Sway Bar
TL;DR - I cannot believe I could FEEL a difference even at 40 mph. One of the best bang for buck mods I did not expect!
Recommendations -
- Semi-know your way around a tool box before attempting. Its straight-forward but helps to have specific tools
- If you have a handheld cordless Impact Driver (I have a DeWalt), it makes this job go so much faster
- You need a set of Triple Squares (multi-point sockets)
- I also recommend using ramps so the car is under load, which helps keep the geometry even and easy to bolt in
- I also recommend the Neuspeed billet endlinks, which I also used. I was surprised to find out our suspension endlinks are........plastic! I mean high strength resin impregnated...but still! I guess I should not be surprised....the sump and radiator reserviors are too lol
Total install took about an hour...although I was interrupted briefly by an earthquake (Yeay California!). Shot out from under the car right quick lol
No real lessons to be learned. The instructions were straightforward, although I DID also watch this install video on my phone while I did it. I dig all his tutorials -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_E3FrjT2VM
In the Blake's Garage video above, he used the 034 motorsports Rear Sway. Its a little less beefy at 22mm (and change), whereas the Neuspeed is 25mm....but! I love those 034 brackets that have grease nipples on them! The Neu unit reuses the OEM bracket.
I set mine up on the firmest of the two settings and wow. It tracks like a slot car. I never realized how much roll the S3 had until it didnt. Highly recommend this mod. I cannot see any issues or longterm problems from doing this.
The only REAL challenge I ran into was when I went to put IN the Neuspeed Sway Bar...like actually put it in place. Getting the stock one out, even with the exhaust dropped, was a little bit of a bugger because it bangs around even trying to be careful. Its hard for me to imagine the extra thickness on the Neuspeed unit made it that much harder to put into place....but something did. Its a combination of solving a puzzle, playing Tetris, and pulling down your exhaust further than youll be comfortable doing.
Spacers
I spaced my wheels out using the 10mm ECS spacers and +10mm lugbolts I also ordered with them to maintain the same thread depth as well as wheellock lug bolts. I do not plan at this point to space the front, so the downside is I may have to use a cutoff wheel and trim the two front locking lugbolts down 10mm to be appropriate.
The only reason I did the spacer mod is to make the rears flush to the fenders when at a standstill, but *JUST* clear if ever fully compressed on a turn. I run a 235 width tire, which pulls the sidewalls slightly inward towards the center of the wheel.
The ECS units are well-made, but ill tell you - I have used spacers before and I was ever so slightly unnerved when I set them onto the hubring on the rotor, and there was the tiniest bit of slop. Why does that matter? Well at 80mph you will feel vibration! So, I still moved forward and resolved to just remove them after a test drive if I felt any shenanigans. I was really hoping for an airtight fit. And by slop, I mean like 1/100's of an inch...if that.
So I put them on, torqued down on the lugs in a star-pattern.....and torqued again....and yet again. It was weird. I kept having to star-pattern as after "bolt 4" would click, I would get back around to doublecheck it and it would move a little more before the click. This was true of all the bolts, as I was just saying Bolt 4 as an example. They finally all settled down. In hindsight, I think I was not giving the ECS design enough credit. My hunch is they have engineered in a little bit of squish on the aluminum spacer the more you tighten it, ensuring a 100% centric fit. This was proven when I went for a drive, expecting some vibration at 80+. Nothing...not a glitch. I even went higher, then let the car coast to decel...all the way down to 50....and no vibrations at all. Bravo, ECS.
The spacers also give the rear a slightly wider rear track...which is negligible and I wont notice but ill tell you...all things above combined made for a fun ride tonight. Turns were so planted!
So in Summary - I recommend the sway bar upgrade no matter the brand...but ive always been a Neuspeed fan.
Next Up - H&R Sport Springs. Im leery to install them as they sit new in a box in my garage...as its already a stiff ride for me.
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