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NOOB Here: Sway/Strut Bar Questions

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Accessories and Modifications' started by Italofontana, Jan 13, 2015.

  1. Italofontana

    Italofontana New Member

    Joined:
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    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
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    Hello Prius Chat! Myself and my girlfriend recently (December 29th, 2014) purchased 2 brand new 2015 Prius II’s. She went with the Sea Foam Green and I with the Winter Gray. We are absolutely ecstatic about our new cars. We love the fuel economy and the comfort/features. So far I have done the following to my car:

    Plasti-Dip Emblems
    Window Tint

    I love my Prius and find myself scouring Prius Chat for things to do to it! I have a question regarding ride stability/chassis flexing. Let me first say that I am in NO WAY mechanically inclined, I understand the basics but have never really done any work to any of my past cars. Here is my question:

    When driving down the freeway, let’s say 70-80 mph I find the car feels very “flexy” or “twisty”. I wish I could describe it better and hope someone out there knows what I’m talking about.

    My last car was a 02’ VW GTI VR6 that I loved the feel of. Very stable, fast, and it whipped around corners. I understand the Prius is a completely different automobile and I in no way expect it to perform like the GTI. I do however want to improve this “twisty” feeling. From what I’ve seen/read online it seems like a front/rear sway or strut bar are what I need. I am not familiar with these items, I get the general gist of what they do and where they go but I’m wondering if any of you can help me better understand the following:
    1. Which bars/product should I get? Brand? Do I need front and back?
    2. Install, is this something I can do myself? I have a garage to work in with basic tools but like I said I am not mechanically inclined. I know there are step by step tutorials on how to install but I’m wondering if someone with no expertise can handle it.
    3. If strut/sway bars are NOT the way to go then what do I do to improve the twisty/flexy feeling I am experiencing.
    Thank you in advance for any information/help you can provide. I am so excited to be a part of this community and look forward to connecting with everyone and giving back in any way I can.

    P.S. I live in Orange County, CA. If there is anyone out there interested in meeting up to discuss stuff I would be interested in doing so, always looking to meet cool new people with similar interests.
     
    #1 Italofontana, Jan 13, 2015
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    II
    Get some 17" wheels and it should help your "twisty" feeling go away. You'll lose about 2 mpg in the process.....
     
    #2 JC91006, Jan 13, 2015
  3. Italofontana

    Italofontana New Member

    Joined:
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    Vehicle:
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    Thanks for the info but I would rather not do anything with wheels/tires right now. I am more interested in the bars.
     
    #3 Italofontana, Jan 13, 2015
  4. Darkhelmet

    Darkhelmet Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 26, 2014
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    SoCal
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius Plug-in
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    Plug-in Advanced
    I know exactly what you're talking about. Before getting the bars, try setting your tire pressure to 42 front, 40 rear and drive it around. it will make a little difference. The Prius will never drive like your GTI but you get used to it. I am still debating the sway bar myself.
     
    #4 Darkhelmet, Jan 13, 2015
    Italofontana likes this.
  5. lester williams

    lester williams Member

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    Location:
    mississippi
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    First,, allow me to say, welcome to this fine forum. I bought my first Prius in June, after driving a Lexus RX350 and a Corvette [ multiples of both ] and readily can affirm your ''problem''. What I did was to first have the dealer install a factory TRD sway bar,,not enough. I then went with 16'' new wheels and the Michelin ''Premier'' ties in 215-55-16'' tires and that helped a lot---- after some member here said that the factory Yokohama tires tend to ''wander'' and follow road ruts. Still not satisfied, I added the mid and front ''Cusco'' under chassis braces, and finally added the ''Cusco'' FST brace--- fine enough for me now. Probably--- as another member suggested above, another set of tires will solve a lot of this, though. Eventually I will put my factory wheels and tires back on as I have beefed the suspension up, and plan to see if I can get 300,000 on this car. Hope this helps, it would be different for me if I had to do this to two of them.........
     
    #5 lester williams, Jan 13, 2015
  6. Burna J

    Burna J Knot Right Performance....

    Joined:
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    #6 Burna J, Jan 17, 2015
  7. ZBrink

    ZBrink Member

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    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    I too am very interested in these after market suspension upgrades as well like the strut tower brace, rear sway bar and various chassis stiffeners. Do any of them make a real impact on daily street driving?
     
    #7 ZBrink, Jan 30, 2015
  8. ePrius

    ePrius Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    NJ
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    I have Tanabe Struct Tower Bar, Tanabe Front Sway Bar, TRD Rear Sway Bar and Tanabe Sustec Front Underbrace installed.

    The difference is night and day. A more solid feel on the highway; no body roll.
     
    #8 ePrius, Jan 30, 2015
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