A stock S2000 has an incredible amount of grip and incredible steering response with the stock Bridgestone S02 tires. From the factory, the car is a very neutral and awesome handling car which can partly be attributed to the excellent OEM S02 tires. The stock 205-55/16 front tires are very narrow compared to the rear, pessimistically sized 225-50/16 stock tires (they are more like 245's because of the extremely broad and squared off shoulders). We'll say the ratio of the front tire width to the rear tire width is very small and this combination produces a very neutral characteristic. Things get interesting when you place Kumho V700 autocross tires on in the available 225-50/16 for the fronts and 245-45/16 for the rear. This combination now puts a lot more rubber towards the front than it did on the rear. The ratio of the front tire width to rear tire width has now increased significantly. The race rubber greatly increases the traction of the car, but with more grip in the front, it creates a car with serious oversteering characteristics.

For SCCA Solo2 Stock racing, the front anti-sway bar is permitted to be changed. Therefore many of these racers have concentrated on looking for a solution to tame the S2000's tendency to oversteer through the use of a larger front anti-sway bar. The stiffer front bar effectively saturates the front tires' traction limit faster and shifts the balance of the car back to neutral. See this link for an explanation. However, a super stiff front bar and along with the S2000's very stiff chassis causes the rear inside tire to spin on a hard turn. The lifting causes the rear to lose traction which then creates an oversteering condition again.

Now onto the bar itself.

Measuring the bar's parameters. See table below.

The ends of the bars are splined so that it will mesh with the lever arm and lock in place.

This shows the thickness of the lever arm.

The lever arm has 8 adjustment holes. Using the right most hole creates a longer "moment arm" (longer lever) and therefore a "softer" bar. A longer lever makes it easier to twist the bar, so the bar effectively becomes softer. Using the left most hole creates a shorter "moment arm" ( shorter lever) and therefore a "stiffer" bar. A shorter lever makes it harder to twist the bar, so the bar effectively becomes stiffer. See this link for a full explanation of anti-sway bar theory.

Front Anti-sway Bar Comparison Table

Removing the OEM anti-sway bar is relatively simple. Please consult the Helm Service Manual if you need any further assistance. You'll need an allen wrench and closed box wrench to disconnect the endlink from the bar.

Copyright 2002, Temple of VTEC