I upgraded to Hotchkis sway bars on my X over the weekend. Previously I had the RWD G37S Coupe sway bar in the back and the stock X sway bar in the front. I also have a few GTSpec suspension upgrades installed.

My first upgrade was the GTSpec strut tower brace. I noticed the improvement. It tightened up the front. Steering felt better and less body roll on turns.

Shortly after I upgraded to RWD sway bar with energy suspension urethane bushings. Immediately I could tell the difference and improvement in handling. The AWD understeer decreased significantly and the car felt very neutral with decreased body roll.

Next I added the GTSpec M brace in the rear. This firmed up the rear some more. I was able to easily kick out the rear while turning. Added more to the neutral handling, a nice improvement overall. Lastly, I added the GTSpec rear tie brace. With this brace I noticed I could give more gas on turns without the traction control cutting the throttle. The wheels were able to put more power down on the road.

I was quite satisfied with all these upgrades, however, the ride quality does suffer somewhat.

I got the hotchkis swaybars from a member at a good price. Now with these installed there is no body roll. The entire chassis feels tighter. I have set the front to the innermost hole and the rear to the middle hole. Where these really shine is when taking corners spiritedly. On ramps and twisty roads I feel more confident and I can put more power down. The tires I am running are 245/40/19 PSS on all four corners and the car feels great! So far I can't really tell if the ride is worse after adding these.

If you do not drive spiritedly then I would suggest at least upgrading to a RWD sway bar in the rear. It's definitely worth it for handling improvements.

I will upgrading to swift springs soon. Will update after how the springs affect the ride. Comparison pics of the sway bars below.

Rear Sport Sway Bar vs Hotchkis


Front AWD Sway Bar vs Hotchkis

 

Thanks for your review. Answered a question about the G37s rear bar vs Hotchkis that I had.

 

So did you notice anything taken away from the overall ride quality on bumps and uneven pavement? How many settings does the rear swaybar have? Glad your liking it so far, this will be my first upgtade once I buy my car.

 

^On my Hotchkis, I have 3 settings in the rear. You can definitely feel the decrease in ride quality.

OP, any idea if the GTSPEC M and rear brace fits the awd coupe? Been trying to figure out which reinforcement braces fit awd coupe and which doesn't...

 

There is some decrease ride quality but i thought that it's definitely worth it. There are 3 settings in the rear bar.

I just installed swift springs, with those theres a noticeable decrease in comfort and increase in handling. I will post a review soon.

The M brace will fit on the X coupe with stock exhaust. There might be fitment issues if you have an aftermarket exhaust. With some it fits fine, I have read posts that it fits fine with FI and Stillen exhaust on the sedan. You would have to verify for others.