Suspension (4.2 vs R vs Sport)

Hopefull, someone will know this and can help.

Does anyone know if the STR "Front" sway bar is thicker/stiffer than the standard S-Type 4.2?
And if so, will the STR sway bar fit on a standard S-Stype 4.2?

Thanks,
Brian

 

From what I can tell by looking through the parts catalog, the only difference between the not-CATS Sport Supension and Standard 4.2 is the shock they run. Same spring and same stabilizer bar. So all that is required on the suspension side of the house to get the Sport Suspension "Only" would be to install either the OEM or the Bilstein B4 Sport Shocks.

CATS suspension does also show with and without supercharger shocks.
So the R and the Sport are running different shocks from eachother even with both running CATS.


They do have a surperchaged sway bar for the front/rear as well as a non-supercharged version.

The Front appears to run the same endlinks mounting brackets and bushings. So they would appear to be the same diameter, length and mounting points. I know they are different parts but the same diameter. But, I do not know if it is a more rigid sway bar.

The Rear appears to run the same endlinks and mounting brackets. This tells me they are the same length. The bar and bushings are differnt from the non-supercharged version. This tells me they are different diameters, but do not know if it is thicker, thinner, softer or more rigid.

I am sure somone has more information that I was able to acheive by looking at the catalog. If any of this is incorrect, please let me know.

 

Brian, thanks for looking all that up. Answers most of my questions on suspension. It confirms what I was thinking of as my approach to getting slightly more control and firmness in the handling/feel: First, go with a more sporting tire with less flex and better response (and better grip), probably on 18" wheels (looking at Coventry Hornet 18"x8.5"). If that is not quite enough, replace the shock absorbers with Bilstein B4 Sport or the OEM sport shocks. Also look at any suspension bushings needing attention (though there are no suspension noises an no slop currently). I do not want to mess much with the Jag suspension forumula becuase I think it's a great combination of comfort and control -- I don't want a hard uncompromising ride -- I would just like it to be noticeably tighter but still Jaggish in character. Different deal probably than those with STRs prefer, because they have the potential for more forces for the suspension to manage and a more hard-core character.

 

Tires (245/45r17)
Contiental ExtremeContact DWS
Bridgestone Potenza RE970 AS Pole Position

Shocks
Bilstein 24-067430 front
Bilstein 24-067720 rear

Hopefully that will give me the ride and cornering I am looking for.
If not, I may see about changing the sway bars, and if it still doesnt work, a higher rate spring. I would be curios to find out the stock spring rates.
(4.2 Standard, CATS supercharged and CATS non-supercharged)

 

I was searching back through posts on Bilstein shocks, and found this from bfsgross on 2013-01-30 in the thread "Need Help w/ STR Suspension (Bilstein)": "The Bilstien "Sport" struts, which mine presently wears, are too soft (inadequate dampening) with the H&R Sport springs." That's exactly what I was thinking. (I think bfsgross replaced the CATS shocks on his STR with the B4 Sports due to CATS problems.) Something to keep in mind if you're ever considering changing the springs on a non-R. EDIT/ADD: But then, QuartzSTypeR wrote in the same thread in response, "Personally, I don't think the non-CATS struts are too soft; ... I think my car rides better now with the non-CATS struts + H&R springs than it did with CATS struts and stock springs (with 50k miles), so I feel it is an improvement for me."

Those Bilstein part numbers were what I was looking at, too. It's confusing though, with there also being the 24-067447 part number for front sport suspension with the additional descriptor, "from 4/02" and the 24-067454 PN for rear sports "from 4/02". I ran searches on the forum for the part numbers and got no results. (Surprisingly. Is there a problem with the search tool finding numbers? Because there is at least one post with "24-067430" in it -- brianshaw009's).

 

yeah, that was confusing when I looked at all the bilstein shock options. I will probably call them before ordering anything.

 

I had the Conti DW tires and they were great in both wet and dry. I haven't tried the DWS but they should be a great all season tire.