The rear sway bar quesiton seems to have been beaten to death, but after looking at a gajillion threads I am left thinking:

If I go with TWO stock 84-87 Fiero Sway Bars- one on front and one on rear, I seem to be reading that you get a "neutral" car that can be twitchy at the limit.

Soooo...after reading up on sway wars elsewhere as well, and how the bushing materials can be used to "adjust" stiffness, I am thinking that by running RUBBER bushings and links in the rear but POLY bushings and links up front, that it just might be just enough to leave a little bit of that "safety understeer" in place while getting the benefit of a rear sway bar for spirited driving. Essentially making the front bar seem a tad stiffer than the rear even though they are both the same size.

Any thoughts on this, or has anyone tried this?

[This message has been edited by FieroFanatic13 (edited 06-10-2013).]

I have rubber on the front and poly on the rear and it handles neutral and isn't twitchy at all.

My rear bar is off an 84. It is mounted with the pivots forward on the cradle and the ends in the standard location under the CV boots.

Arn

quote Originally posted by FieroFanatic13: Soooo...after reading up on sway wars elsewhere as well, and how the bushing materials can be used to "adjust" stiffness, I am thinking that by running RUBBER bushings and links in the rear but POLY bushings and links up front, that it just might be just enough to leave a little bit of that "safety understeer" in place while getting the benefit of a rear sway bar for spirited driving. Essentially making the front bar seem a tad stiffer than the rear even though they are both the same size.

I took it a step further. Rubber end link bushings in the back and Rodney's Zero Lash End Links in the front.

With a front sway bar installed in the back (pivot end towards the front), cut springs, Sensa-Trac shocks/struts and Kumho Ecsta XS 225/50/16 tires all around, my '84 duke handles great at autocross.

I have two stock bars and they are both rubber mounted at the moment to the cradle, and both poly mounted to the control arms. My swaybar is attached under the rear crossmember. It stays out of the way of everything there and is a good jackstand point vs just placing jackstands under the flat cradle bottom. my car handles neutrally when I push it hard in the rain, need to upgrade the brakes first before I push it hard in the dry, but with 205s up front and 215s in the rear all 4 wheels will break free at the same time, the rear a little more so than the front. I like it this way vs understeer which I hate to try and control. Understeer is only safer because it means you will hit something head on which is safer than side-on. But, if your car starts oversteering, my opinion is it is easier to control and still steer your car even if it is oversteering. With understeer, well you can't steer at all so you are at the mercy of when those front wheels regain grip to be able to direct the nose of the car. The average driver panics and lets off the gas when they oversteer, and with the fiero's center of gravity it makes the car want to spin when this happens. If you practice in a parking lot or with your friend's E30 then staying on the gas becomes second nature. Too much gas and it will kick the back out too much, too little and you may spin, so be careful.

quote Originally posted by Arns85GT: I have rubber on the front and poly on the rear and it handles neutral and isn't twitchy at all. My rear bar is off an 84. It is mounted with the pivots forward on the cradle and the ends in the standard location under the CV boots. Arn

So you actually went the OTHER direction and stiffened up the REAR? I was thinking about the same size bar front and rear but keeping a slight bias toward understeer up front still. And you like yours. Interesting.

I have an 86 notchback and I added a sway bar on the back that came from the front of another 86. I mounted both bars with poly mounts and both with zero lash end links.
I don't find it twitchy and I can do a bit of a 4 wheel slide in a short 's' curve with the back coming around a bit more. Taking a 90 degree corner if I go fast enough the front end sticks well and the back will kick out a bit.

quote Originally posted by Toontown Fiero: I have an 86 notchback and I added a sway bar on the back that came from the front of another 86. I mounted both bars with poly mounts and both with zero lash end links. I don't find it twitchy and I can do a bit of a 4 wheel slide in a short 's' curve with the back coming around a bit more. Taking a 90 degree corner if I go fast enough the front end sticks well and the back will kick out a bit.

I am a little surprised based upon what I've read about handling in general that I've seen so many people "like" the Fiero with the same size bars front and rear. Everything I've read on the subject tells me that the safer every day set up is a smaller bar on the rear. Especially in a mid engine car. GM didn't put a rear bar on in the first place largely because of this (and partly to save money I'm sure). A car that understeers is less dangerous in emergency situations than one that is neutral or oversteers, generally speaking anyway. I'm not autocrossing, etc. I just enjoy the curves on some back roads on occassion. If Porsche, Ferrari and others don't run the same size front and rear bars, I don't see it as a good idea to just throw the same size bars on my car either. They do it that way for a reason is my point- it's safer- unless you are a very skilled driver anyway. No offense to those who like their same size bars set ups- I simply am not comfortable with that due to the information I've read in suspension tuning books, etc.

That all said, THANK YOU FOR THE REPLIES and input!!!

-Gary

[This message has been edited by FieroFanatic13 (edited 06-11-2013).]