Originally Posted by Ryephile
The FE4 bars are meant for the big sticky Supercar 3 tires. For all practical purposes, the FE2, FE3, and FE4 all have about the same spring rates, especially in comparison to the FEA setup. As such, between FE2, FE3, and FE4, the main differences are dampers, anti-roll bars, bushings, and tires.
Given your avatar of your car in the snow, I was guessing track-days wasn't going to be your main focus, and probably a 245-ish all-season would be your tire. Maybe I'm wrong, let me know. As such, the FE4 bars would be too stiff for such a tire and on the street. The springs, anti-roll bars, and bushings all have to add up to match the tire being used. Making a big jump on the bars without changing the tire would end up with overall worse handling, as the suspension would force the tires to skip rather than grip.
Great example; my SS 1LE with even stiffer aftermarket bars doesn't grip very well on my 245 wide winter tires, but really comes into its own on 305 wide Supercar 3R track tires. It's all about matching the suspension to the application and tire being used.
Finally, polyurethane bushings are probably the worst thing you can use on a car. The OEM rubber are quiet, effective, and require zero maintenance. Poly is susceptible to dirt, noisy, have high stiction [and poor predictability], and high wear rate. It is very cheap and easy to mold, which are the primary reasons the aftermarket use them.
IMO, we should start a separate thread to compare the data of all the different OEM & aftermarket anti-roll bars.
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