Good thing we  got no Moose here!!

Robert K
1982 Westfalia

----- Original Message -----
Wrom: RKJVZ
Sent: Thursday, May 16, 2002 11:04 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: anti-sway bar

>I have been advised by the list that I should be careful on ice
>since I installed the Addco sway bar . Ice is rarely a concern in
>the Pacific Northwest, but we do have rain slick roads. I do not
>notice any adverse handling and just the opposite- the body roll is
>gone, the ride is more stable in wind and cornering is a breeze. I
>think that you can only gain by adding a anti-sway bar. Besides-I
>don't corner hard on ice or in rain or slam on the brakes in these
>conditions! What do you think?

Handling is designed by the auto engineers for worst-case situations.
Just because you corner easily and don't brake hard normally doesn't
mean much.

When that moose leaps off of the ledge right onto the roadway in
front of you when you're barrelling along, *that's* when you need
handling.

Adding a rear sway bar increases oversteer which tends, in these
emergency handling situations, to make the rear end come around in a
turning maneuver.

Most manufacturers prefer to design a car with understeer. That way
there's few surprises; corner hard and the front end just plows
shallow into the turn rather than whips out the rear. Understeer may
or may not be safer, depending on your viewpoint, but oversteer
definitely can be full of surprises in certain situations.

Dave
--
Dave Carpenter

Whatever you wish for me,
May you have twice as much.

"Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think
we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering." -- Arthur C.
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