I purchased a BMR adjustable front bar and a Hellwig adjustable rear bar for my GT several months ago. I finally got around to installing them today.

I actually have not finished the rear bar, but the Hellwig is a 1" hollow adjustable bar. The instructions say to flip the panhard bolt so that the bolt head faces the sway bar for extra clearance. Sam Strano's bar looks almost exactly like the Hellwig setup, but I am not sure if Sam recommends flipping the bolt.

What I did was not touch the panhard bolt and use the mildest setting for the rear bar. Hellwig states that this is the nominal setting and to use this as a starting point. A YouTube video indicated that each hole produces a 10% difference in roll bar stiffness, but I kept the mildest setting to retain a similar geometry as the stock sway bar.

I noticed that it is very difficult to tighten the axle bracket bolts because the bars aren't perfectly parallel with the bushings. It is a hodge podge of bolts, brackets, and linkages. The hollow rear bar may be lighter than the stock bar, but all the steel brackets and bolts needed to link together the aftermarket bar more than offsets the weight savings.

The BMR front bar looks simpler, but I will have to install the new replacement OEM end links at the same time. These newer OEM end links seem beefier and lighter (aluminum versus factory steel).

If I had to do this again, I'd avoid purchasing the bars and keep it stock. I'd just ride my Ducati on the good days, even being the smallest entry-level Ducati, it is still faster than the new 2012 Boss 302.

 

actually this is something I have been wondering about for a while. You have stock springs correct?

 

Yep, stock springs and stock tires.

I'd look at another swaybar option, because all of the adjustable designs look the same in terms of the types of links/brackets/bushings. The non-adjustable rear bars are hardly larger than stock though.

 

I am going to start the BMR front bar install, but noticed that there are no instructions for the front bar. I have no idea which part of the bar faces forward/up/bottom as there is a curve in the center part. I guess I'll find out when I crawl underneath the car.

BTW the rear Hellwig bar install progressed smoothly. Once I torqued down all the bolts, it seemed like a solid kit. I just wish they made it a little better. The non-adjustable bars are like 22mm while my stock bar is 20mm. The Hellwig is 25.4mm, and is inherently shorter than the non-adjustable bars.

My plan is to use the setting on the front bar that retains the original end link geometries. Since the holes only yield 10% changes in stiffness, I am not going to play with those settings and just pick one (softest or middle probably).

 

Interesting, I measured the stock front bar and it is the same as the BMR adjustable. It looks like the BMR bar offers adjustability and that is about it.

So there you go, for a 05-up S197, just get an aftermarket rear sway bar and you're done.

 

The stock tags on the OEM bars read:

34mm diameter front bar
22mm diameter rear bar

 

Its the type and thickness of the metal that is used as well as the od. How does it ride or turn I should say? I always kinda thought this is one of the first mods that someone should do over newer springs. The car does ride nice it just tends to lean a little much and I bet the sway bar really make it feel much nicer through the turns.

 

The stock rear bar was a solid 22mm bar, the Hellwig adjustable rear bar is tubular spring chrome-moly steel (4140 or 4130, don't remember) of 25.4mm in outer diameter.

I am using the "softest" setting, which makes the bar the "longest" at the pivot point. I watched a Youtube video that explained each setting differed by about 10% in stiffness, it's not a huge difference in length.

I chose the softest setting to keep the bracket geometry the same. I could tighten it up by another setting, but I'd have to flip the Panhard bar bolt around and I didn't want to mess with that at the moment. From what I gather, the softest setting improves upon the stock bar mainly with the change in diameter. The stock bar came with what appears to be black poly bushings, so Ford did a decent job in the chassis department (versus the old craptastic rubber parts they used on older Fords).

My driving impression:
The car always felt very stable before the rear bar was changed. The front end tends to feel very heavy in the turns, but there's not a whole lot of understeer - yet the rear never feels like it has a tendency to swing around.

After the Hellwig bar, the amount of understeer feels reduced but not a whole lot to the point the rear tires are trying to switch places with the front tires. Although I have noticed that the rear tires are easier to spin in 1st gear and 2nd gear right after the turn. The front end feels heavy as it does before, but not in a way that it is plowing.

I don't like messing with shocks/struts and springs because it can change the ride quality and ground clearance. My 07 GT with stock shocks/struts/springs is just RIGHT on normal roads. My organs get a nice massage when I drive my stock 09 Cobalt SS Turbocharged because of the road course/Nordschleife-tuned suspension (Sachs shocks/struts). My GT feels more like a sport-touring setup, but the rear bar could probably be adjusted tighter by 1 more notch (middle hole setting) and still be safe/manageable to drive in the rain and snow.

We have a bunch of traffic circles in the area that I can try pushing, but I've already got my tires to howl leaving the freeway and entering the offramps hot - the car felt great. Like I said, if I had to do this again I'd probably flip the panhard bar bolt around and go to 1 more notch stiffer - or just keep everything stock. I don't plan to autocross or road race this car.

 

Nice write up. Did you notice any change for the better or worse in ride quality ?

 

I didn't notice any change in ride quality, it's the same as before.

 

I finally got a chance to drive the car for a little over a week, not much opportunity to really push it in a corner - but I was able to do a few high speed corner tests and I can say there is a definite improvement over stock. The handling feels much more responsive even on the softest setting. It doesn't feel like the rear wants to kick out even when driving over wet concrete with heavy rain at 70+ MPH in a corner.

The ride quality is unchanged.

 

Good info ! Thanks

 

Another update:

I was able to find some areas to push the car harder, and found the handling to be more neutral than stock. You'll hear the rear tire break loose well before you encounter understeer. In a really tight turn at higher speed, all 4 tires can howl and you'll encounter some understeer but not even close enough to be consider it a nuisance. I think I'll keep it at the "softest" setting as it is more versatile and controllable in all conditions. I suspect that at the midway or stiffest setting, the rear might become "squirrely" on a wet surface with the stock tires (Pirelli P-Zero Nero all-seasons 235/55R17).

My goal was to improve the handling enough without impacting ride quality or require new shocks/struts/springs/tires and I feel this was a good route.

 

Thats pretty much what I was thinking /\ /\ and for a lot less cash too. Thanks for your review.

 

I think I might be adding a rear adjustable bar soon. Did the shocks, springs and upper strut mounts already and have a BMR panhard on the way. Hankooks are in the garage waiting for RTR's. Should handle nice when all comes together. I really dislike the understeer as it is now.
Thanks for the write up.

 

Since you're touching the panhard, you will want to flip the starboard bolt so that it faces the opposite way. This gives you more clearance for using the middle and stiff settings on the adjustable rear bar.

The biggest difference I felt is that I usually have a blast driving my Cobalt SS Turbo because of the factory chassis setup. I always felt my GT was a bit plow friendly, but with the rear bar I actually felt the GT was almost as fun to drive as the Cobalt. The GT still needs better brakes. I could feel some brake fade with the stock pads (Akebono Ceramic, IIRC) after a few hard stops. Once I put on some miles, I will switch to EBC, Ferodo, or Hawk HPS.