The main reason for looking for this info is to design an anti-sway solution (not necessarily a bar) for the 2014+ Mitsubishi Mirage. As some of you know, Darin and I also run
Mirageforum.com. The Mirage is known to soak up bumps really well with its soft suspension. However, along with that soft suspension comes quite a bit of body roll. The solution would be a rear sway bar (the front is already equipped). Ultra Racing does make a rear sway bar, but it is kinda pricey at over $200 delivered. The buyers of this bar LOVE what it does for the car. They say it totally transforms it and makes it so much more enjoyable to drive. So, I've made it a fun side project of trying to figure out another cheaper solution.
My first attempt was made via a suggestion from an
Autospeed article on sway bars. Julian suggested that brackets that clamp around the rear torsion beam, increasing its resistance to twisting, would act similarly to adding a rear sway bar.
So, I designed some and had them made up. The idea is you could add as many clamps as you want to get the sway stiffness you like. I loved this idea as it would be cheap and adjustable.
Clamp design. These clamp tight, not loose.
Example of two clamps on the rear torsion beam.
I was able to borrow a local Mirage owner's car to do the testing (she actually made the clamps for me at the shop she works at).
However, in testing, these made no noticeable effect! I was a bit surprised as the Autospeed article mentioned quite a noticeable difference. So, I went back to the drawing board for a 2nd design like any good engineer!
I came up with the idea of shoving a piece of angle iron up into the torsion beam, and using u-bolt clamps to hold it there. This beam was thick, thicker than the rear beam itself (3/16" vs 1/8"). However, no matter how many u-bolt clamps we put on it, it still made no noticeable difference!
At this point I gave up on the project for the time being. I decided I need to learn a bit more about sway bar design before making another attempt. So, if you have any suggestions, I'm all ears.
