Not too long ago I bought a Hotchkis front sway bar for the G37S. This weekend I finally had a chance to test it and see if there is any actual difference in performance. First, let us examine the bars themselves. The bars are labeled in the image, but it is clear that the Hotchkis swaybar is significantly larger than stock Infiniti bar. According to Hotchkis, their bar is 205% stiffer than OEM Sport package bar. What does that translate to on the autoX course?
To find out, I went to a local autox course, and ran about total combined 16 runs split across 4 sessions. First two sessions were 9 runs, which allowed me to get acquainted with the layout of the course, and set some baseline laps. In between session 2 and 3, I jacked the car up, took off the original sway bar and replaced it with Hotchkis unit. Right away I’ve noticed how much more planted the rear of the car is. The one complaint I’ve always had about this car is that the rear is very loose, and doesn’t really give a lot of confidence. That’s definitely not the case now. The new sway bar has increased the front roll stiffness sufficiently to the point where the grip balance is more neutral, and perhaps even leaning towards understeer. In the remaining sessions, I was able to be reacquainted with the car, and relearn some driving techniques, including carrying more speed into the corner, and getting on the throttle earlier.
End result of all this testing was very encouraging. In the stock form I was able to run the course in 41.6 seconds as my fastest time. Once the sway bar was changed, I was able to improve that to 40.8 almost right away, and with a little more confidence boost, I cracked a 40.2 second run. 1.4 seconds on a small mostly tight course. Out of the mixed field, I finished 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] outright, only to be beaten by a supercharged Miata, and Abarth SS on some race tires.
To find out, I went to a local autox course, and ran about total combined 16 runs split across 4 sessions. First two sessions were 9 runs, which allowed me to get acquainted with the layout of the course, and set some baseline laps. In between session 2 and 3, I jacked the car up, took off the original sway bar and replaced it with Hotchkis unit. Right away I’ve noticed how much more planted the rear of the car is. The one complaint I’ve always had about this car is that the rear is very loose, and doesn’t really give a lot of confidence. That’s definitely not the case now. The new sway bar has increased the front roll stiffness sufficiently to the point where the grip balance is more neutral, and perhaps even leaning towards understeer. In the remaining sessions, I was able to be reacquainted with the car, and relearn some driving techniques, including carrying more speed into the corner, and getting on the throttle earlier.
End result of all this testing was very encouraging. In the stock form I was able to run the course in 41.6 seconds as my fastest time. Once the sway bar was changed, I was able to improve that to 40.8 almost right away, and with a little more confidence boost, I cracked a 40.2 second run. 1.4 seconds on a small mostly tight course. Out of the mixed field, I finished 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] outright, only to be beaten by a supercharged Miata, and Abarth SS on some race tires.