leaning toward Tanabe's.
