I know thicker / stronger sway bars give you flatter cornering.

Is there a downside? Does the ride over crappy pavement / potholes get worse? Here in Chicago the roads can be pretty badly cratered.

 

Short answer: yes, you will feel more of the imperfections of the road surface.
Well, this has been my experience, as I upgraded my sway bars a few weeks ago.

 

Pot holes, bumps, big imperfections in the road surface will be felt more because both sides are connected more stiffly. Things that would normally affect only one wheel will affect both wheels now.

 

Well, that makes perfect sense. Thanks for the info!

I live in the city, Chicago, whose roads get hammered every year by freeze/thaw cratering and of course there's only so much money for planned complete replacement of road surfaces; by mid-spring most of the worst potholes have been patched but a road full of patches is not a smooth road. When they fully resurface a road, which happens on a planned rotation, it's a pleasure to drive on for a year or two....

And there's really not much in the way of twisties around here, and it's flatland- no mountains, or canyons; hardly so much as a hill....

I'll stick with the stock sway bars my 2013 X awd sedan came with. I've read the AWD cars have a somewhat heavier sway bar than the RWD sedans to begin with; I can live with those.

 

Do you guys think the decrease in ride comfort is worth the upgrade? Here in the DC area the roads are also pretty bad. I don't really do much spirited driving, just daily driving. I just bought sway bars yesterday but now I'm not sure if I will even enjoy the upgrade.

 

For me, it's worth it.

I'm 52 years old as well.

 

The front sway bar may be slightly bigger on the X models, however the rear bar is definitely smaller than the RWD models. I know people have swapped out the rear bar from a RWD model and used it on the X (what I've been considering for my X). There's a thread somewhere on here with all the sizes listed for each of the models.

 

It's more expensive, and if you have roads where you can take advantage of it, go with aftermarket dampers and higher spring rates. Then sway bars if you think you need it and need to adjust the balance of the car. Higher spring rates and more low speed compression damping will probably negate your desire for sways. Lots of folks do them because they're far less expensive than a good set of coilovers.

 

The ride is bumpier but not as bad as aftermarket coil overs that are super stiff. I think the sway bar upgrade makes the car drive the way it should have off the lot, it corners like crazy...will you feel the pot holes more...yup...will you enjoy the ride more...I do! But then my roads are in pretty good shape in SOCAL.

 

I live in the city of Chicago as well. I can relate to bad road conditions and it really sucks for us.

I also recently upgraded my sway bars to the hotchkis front and rear (about 2000 miles ago). At first I was concerned about ride comfort and quality given the road conditions. I will say it is worth the upgrade. The ride feels more solid, more within your limits of control and much more stable. When I want to turn right, it turns right and when I want to turn left, it turns left. When I had to take evasive actions due to some idiot stopping in the middle of the service road, on the inner most lane, and at a blind corner, it kept my car under control. Overall, it made my G37xS coupe perform much better.

However, it is a lot stiffer, you will feel every bump on the road and railroad crossings becomes a problem when you go too fast. In addition, depending on the size of the pothole, you may wheel hop as well. All these issues with a stiffer suspension can be addressed with some changes to how a driver drives.

Personally, I really like the handling improvements of sway bar upgrades. I would recommend it.