Cheap suspension upgrade: Front and rear sway bar?

You can put a Corolla/Matrix 24mm TRD REAR bar on your car. They are just a tad over $100. But I've checked with TRD and the rep that I spoke to did not recommend it since it was not made specifically for the Prius, even though it would fit. Some members here reported good improvement with one member who appeared to be familiar with high-speed driving says that this size bar does make the tail happy. personally I would love to put a 24 mm bar on my Prius, but I am uncomfortable with the idea of putting something on the car that was not designed for it. I mean if it fits, TRD would have approved it for the Prius but there's probably a reason that they did not. Perhaps maybe its just as simple as them not doing any significant testing.

The front-size bar on the Base Prius I believe is 20 mm. The Touring is 22 mm.

The rear is 19mm for the Base, and 20 mm for the Touring I think.

 

I'm not aware of any other cars that use the same/similar front sway bar, so getting the touring bar is probably your best bet there.

In the rear - if the stock Corolla/Matrix bar is 20mm+ it will be cheap to find from a pick & pull place or similar.

 

It's stiffness (modulus of elasticity) that matters not strength and all steels are about the same stiffness (29-30EE6 lb/in^2) in the elastic region where the bars work.:rockon:

The thing to watch for when comparing stiffness is if one is hollow or hollower than the other.

 

Let us know what you find (tubular vs solid) in the boneyards. Tubular cost a bit more to make but save weight so stock Prius would have reason to be tubular. They went to great lengths to reduce Prius weight, but I don't think they went tubular on the bars for some reason.

 

The 9th gen Corolla bars will fit. The rear is 20mm.
The front however is 24mm. I've had them all on my '08. I'm currently running a TRD rear bar with the OEM Prius front bar. I autocross and the Corolla front bar caused too much understeer while racing however, was AWESOME on the street. You probably won't notice much difference using the OEM Corolla rear bar. If I remember correctly, the Corolla bar is solid whereas the Touring Prius bar is hollow. The only issue I've had with the TRD rear bar was the bar shifting in the beam after a few hundred miles. I installed Corolla mounting bolts and this solved the problem. Feel free to ask any other questions you may have.

 

Yep, just keep in mind, to install the front bar you'll need to remove the center section of the exhaust.

 

Can someone confirm the stock front sway bar on the Corolla 2003-2007 is 24mm? Does TRD make one that is maybe say 26mm?

 

I can confirm that it is 24mm. TRD makes a front/rear set for Corolla/Matrix however it is rather rare (expensive, so I hear) so I'm unsure the size of the front bar.

24mm stock 03-08 Corolla front sway bar and 24mm TRD rear Corolla/Matrix sway bar makes for a rather nice handling Prius.

 

I have the 24mm Matrix front bar on my car now and can verify that is a straight replacement for the stock bar, (mine was 20mm). That one part made the single biggest handling/stability improvement on my car.

And, just so you know, I have the BT under chassis brace, the BT front strut tower brace, TRD struts and coils on all 4 corners and 17" Gram Lite wheels and finally the Matrix rear bar.

 

Michael,

What model years Matrix has the compatible 24mm bar? Want to ensure I get the right one.

 

I will pull the paperwork for the part number and post it.

 

I'm assuming you'll need the larger bushings for the bar as well. How about the brackets?

 

OK, you will need the bar and the bushings, not the brackets.

Bar: 48811-AB011 Bar, Stabilizer, FR

Bushings: 48815-02100 Bush, Stabilizer (2 needed)

That will get it done for you.
Michael

 

Thanks, Michael!

 

U R welcome.