Kia Forte Forum banner
21 - 35 of 35 Posts
That 'bar' inside the beam is a torsion bar. It's purpose is to act as an anti-roll bar. They are one and the same... and I didn't say I was going to add a sway bar to the Forte, just that I was looking into increasing the sway control of the car. Reverse engineering the torsion bar to a thicker one would be a bit more work than I am into, but you can certainly add a sway bar to the current setup... it's just not that easy to do as there are no mount points for the bar, etc.

We're tossing around a few ideas right now, and will post if I go ahead with things. Have to wait until the summer tires are on to really feel it out on a couple cloverleafs and see what the stock set up is at the limit.

Oh, and how do I like the stability? It's fine, for what it is. I have had some serious performance cars in my time, and I've have some pretty placid couches on wheels. The Forte is certainly near the 'sproty' end of the spectrum - especially with the SX. But it's no Celica or Talon... nor would I expect it to be. It's a lower cost, front wheel drive, four door car with some snort... and it does that very, very well.

Edit: Just happened to have a Koup on the hoist, and we're looking at the beam... and we've got a terrific idea for stiffening the suspension... we'll be doing it in stages, and measuring our results (including a baseline) of the flex at all stages, so you can have your local shop perform the same mods at the degree of stiffness you'd desire. Stay tuned... that'll likely be a May project. Gotta give the street sweepers a chance to chase away the sand.
 
Thanks for the pics, but that's not a sway bar unless it attaches to the suspension. This LOOKS like simply a re-enforcement of the torsion beam. Any pics showing where it attaches to the suspension?

Kia literature(all) clearly states "MacPherson strut front suspension with sway bar, torsion beam rear suspension with coil springs..."(meaning traditional shocks). They would have stated the rear suspension has a sway bar, if that was the case.

A sway bar needs to attach to both the subframe and suspension via bushings and couplings. I'm not seeing this on the rear suspension of my Kia. Basically, there's no need for a sway bar with a torsion beam rear suspension. The torsion beam itself acts as a sway bar, providing the rigidity between wheels.
 
That 'bar' inside the beam is a torsion bar. It's purpose is to act as an anti-roll bar. They are one and the same... and I didn't say I was going to add a sway bar to the Forte, just that I was looking into increasing the sway control of the car. Reverse engineering the torsion bar to a thicker one would be a bit more work than I am into, but you can certainly add a sway bar to the current setup... it's just not that easy to do as there are no mount points for the bar, etc.

We're tossing around a few ideas right now, and will post if I go ahead with things. Have to wait until the summer tires are on to really feel it out on a couple cloverleafs and see what the stock set up is at the limit.

Oh, and how do I like the stability? It's fine, for what it is. I have had some serious performance cars in my time, and I've have some pretty placid couches on wheels. The Forte is certainly near the 'sproty' end of the spectrum - especially with the SX. But it's no Celica or Talon... nor would I expect it to be. It's a lower cost, front wheel drive, four door car with some snort... and it does that very, very well.
Agreed...Forte is a nice inexpensive compact and definitley the suspension is tuned to the stiffer end of the spectrum, especially on SX models.

Yes, actually adding a swar bar to the rear would be very involved AND with the torsion beam already performing that function, you'd get some potentially undesirable characteristcs...nasty wheel hop to name just one.
 
the rear of a forte koup has -1.50 camber angle to the rear on both said maybe a little more or a little less . my koup handles really well havent tested it out on some of the old mountin road i used to race my nova on . and yes the little voice in my head says take that corner fast everytime i get to drive it . my koup has almost a full degree negative camber in the front (-1.00) . yeah the strut bar is a waste of money since it only has shocks on the rear not struts . I want to do the lowering springs on it but that wont be for some time . i have the stock good year eagle ls 2 on mine but when it needs new tires it will be getting something better put on it from the goodyear line since i work for a goodyear tire dealer . just from driving that car its like driving a toy that handles good and i drive alot of stuff since i am a alignment tech . hankooks are ok but good year or michellins , bfg just my personal preferance .
 
A true sway bar's function is to keep one shock/side/wheel from compressing excessively while cornering. I don't see how that rod inside the hard axle(beam) can do this. It can't act in that way thru its setup on this car.

It looks to me like it's there simply to add rigidity to the beam itself. Why they didn't actually design added rigidity into the beam itself is anyone's guess...although a possible reason is that this particular hard axle(beam) is not used only in the Forte, but also lesser Kia's, where addtl stiffness isn't necessary or wanted.
 
Discussion starter · #28 · (Edited)
the rear of a forte koup has -1.50 camber angle to the rear on both said maybe a little more or a little less . my koup handles really well havent tested it out on some of the old mountin road i used to race my nova on . and yes the little voice in my head says take that corner fast everytime i get to drive it . my koup has almost a full degree negative camber in the front (-1.00) . yeah the strut bar is a waste of money since it only has shocks on the rear not struts . I want to do the lowering springs on it but that wont be for some time . i have the stock good year eagle ls 2 on mine but when it needs new tires it will be getting something better put on it from the goodyear line since i work for a goodyear tire dealer . just from driving that car its like driving a toy that handles good and i drive alot of stuff since i am a alignment tech . hankooks are ok but good year or michellins , bfg just my personal preferance .
Thanks, but what about the size of the tires my stock tires are (205/55) 16" rims
 
Ok Silver2010, you'll need to crawl under the car and take a good look at the mount points of the torsion bar. It is welded to the very outer arm of the suspension, and not to the reinforcement plates visible in the photo above. I can illustrate this better once I am home, but believe me (And everyone else) that this really is a stabilizer/sway/anti-roll bar. Without it the rear end would be ridiculously loose, and feel like a Crown Victoria... Once you are under there and see how it actually all fits together, you'll understand where we are coming from.

The 'beam' that runs across from left to right is actually a very weak piece, as it is just glorified angle-iron, and most people know that they are all but useless in torsional resistance. The bar is what does that job, stiffens the entire rear end, and plays a critial role in anti-roll.

Someone mentioned wheel hop - that only happens on driven solid axles, and should be a completely impossible feat in a Forte's rear. And for the post above, Top Speed is obviously mistaken.
 
Any update on this?

Rear strut bar on a Forte is a waste of money, and is simply cosmetic. Quite frankly the Forte doesn't have rear struts... so all you're doing is adding a thin tube of cheap metal that looks cool to people who 'just don't know better'.

You'll get a billion times better handling improvements by tires first, springs/shocks second, and possibly a stiffer anti-roll set up. I will be delving deeper into anti-roll over the next few months, as the torsion bar set up adds challenges to design and installation. I like a car that handles flat, and let's the tires do the talking, so that's where I'll be looking to spend my money. Now that the roads are drying up in my area, "The Call Of The Hard Corner" is stirring in my soul.

Spend money on tires, first. This has got to be the number one thing for everyone to beat into their heads. If you want to go fast, better tires. If you want handling, better tires. If you want better braking, better tires. If you want to rice your ride and look uber pimp... you better be flossin some dope skins. Yo. *Ok, seriously... I am so white, I'm Casper... so that's extra funny*
 
With stock setup, the SX was stable at 110 mph on highway, with a bit of floating feeling, though. At 90 degree turn at small/medium sized intersections, it's okay to be in 3rd gear (instead of typical 2nd gear) to go into the turn. If the road is dry, 45 mph was not a problem. I did not push higher.
 
21 - 35 of 35 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top