New Secret Suspension Weapon...

We replace these all the time on the WRX's and EVO's. They make a big difference on the track... So I got some from Agency Power to test the prototype... What ya think!

That looks pretty cool... that is aluminum I assume? So, the idea is to have less body roll and better response? I assume so since they will be connecting the sway bars more rigidly to the suspencion... So, it looks like you have them installed already, what do you think? Does it make a difference? Where/how did you get them?

Hey Let me know how those work out!

Can you explain what difference they make on the street or track?

Thanks for the responses. The links are 6061 Aluminum. All CNC Machined. They use spherical bearings, stainless steel collars, and stainless steel hardware. A sway bar link is what ties the sway bar to the hard part of your car. Some cars it is the chassis, the control arm, or in this case, it goes to the bottom of the shock body. When you look at the factory link, you see it is very thin and has a rubber boot and bushing. Over time, like all suspension parts and moving parts, they wear out. So first benefit is longevity. In hard driving conditions, AutoX or Road Racing, the factory links are put under alot of tension moving about. They will flex, sometimes break, but usually when paired with a larger sway bar, they flex. 2nd benefit is strength and rigidity. These are prototype, so not anodized or engraved. But when finished, they will look COOL under the car! The overall benefit is to improve handling. Added rigidity and stiffness while reducing flex will give you more control over the cars handling. For weekend racers this is done by sway bars, strut bars, coilovers or springs to start. The sway bar links are just another advantage. As far as street driving...well I put them on last night and drove home. So no real testing yet. First...no clunking or noise, that means they are made with tight tolerances. We do have a track event next week which I will put them through. I will be matching them with a H&R sway bar as well.

They look pretty cool, but I doubt that the average soul is going to notice any improvement on the road. It's propably ok for track though. You better do something about protecting those open sperical bearings, otherwise road dirt/water spray will sort them out pronto.

Actually if you drive your car hard, whether on the street or track, you WILL notice a tighter rear in turning. With the stock or aftermarket sway bar the reduced flex will stiffin up the car. You dont have to protect the bearing...we have been running these on Japanese and other cars for years with no issues. In fact, the spherical bearings last MUCH longer then a urethane bushing and have less noise. That is also why we use all STAINLESS STEEL so no rust, no break, no concerns!

I noticed your other post for the shift linkage. Do you also do ads for parts from other manufacturers than Agency Power?

Any idea on how much they will cost?

$200/pair ish... They will be anodized gold with AP logo on them for the production models. About 2 weeks away. If your interested just PM me.

Niffty looking piece although "secret suspension weapon" might be overselling it a bit. It might be interesting to put them only on the back to see if they reduce understeer. It's been my experience that the value of changing sway bars on a 996 is gaining the ability to separately adjust the front and the back, not stiffening them. We run ours pretty soft. Also, if you are going to spend the money on drop links wouldn't you be better off with ones that are adjustable? I'm not bashing them. I'm just not sure I see the value. Jim

Jim... Thanks for the post. Definitely not selling anything, just promoting new products for the 996. Sorry for the confusion if it misled you. As far as the sways, putting bigger sway bars does stiffen the car giving you adjustments with both over and understeer. For those reading...oversteer is having the rear end come around better, and understeer is when the car pushes. With rear wheel drive you definitely want a balance. Some of us like the feeling of drifting and a rear sway bar is sufficient. The sway links do not need to be adjustable as having them move up or down would not be beneficial because of the clearance issues, but the adjustability is more important in the sway bar. Having a solid drop link will give you more rigidity. We all have our different driving styles and this just my opinion and how we dial cars in for our racing. I think drivers will find this as a great addition to their suspension components as well.

From a mechanical engineering standpoint, these are loaded in tension and compression. I dont really see the standard links being compliant enough to worry about. Although, I have seen 993 rear ARB droplinks break. Nice looking product! I would look into a sealed rose joint instead of the open type you have pictured. Road grime will get in there and accelerate wear. Then they will be noisy.. Keep up the good work!

Vivid, We should clarify what we are talking about for those that are just thinking about changing sway bars and haven't worked with them yet. Of course, it is adjusting the stiffness of your sway bars that change the handling of the car, not adjusting the drop link. The reason I like adjustable (length) drop links is to ensure that you have your sway bars working at the proper angle regardless of how you have your sway bars and ride height adjusted. Regarding, stiffening. Stiffening sway bars reduces body-roll but also reduces grip. Unless you have a big body-roll problem, softer is generally better. As I said, the real value of new sway bars is to adjust the relative grip between the front and back, not to stiffen the car. It has been our experience that the 996 likes fairly soft sway bar settings. Just my 2 cents worth. Jim

Completely understand. BTW you can call me Dan As far as adjusting the sway bar links, when using the factory sway bars or aftermarket, they sit in the same position and function the same as where the factory sway links sit. The reason we did not make them adjustable as changing the degree whether they are up or down is not as important as the side to side flex they experience. Not sure which sway bars you are using, but I do not understand what you mean by soft? Putting ANY aftermarket sway bar on will be beefer then the factory unless they sell a smaller rear. Not sure what you mean by grip either? The sway bars in essence effect how the car points. IE on the street, do you want it to point towards the curb in a hard turn (understeer) or do you want it to snap around and point through the turn (oversteer). The true purpose of sway bars is adding stiffness, handling characteristics, and changing driving dynamics. Like I said before...personally I want a stiffer rear do have the car "drift" more through hard turns. But a daily driver or inexperienced racer could run a front as well to have a balanced car. The best part about forums is that we are both right, as vehicle setup, driving, and tuning are different from every angle. There is no right or wrong way!

dan, what's the rest of your suspension? i'd opt for different links if they were adjustable, but if they were identical in demension and function to the oem peices, i'd see little reason to change them. the ball joints as others stated, are a source of future headaches unless you're always under your car tweaking, cleaning, etc.

Fahren - I am running the JIC FLTA2 Coilovers, H&R sway bars (soon), Agency Power sway bar links, we are working on beefer front and rear strut bars, Sparco B Pillar Harness Bar, and we are also finishing a BEEFER rear under brace. on to the question... Actually...still missing the point. Look at the factory links, then look at the aftermarket links. See the size, shape, material. When your car is in a turn, that sway bar is tweaking those links. When they flex, you lose rigidity, which means you lose handling. Because of the thickness of these links, they DO NOT flex. Keep your firm handling and improving performance. As far as the "Open Bearing" below I will show you other links. I have been running these style links on cars for years, bottom line they work. No headaches. Thats why there is stainless steel hardware. Spherical bearings DO NOT squeak and make noise or wear out like bushings, that is why they are better. Look at products from companies like Hotchkis, Whiteline, Perrin, and others. Most all race cars use Heim Joints which are very similar, nobody makes a Enclosed unit, not needed. I have NEVER had to clean these and I have daily driven, road raced, traveled, and used the ones on my previous cars with never a issue. I can assure each user of this product a noticeable difference and no needed maintenance. Look at the other links below to see how they are designed for other cars -

I'm with JimB on this one. I have the trg adjustable drops for the front but the only reason for them was because the stock ones were too long to give me the full range of adjustment. I run the stock drops in the rear. I have a few friends who runs the cut and welded stock drop links with no problems. I felt no difference when our cars were set at the same settings between the stock and my trgs. JimB is definitely right in that running the bars stiffer does both reduce body roll AND grip. I am running mine full soft front and 1 from full soft rear with pss9's 4/3. It's a cool deal in some respects as it is cheaper than the trg bars, otherwise I believe it's not necessary at all. The 996 also does not benefit from any strut tower braces or other types mentioned previous period- This issue has been dead for years. Furhtermore it would appear that there would be a lot of play without proper bushings used how the bar mounts on the bolt to the link, which would destroy any possible benefit of any "flex" in the drop and be actually worse than the stock drop-

Ok... There is no play with the endlinks to the bars, hence why they are a improvement over stock. As far as strut bars being a benefit...dont care what anyone says, many cars have built in strut bars. My EVO VIII did, put a beefer application on and there is a difference. Different drivers, different styles... Anytime you can reduce body flex and keep rigidity, the car, on a track, will handle better. Takes tires and a good driver too. BTW if ANYONE is in the AZ area we are having a BIG track event at PIR on Jan 8-9. Will happily give demo rides. Let me know!

Right that is why there is one built into the 996 from the factory hence the need for NO aftermarket one it's been discussed to death in the archives if you took the effort.

Dan, Please don't take this the wrong way but a lot of what you say doesn't make any sense to me. I'm no expert but I have club raced a 996 for a couple of years and have made just about every suspension change possible. Does Vividracing race Porsches and more specifically 996s? If not, do you have significant experience with 996s? I'm not trying to discredit you but using a name like vividracing leads people to believe you have specific racing experience. I'm trying to figure out if I should hang on your every word, competely ignore your posts or something in between. Jim

Yes I drive a Porsche 996 C2. Yes I have tons of racing experience. Yes I understand both aftermarket and OEM products as well as how components interact. No offense taken These are forums... Vivid Racing is a full fledge performance company with focus on manufacturing, product distribution, installation and race prep, as well as technical support. I will just leave it as if you have further questions, call me! Thanks Dan 1-866-44-VIVID

Dan, you didn't address the question of whether you race Porsches or 996's. I'm also curious about that. Also, given the amount of time you've spent promoting your products and services, don't you feel you should be a site sponsor (or at the very least a member)?

Wow... I have raced alot of different cars..I am no champion but have some skills. Actually...I am promoting my car and what I am doing to it. But I have spoke to Jen and we are a sponsor, we just have not done the press release and got the artwork online. Thanks!

How do you know the swaybar endlinks are flexing on the 996? I personally highly doubt it. Not everything that works on a WRX is going to work on a Porsche. I had a WRX, and I understand that the swaybar endlinks on these cars are made of some cheap stuff (IIRC plastic), and are usefully upgraded, especially when you put on a larger bar. That said, there's *zero* evidence that the links are flexing on the 996. IMO just some shiny bling.

Good point stiles... However we are not basis this on the fact that it "works" on a WRX so it should work on a 996. That would be rediculous. I can tell you from experience with other vehicles and in racing, that a part like this when upgraded does make a difference. I wish I could mount a camera down there but that would be overkill. Since we are on the WRX subject, the STI and the EVO both have similar mounts like the 996. Identical even... Aftermarket ones are available for those and when used in conjunction with a new sway bar or the OEM, a difference is noticed. Not all products are designed for every consumers needs as well.

Good to know. Best of luck.

On the topic of WRX endlinks. Yes, they are actually plastic in the rear (I just installed my new Perrin rear adjustable sway bar). Getting endlinks for it is definately a bonus, because the stock plastic ones flex under any amount of pressure. I know that a WRX and a 996 are totally different animals, but, in my personal opinion, I believe that it would not hurt to have upgraded endlinks on a 996. I would assume (good or bad) that the stock 996 endlinks have the possibility to flex or even bend (I have seen STi stock endlinks, which are nearly identical to 996 ones ie. metal bend and be destroyed just from doing auto-x). Just my $.02.... ~Apex

Apex Rex - Email me your address and I will send you one of our Tie Downs and some stickers!

Email sent Thanks! ~Apex

To me, adjustability is great for setting the drop link angle at ride height, but more importantly for 'zeroing' the ARB's, at ride height, level ground. Not much advantage to corner balancing and having ARB preload fighting the corner balance, FWIW. Since the 996, most 993's (rearARB) have straight links, as they are only loaded in compression and tension, I dont see it being that compliant. Otherwise, Porsche would definitely have 'beefed' them up. IMHO..

OK...Finally have got the finished product. Another post to be made. Go here!!! http://www.vividracing.com/catalog/p...oducts_id=7545 Use this coupon code 0110a9 when ordering online for 10% off. Or call me and I will hook you up. Oh yeah PM if you want too! Thanks Dan [email removed] 1-866-44-VIVID

Those look nice!

Apex.... Let me know if your got your springs on PM. Also I sent out a TON of WRX goodies to you too. Thanks!

PM sent