[DeTomaso] looking for 7/8" rear bar/skid pad day

[Ken Green]

Tom,
 
    There have been numerous posts over the years about the difference between the stock 3/4 sway bar and a 7/8 rear sway bar.  Others can tell you a lot more than I can, but my recollection is that Ford wanted the car to understeer to keep drivers out of trouble, but some loss of steering responsiveness results, and a 7/8 rear sway bar make the car more responsive.  It is of course a generalization, but may apply to most tire choices.  I'm not sure if it equally applied to wide body cars.
 
Ken

--- On Fri, 10/1/10, Tom Borcich <tborcich at msn.com> wrote:


From: Tom Borcich <tborcich at msn.com>
Subject: [DeTomaso] looking for 7/8" rear bar/skid pad day
To: "Pantera REALBIG forum" <detomaso at realbig.com>
Date: Friday, October 1, 2010, 12:21 AM



I like the idea of a group buy, but I'm curious when Ken mentioned that this is a universal mod for
most Pantera's...if that is the case what size tires, and springs were used as a starting spot or base setup?
I would assume that some cars would require a 1" bar vs. the 7/8" bar depending on what tires they run in 
the front and the rear? The only standard part I can see as a starting point or base setup is we all have pretty
much the same chassis/motor/transaxle/suspension arms, but thats about it unless you have a stock car.
With all the combinations of springs weights, tire sizes etc. I can't see that only one bar would do it for all of us. 
Granted for most the 7/8' bar would be an improvement over the 3/4" rear for every setup, but some probably 
could push to a 1" bar.

So then it brings back a thought I had a few years ago...a Pantera/POCA skid pad day where we bring a few sets
of 7/8", 1" or bigger for rear bars and possibly a few different bars for the front if needed and we as a 
group rent a skid pad at Willow or Californnia Speedway and go out and test our cars with the different bars. 
That would be a great exercise at the Fun Rally if a skid pad is available in Reno. I looked into renting the skip pad at
Willow three years ago and I think it was $500 for the day for a group...don't recall if we had to purchase an insurance policy? 
I would much rather be checking out different sway bars on a large open skid pad than testing the different sizes at a place like Laguna
where pretty much on 80% of the corners you get some major damage if the car isn't sorted and you go off the road.
I was also thinking that we could do wet driving tests also, but that may not be a good idea considering rust issues. 
If we could get 10 cars it works out to $50 for the day and after you've tested a setup, you could order with confidence the bars you 
liked the best. I'd be happy to call Willow to make arrangements. But it has to be next after the first of the year cause my 
car won't be back together until then.

Best Regards,

Tom
                          
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