Rear Sway Bar

idiot drivers also mean dot head taxi drivers going 43 on a 55 mph highway in the left lane. and windstar minivans doing the same thing in the lane between them and a pickup truck full of illegal aliens. traffic is really bad in the DC area...

 

Yeah that car had front and rear Corolla bars, the rear was the TRD version. I deleted the downstream cat and cut the exhaust right before the fuel tank where it turns down. It didnt sound bad, throttle response felt better but I never took it back to the 1/8th mile to see if it actually made a marked difference in performance. It did well in autocross which is what it was modded for. My current car has only a few mods right now but more are planned when funds are available. The combination of both bars really stiffens the car nicely and with a little extra tire pressure in the rear the car would rotate very well on course. Would have like to have installed chassis braces as well to reduce flex but never did, perhaps with this car at some point.

SPH-D710 ? 2

 

Really though nobody should do this to there Prius it could void your insurance policy if you ever got seriously injured in a car accident the insurance company would use this mod against you. Just get a proper racing seat you can get them at Japanese parts importers for cheap.

 

if you use good quality bolts, it probably won't break , and then the insurance co would never notice. also the racing seats have no provision for airbags, and that would definitely be a problem. then there is the price difference.

 

and there you have it. autocross is a pretty good test for handling characteristics; if the front bar had made the car unstable, he would have removed it. but it worked. for those few of us that have done it, no one has yet to say anything bad about this mod.

 

Yeah the car was very stable/planted. You could stand beside the car and try to rock it by pushing above the doors and it would barely move. The was with the addition of GC coilovers too. I also had nearly 3 degrees of negative camber in the front. With 50 psi in all 4 tires i would put it against most sports cars on a curvy road, pending no long straight stretches of course.

SPH-D710 ? 2

 

My Rear Progress Bar Install:

Upgraded 2002-2006 Corolla/Matrix Bolts and Nuts




Comparing a Corolla 20mm Rear Bar I had cleaned up and painted to a 24mm Progress Rear Bar..





Old Bar


20mm hollow 2008 Touring vs 24mm Progress





Upgraded Corolla Nuts vs 2008 Touring Prius Nuts

2008 Touring Prius Bolts vs Upgraded Corolla Bolts

2008 Prius Touring Bolt

Corolla Bolt

Installed

Tiny Compare picture:

Some added "flair" since the Progress bar wasn't tagged...worth at least +5hp

 

Finally got my front 24mm 2006 Matrix sway bar installed... check out the link

one word...

Amazing!

 

Here's the wide sweeping "s" curve I drive every morning. The rear sway bar removes so much of the rear body roll.



Click on the picture to watch the video

 

You might as well be backing out of your driveway. If you can snap a pic while driving it, it's not going to test anything but the patience of those watching you drive w/ cell phone in hand.

 

Click on the picture to watch the video

 

click on the picture and watch the video...

if you watch the cars, they all brake in the middle of the curve! AHHHH!!! this frustrates me so much... Brake before the curve, turn-in, hit your apex and accelerate out of the turn...

Washington DC driver's are so annoying!

 

Maybe also using Google Maps to take an overhead snapshot of the curves might help give others perspectives of what you're driving through.

 

...only if you're pushing your car to 9/10ths or harder. On the highway, this is a non-issue. Relax, Dave!

(You might also read up on trail braking, but it's not for every corner, car or driver)

Here's how you test your roll bars: LMNS0702.JPG

That's my team's car at Sonoma Raceway last weekend... do not know who's in the photo, might be me. Not a single car could pass us in the "esses" (turns 8-10) since we had a cheaty suspension with adjustable Konis and beefy roll bars.

That highway ramp could be taken at about 80 in a stock Prius with decent tires, and 100+ in a Prius with a properly tuned suspension. Even with the squishy stock suspension, you really gotta push that car before it gives up traction.

 

That car looks awesome! Made me smile. Glad you stayed in the lead and had a good run at Sonoma!

I'm familiar with trail braking too, but that might be too advanced for the average Washington DC driver.
See the news report below:

Md. Woman Cited for Driving Too Slowly in Left Lane | NBC4 Washington

March 13, 2013
A Maryland woman was shocked after she received a traffic ticket on Interstate 95 — because it wasn't for speeding.

In fact, she was driving two mph under the speed limit. The driver, who didn't want her name used, told News4 she was driving in the left lane of I-95 in Laurel last Friday when she was pulled over and cited for failing to move right. According to the citation, she had been driving 63 mph in the left hand lane in a 65 mph zone. The citation read, "Failure of driver, driving below speed limit, 63 in a 65, to keep right."

"[I was] really shocked," she said. "I thought, 'Oh my God, you've got to be kidding me'."
A retired state trooper said Tuesday that the ticket may not hold up in court.
"You can drive in the left lane in Maryland as long as you are doing the speed limit, or not impeding by going 10 mph under the speed limit," Sgt. Rob Moroney told News4's Darcy Spencer.

Moroney said the woman was cited under a code section that deals with driving 10 mph or more under the speed limit. A different part of the law deals with drivers who impede traffic.
"This charge was not totally incorrect, but it may not have been the best charge for the trooper to use," Moroney said.

The woman who got the ticket said she'd never been cited before — but on Friday, she said, she had to slow down due to heavy winds. "Sometimes when it's dangerous, you have to do what you can to stay safe," she said. Storm Team 4 Meteorologist Doug Kammerer said winds were gusting at around 40 mph that day. A spokesperson for AAA Mid-Atlantic said he disapproved of the citation.

"The reason [the ticket] is silly is because it's sending the wrong message," said AAA's John Townsend. "And that is, 'We will tolerate you driving at more than the speed limit, but it you drive below the speed limit, then you're penalized for that'."

The driver has filed a complaint with Maryland State Police and plans to fight the ticket.
While police said they can't comment on this specific ticket, they said that driving too slowly can impede traffic, and that anyone who wants to fight a citation can do so in court.

 

HAHA!! Sounds like most drivers in SoCal also! Whatever happened to the 'fast' lane is now usually the most congested and slow lane. I do much better staying on the outer left lane and passing up all the annoying slow pokes. Driving UNDER the speed limit.

 

notice all the dumb mf's that missed the point. the cow was doing 63 in the hammer lane. most americans are too stupid to understand the left lane is the passing lane. duh. keep right if you ain't passing. it should be a federal law.
and nice pope mobile. must have been a blast.

 

I read this tread several times but still have a question.
So we can replace the 19 mm hollow rear sway bar on our Gen2 Prius with either a 24 mm solid Progress bar, or with OEM part number 48812-AB011 for a 2006 Corolla. Are these the same in design or is the Corolla bar size somewhere in between 19mm hollow and 24 mm solid?