FTO AUSTRALIA

Anyone have either a GPvR or aftermarket front anti-roll bar just lying around that you might need to get rid of?
Been having a tough time finding a replacement online. Replaced the rear with thicker ones, and now the car feels a bit off.

The balance of the car feels off with the 16mm OEM front swaybar retained, and an up-rated 23mm in the rear. I feel like the car still struggles on corners with the front outside wheel still bearing the brunt of hard cornering. Rear feels planted and ready on the rebound, but the front turn-in just feels sloppy. About to get the suspension tuned tomorrow so that might make the situation better, but generally speaking, I'd like to fix this the proper way.

I have a Whiteline 18mm adjustable swaybar.
It prevents a huge amount of roll, however I never got the car handling well with it (20mm rear swaybar installed).

I'd sell it, but I don't think shipping to Texas would be realistic.

Thanks, Spetz. Vectose was kind enough to make some inquiries for me about shipping a new set to the US a while back. He, too, found that it's a ridiculous cost to ship via the regular means (FedEx, UPS, etc.). Freight might be best, but it's not as easy to quote.

As for the 18mm, thanks for the offer. I'll think about it, and keep it in mind. CE Lancer ones, right? Considering the cost to ship, I'd prefer to find the exact diameter I'm looking for off the bat :/

Right now, I'm on a quest to find out whether an CN/CP9A Evo (4-6) swaybar will even fit. From pictures (yeah, I know), it looks like the only difference is that it's got a bend to clear the T-Case. Not knowing what the clearance looks like with the crossmember dislodged from the chassis, I have no idea if it's even viable. But those swaybars are a bit more common and readily available than 20mm GPvRs, or any custom ones from OZ/NZ.

Unfortunately for me, most of these things are all subject to international shipping...

If I were diligent enough to do a front tear-down in the near future, I might investigate whether it's even feasible to do a custom blade-type bar. Highly doubtful, due to all the bends required. But at this juncture, not too many options available. And I've checked in the UK as well - these things are so rare.

The 18mm is the Whiteline FTO swaybar which links to the shock absorber and not the lower control arm.

From what I understand the Evo swaybars do fit, but they hook up to the lower control arm so you'll need to deal with that.

As mentioned though in my experience the 18mm front swaybar completely eliminates roll and as such causes understeer.

You say your rear is really well planted, if that is case then going harder front will not really help as all you will do is reduce front end grip.

Thanks Spetz. It's completely subjective, as I haven't driven the car on a skid pad. But. I feel quite a bit more flexion in the front than in the rear. Great for countering understeer on a flat surface, but It also doesn't feel right having a more pliable front than rear, especially in cases where there's some banking or curvature on the turn. Like the car just really wants to lift a wheel.

16mm vs 23 in the rear. As it is, I'd rather have a tighter-feeling suspension setup than have the weight of the front freely bouncing and rebounding through the bumps.

The Mirage front sway bar is 20mm iirc and as Spetz says the drop link mounts to the lower control arm instead of the suspension strut. the sway bar itself is the exact same shape other than the ends. If you get a custom set of links made might be easier than trying to source a sway bar over there in the states.

This style of drop link but probably longer and with bushes. this is for a Porsche 964 from this lot
https://www.elephantracing.com/porsche/ ... s-for-964/
they might make one long enough or point you in the right direction.


Fto sway bar on bottom and and Mirage swaybar on top.

Thanks @DaveMc !!!

Was just chatting with someone from FTOOC UK about this as well, and I had put this on the backburner. Started a request on Amayama just in case this can in fact still be found.

That's awesome - really appreciate this info. I might just see about finding one. This is a CE lancer, right? Or CJ to CM? Links won't be a problem at all, since I'm using generic, non-standard and adjustable ones anyway. Similar to the ones you have in the drawing, but instead with a heim/ball joint encased in polyurethane.

Thanks again...

From this model yeah. I pulled that swaybar out of a Mirage the hatchback version of this but I believe in the states the coupes were also referred to as mirages. they have a big front swaybar to (what i think) compensate for not coming with a rear sway bar.

remember to get the D bush clamps also as they are also bigger

f**k yeah! Thanks, @DaveMc - that's frickin' great. Wish I were back in a place where pick-a-part yards were plentiful, and I can crawl underneath tons of these things.

But, yes - I will have a look into this. Thanks again - this is huge.

EDIT: Got one. Looks like it's from a DE (base model), and I verified ASA with a VIN, and it looks like perhaps it's an 18mm here in the States? Shop guy's gonna measure for sure once they pull the piece.
This is where it gets dicey. Finding which trim has a 20mm variant. For instance, cross-checking online DBs like Amayama's, Megazip's, and mitsubishi.epc-data.com (because I'm lazy and don't have other VINs) tells me that most 5th/6th gen Lancers and Mirages can have 18mm or 16mm ones. Ironically, the top-trim GSRs from JP have 16mm front stabilizer bars part number MR223855 as listed above. MR MIVECs (CK4A) have 16mm!

So, here are the various part numbers I've come up with

• FTO all else 16mm - MR131542
• Lancer / Mirage 16mm - MR223855
• Lancer / Mirage 18mm - MR198869
• FTO GPvR 20mm - MR333830
• CP/CN Evo 23mm - MB856409

Really tells you how "special" the GPvR is. Silly - that rarity creates such value. Like how ammo costs so much in the US these days, thanks to politics. Never mind COVID.

In this case, I'm finding that the GPvR seems to be the only one I can find that has a 20mm sway bar. Everything else might be a Goldilocks story - too soft, or too hard. A Lancer with a 20mm sway bar is just as rare, it would seem.

Pretty sure there's a mob down here, Signature or Selby Swaybars or something, that can make them any size to order

Yeah, Rob did a whole thing for me where he called Selby about it - and it can be done. Problem is shipping - which itself matches the price of the swaybars themselves - the set of two! Which, considering the amount of money I just dropped on ammo and sh*t this past month, hindsight is 20/20

Well, that's 2020 in hindsight I guess. Let's see... ammo, or swaybars for the cost of a whole gun? Hmmm... nothing great in life comes free. Except for air and water, I guess. Arguably. (Not if you live in California, that is )

Plus, it was going to take forever for the item to ship from AU to here. Again, in hindsight, it's not like it would have made much of a difference considering all the time I'm wasting on finding a suitable alternative. Silver lining? US $35, instead of what... US$ 650-700. That's what - an oil change vs.. an engine.

just measured mine and cross referenced the bush part number. it is 18mm sorry but hey its an option

Appreciate it, Dave - good copy.

All else fails, I may have my fab guy just make one from bar stock, from scratch. I dunno...
Maybe he'd be up for a challenge?

Would be a PITA, for sure. But... what the heart wants :/

Either way, I've already ordered the thing. Just about the next large town over.
Might as well give it a shot to see how much more solid the car corners.

I come home on Saturday with something old, something new. Old, dirty Lancer swaybar - and new shotgun. LOL.
That's not really a pun... nor really funny. Sorry.

Maybe something loud and exciting, and something dull and dumb?

Not sure how far along you are with this, but keep in mind that the swaybar thickness is not the only variable that matters.

The FTO links to the struts, so there is a near 1:1 rocker ratio with the suspension.
The Lancer/Mirage one is thicker (18mm vs 16mm) however it links to the suspension arm, so the rocker ratio between wheel movement and swaybar deflection is no longer 1:1 and hence even with a thicker swaybar, it is less effective than the FTO one.

As mentioned I have used an 18mm Whiteline front swaybar and that was far too stiff for my car. It cornered extremely flat but understeered too much

Hey, Spetz -

Thanks man. I've since made the decision to not mess with the COTY any longer, and to just keep it as stock as possible in an attempt to preserve its value. I've another one on the way which I won't hesitate to mess with, but that's months away until it even gets here.

As for the suspension parts I've accumulated since, they'll just sit. Not sure yet what I'll need/want to do with the new one (which, at least, already has the 20mm front I've been looking for )