gr8nine93

I am looking at sway bars. Have H&R springs with stock sways. Trying to keep ride smooth and the propaganda says it is good compromise product. ANyone tried them?
http://www.thepartsbin.com/catalog/p...limit=0&page=2

Mark in Baltimore

Never heard of them. If it were me, I'd just stick with TRG bars. Wait, that's what I did do.

gr8nine93

Mark:
There is someone selling some used TRGs here but it sounds like they produce a really harsh ride. I mean they are 24 and 26mm. Pretty hefty. WHat do you think? ANd if not Intrax why not H&Rs to match my springs?

Martin S.

We read, "Intrax Sway Bar

INTRAX ANTI ROLL BAR KIT -- Front 23mm, Rear 20mm, This Kit Is Engineered Specifically For This Application To Provide Racecar Handling And Response Without Sacrificing Ride Quality, It Is Designed To Replace The Original Equipment Bars And Utilize All Of The Factory Mounting Points, Manufactured To Meet Or Exceed Original Equipment Specifications And Are Powder Coated In Rich Purple, Includes Manufacturer's Limited Lifetime Warranty. Free Shipping on Orders Over $50. Price: $427.95"

Sounds too good to be true....without going into all the details, save your pennies, and get the 993 RS bars and drop links. They were designed by Porsche for the 993. 23mm front, 20mm rear. They will fit and probably won't clunk. They are 5 way adjustable front, 3 way adjustable rear. If you don't track the car much, adjustable bars are a waste of money IMHO.

The bad news, the 993 RS bars are expensive...Steve Weiner or Viper Bob can fix you up. With suspension, you get what you pay for...plus if you ever sell the car, having Porsche parts always helps....you wont have to explain away some after-market product such as INTRAX or TRGs.

I have no experience with INTRAX, but personally, based on my experience with the bars, I think TRGs suck...they don't have welded collars, and if the allen nut secured collars come loose (mine did!), the bars will slide to one side or another throwing off the drop link geometry...end result, broken drop links and/or broken drop link mounting bracket. TRG bars are about $600, 993 RS bars are about $1,800. It's the damn dollar against the Euro that is driving the price up.

If I had to do it over and I could live without the adjustibility feature (I cant!), I'd get the 22mm 993 M030 (RoW) bar and the 21mm 993TT Euro rear bar. On the rear bar, there is enough room to punch and additional hole for rear sway bar stiffening up. The rear bars are easy to adjust, adjustable fronts are a PITA, having to remove the wheels to get at the drop links, and you must go through some personal contortions to get at the drop links.

These Porsche bars are cheap...have welded collars and they are made for your car....all IMHO of course.

4X4SCHE

I've got the RS bars, they sell for a ridiculous price. TRG are finicky and problematic. Intrax is a well respected Dutch company. I would not hesitate to buy a bent piece of metal from them, Porsche don't have any magic technology in this simple component. As long as they fit OK you are good to go. Martin S has given you good advice on the OEM 22mm and 21mm Porsche bars, a good option.

Martin S.

We see above, "Intrax is a well respected Dutch company. I would not hesitate to buy a bent piece of metal from them, Porsche don't have any magic technology in this simple component."

This is good to know...and agreed, a sway bar is not a high tech item as long as the diameter is as stated and it is true (It fits!)

There web site gives you an idea of what they are all about: INTRAX www.intraxsuspension.com/profile.html

Mark in Baltimore

Intrax may well indeed be a respected company but I have never heard of the application for the 993, at least here in the US. If one were to buy them, one would have to be willing to perhaps be a bit of a pioneer with them. Perhaps.

These are 26mm front/24mm rear, yes? Either way, I think 26/24 sizes are way too big and too much bar for the car.

The RS bars are great and probably the right size for a pure race car if you have enough spring (700lb+/900lb+), but they are very pricey. Despite various exhortations from others on this board regarding the noise from the TRG bars, I have not had any issues with them and think they offer excellent performance at a fair price. And, no, the ride is not that bad with them and certainly not discernibly worse than the RS bars. I'd had both of them.

My rear TRG bar is set at full soft, so I can't add anymore understeer without losing overall grip (i.e. stiffening the front would add understeer at the expense of less grip), but, frankly, my car is so absolutely perfect and incredibly easy to drive that I don't need to monkey around with anything for a while.

Martin S.

Mark writes, "The RS bars are great and probably the right size for a pure race car if you have enough spring (700lb+/900lb+), but they are very pricey. Despite various exhortations from others on this board regarding the noise from the TRG bars, I have not had any issues with them and think they offer excellent performance at a fair price. And, no, the ride is not that bad with them and certainly not discernibly worse than the RS bars. I'd had both of them.

My rear TRG bar is set at full soft, so I can't add anymore understeer without losing overall grip (i.e. stiffening the front would add understeer at the expense of less grip), but, frankly, my car is so absolutely perfect and incredibly easy to drive that I don't need to monkey around with anything for a while."

Mark, using the TRG bars, has his car perfected. In my case, I drive high speed tracks, and some with very tight turns where induced oversteer (Lift the throttle to rotate the car) is just fine. I need to be able to make adjustments to the rear bar, or at least I think I do....I wonder what Mark's front bar is set to? Enlighten us Sir Mark

Lots of folks run 993RS bars with PSS9s, M030 (RoW) and they are just fine...agreed, very pricy. TRG is a bargain...and clearly the Dutch bars at under $500. Spring rates on M030 (Row) is 150 front, 300 rear, on the PSS9s, 250 front and 450 rear. The 993RS bars do work well with these spring rates in my experience...I have driven a 993 so set up.

You may want to buy the Dutch bars on a "trial" basis...see how they fit. If they do fit well, they are the bargain of the century! Bottom line, there is no right or wrong answer, it is once again a matter of personal preference: There are so many sway bar options, some cheap and some not so cheap. If money were no object, I'd plug in the 993 RS bars....use the springs, shocks and tires as the main suspension, and some fine little (23mm front 20mm rear) sway bars to fine tune the balance of the car.

Mark in Baltimore

Hey, Martin,

I believe my front bar is set in the middle. At first the overall settings "seemed" incorrect on paper, but I couldn't argue with the results. I think it's set-up very well for trail-braking and is a very good car to carry a ton of speed into the fast corners.

Martin S.

don't fix it. If it works for you, fantastic.

I set my front bar in the middle, and fine tune with the rear bar, full soft on the big tracks, full stiff on the short tracks...works for me.

And for you preverts, no double entendre intended or implied!

Joseph65

Where can I get TRG front and rear sway bars at a reasonable price here in So.Cal.?

TheOtherEric

TRG bars used to be 25.4mm front / 22mm rear. Did that change?? Like Mark said, they're too stiff. I keep my front at full soft and would prefer softer.

These Intrax bars are the same size as RS bars, which IMHO are a great size. Three issues:
1) Like TRG bars, they don't appear to have the welded collars. That's bad. I drilled a hole and stuck a spring pin behind the collars, else the bar bangs left & right.
2) The shape of the frone bar seems a little goofy, so the effective stiffness might actually be less. Does that look factory?
3) Unlike RS bars, they aren't adjustable.

Martin S.

You have heard from The Other Eric...he speaks the truth, volumes at that.

Let me reiterate, the TRG bars have no bloody welded collars to keep them from sliding side to side. They will slide under track conditions...I know this from personal experience...they suck.

Next, they are to big...you don't need a 25mm front bar, or a 22mm rear bar for that matter. The 993RS bars of 23mm front and 20mm rear are perfect...and they fit, designed bt Porsche for the 993RS and 993 RS CS (Club Sport).

Sway bars are not a huge install. If you are Jonesing for sway bars, get the M030 (RoW) 22mm front and the 993 TT RoW 21mm rear, for now, less than $300 + you may be able to use stock drop links....then, save your money and buy the real deal, the 993 RS bars...yes its about $1,800, but just as in divorce, why does it cost so much?

Because its worth it!

Don't waste your time with the TRG bars...yuk!

gr8nine93

Have further researched Intrax bars and they are merely a replacement for the OEM bars. No improvement in performance.

TheOtherEric

I'm not sure I'd quite say that. They're sized at 23mm(F) and 20mm (R), so they're a LOT bigger than OEM. They're the same size as RS bars, but just not adjustable.
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US:
- Carrera: 20/17
- Carrera M030: 22/20
- Carrera S/4S: 20/17
- Carrera S/4S M030: 22/18
- Turbo: 22/19

ROW:
- Carrera: 21/18
- Carrera M030: 22/20
- Carrera S/4S: 20/18
- Carrera S/4S M030: 22/20
- Turbo: 22/21
- RS: 23/20 (adjustable)