Cobb or Hotchkis?

[jbiird317]

Im looking for everyone's input on which sway bar sets are better. Both are adjustable and come with greasable bushings, yet they are slightly different in price. I have an idea of which ones I want based on the company's descriptions of their bars, but a little outside perspective is always good. So, anyone who has these installed, give me your review of the products and maybe your reasoning of choosing one over the other. Thanks!

 

[SHAGwagn]

Love mine plus the red looks dope IMO...ive got the hotckis set to the stiffest setting in the rear and i highly recommend them. Cant say much about the Cobb except that they are blue and me no likey. I thought the Cobbs werent adjustable in the rear? Are they the same thickness? My rear sway bar is HUGE.

 

[Aaron@JSC]

Love mine plus the red looks dope IMO...ive got the hotckis set to the stiffest setting in the rear and i highly recommend them. Cant say much about the Cobb except that they are blue and me no likey. I thought the Cobbs werent adjustable in the rear? Are they the same thickness? My rear sway bar is HUGE.

There have been rumors that the cobb swaybar is just a rebranded Hotchkis. Cobb has used hotchkis parts before.

 

[aaronc7]

they're not rebranded...the Cobb's have different stiffness ratings vs hotchkis. I don't think both companies actually make them themselves...they do their own testing and request certain specs/dimensions etc etc from a manufacturer. I think both companies use the same manufacturer is why they may look similar.

 

[Aaron@JSC]

they're not rebranded...the Cobb's have different stiffness ratings vs hotchkis. I don't think both companies actually make them themselves...they do their own testing and request certain specs/dimensions etc etc from a manufacturer. I think both companies use the same manufacturer is why they may look similar.

they may not be rebranded, but Hotchkis designs and manufactures their own parts-- all they do is suspension components.

 

[logik816]

i have the hotckis on my ms3. love it. also have the rear on the stiffest setting. have less body roll now.

 

[jbiird317]

well ive been leaning towards the hotchkis all along because its cheaper, but I was hoping for some more actual experiences so that I get a real feel for the difference between the two

 

[GhostMercury]

more info on cobb guys. i will be looking into sways this summer

 

[Sacrilicious]

if i could remember where it was, i would post a link to the actual post by dave@cobb or josh@cobb, but from what it said, cobb designed their sway bars independently, but did not have the manufacturing capabilities in house, so they sent the design to hotchkis for bending. i am pretty sure the cobb sways came out first, so i'm not going to speculate on why the hotchkis are so very similar to the cobb sways (just thicker).

the reason i got the cobb sways is because i got the cobb stage 2 suspension package, which saved me a bit of money for getting the sways + springs together. i wanted the cobb springs is because:

1. moderate drop (1" in front and 0.9" in back)
2. well thought out stiffness settings (+15% in front and +25% in the back)
3. more comfortable ride than the other options out there

i was especially drawn to the staggered spring stiffnesses + drop levels, because it stacks the weight of the car a bit more to the front, which gives a bit better traction and wheel hop reduction on launch. the moderate drop also allowed me to avoid getting camber links, which saves me another $200+.

i have actually only put in my springs + rsb so far. i didn't not do the fsb yet because it was freezing cold when i put in the springs + rsb and i got terribly sick because i was rolling around on the driveway in the middle of the winter...(doh). since then, i've been slacking and just haven't gotten around to putting in the FSB yet. i am very satisfied with my springs + rsb, though. my car does not wheel hop at all anymore (combo of springs + MM) on stock tires, and this makes me VERY happy... the car settles down faster when going over undulating bumps, so the "floatiness" i felt before at high speeds is definitely reduced. as far as cornering/handling goes, i honestly don't remember what kind of body roll i had before this, but i DO know that the car rotates its rear end noticeably more readily now. i'm not going to pretend that i'm some kind of racing expert, but i do believe the car just feels more responsive and connected to the ground overall.

so, in summation, as far as the performance of the products go, i am very satisfied with what i got for my money. as far as customer support goes, i have nothing but good things to say about the people at cobb. i spoke with chris@cobb on the phone several times to get install advice and to get help working out a squeak that i was getting in the rear (which turned out to be interior panel/rear seat related). he was very helpful and walked me through the questions that i had.

anyways...that was just my 2c...=d

 

[GhostMercury]

gives me something to think about

 

[Sacrilicious]

a clarification to the cobb/hotchkis production mystery...this was posted in the other forums with reference to a user who had a problem with the hotchkis FSB touching the control arm of the front strut:

> From: Dave Benson [mailto:dave@cobbtuning.com]
> Sent: Friday, 9 November 2007 4:38 PM
> To: xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: Cobb Mazdaspeed 3 Sway Bars [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
>
> Our front bar also hits the subframe at full extension. Installing
> the bar with the wheels off the ground (not the proper way but usually
> the
> easiest) will make install very difficult. I am not positive if the
> bending is exactly the same as the Hotchkis bars as these were bent to
> our specs, but there is a good chance they copied our specs for their
> own bars since they bend them for us.
>
> I am looking to get the next production run done a bit different to
> eliminate this issue, but that will be a couple months out.
>
> So in short, I wouldn't get ours if the Hotchkis one are not working
> for you.
>
> Thanks,
> Dave

 

[Munnugles]

ok can some one tell me what that post meant by full extension, is it adjustable?... im about to buy the stage 2 cobb or get the springs and hotchkis sways... ive heard cobb fsb is a pita to install how bout hotchkis?

 

[Sacrilicious]

ok can some one tell me what that post meant by full extension, is it adjustable?... im about to buy the stage 2 cobb or get the springs and hotchkis sways... ive heard cobb fsb is a pita to install how bout hotchkis?

ok, so the background info is that the fit for both the cobb and hotchkis FSBs is pretty darn tight, so what it comes down to is that after you install the bar, it will touch the subframe of the car when your suspension fully extends itself. ie: when you put the think up on jacks and the weight of the wheels leaves it dangling in the air. this means that unless you jump your car off a cliff, you will never see this happen under normal driving conditions.

the advice i got from cobb was that i should do the install with the front wheels on ramps and push the sway bar as far up as possible when i bolt down the bushings. i've still yet to do this, but they seem to already know of this problem and have gotten around it simply by making sure the sway bar is installed as far up as possible. this problem applies to both the cobb and hotchkis, from what i understand, because both appear to be bent the same way. both sway bars will be equally annoying to install.

as far as the adjustability thing goes: both the hotchkis and cobb RSBs have two stiffness settlings. both FSBs only have one stiffness setting. from what i understand, the only real difference between the cobb and hotchkis sway bars is that hotchkis made the RSB stiffer than cobb did. check these specs:

hotchkis -

# Lightweight, durable 1-1/8 (29mm) hollow Front Sway Bar
# 35% stiffer than the stock sway bar with a rate of 560 lbs/in
# Lightweight, durable and adjustable 1-1/4 (32mm) hollow Rear Sway Bar
# 95% stiffer than the stock sway bar with a rate of 1625 lbs/in
# 140% stiffer than the stock sway bar with a rate of 2030 lbs/in

cobb -

35% stiffer than stock front swaybar
rear sway bar is 50% stiffer in the soft setting and 90% stiffer on the hard setting.

 

[GhostMercury]

i was just about to post a question about the bars hitting. I hope they fix this soon

 

[Sacrilicious]

i know cobb is working on a fix, but they're not going to be releasing a new revision of the FSB for months at best (if at all). i'm pretty sure hotchkis has no plans to bring out another rev of their FSB...unless they just piggyback it off the cobb release...

 

[Rizzant]

Considering Cobb Stage 2

i know cobb is working on a fix, but they're not going to be releasing a new revision of the FSB for months at best (if at all). i'm pretty sure hotchkis has no plans to bring out another rev of their FSB...unless they just piggyback it off the cobb release...

Did you ever finish installing the FSB? Also which setting did you use on the RSB and how was the ride?

 

[Sacrilicious]

ya, the install for the FSB was a real PITA. it reduced body roll, but tightening up the front end makes the rear end more resistant to rotating, which means a little more understeer. overall, i'm happy with the package, but considering the PITA that the FSB was, i'd just get the springs + RSB if i were you. the overall ride quality is stiffer than stock over bumps, but it's not horrible (relatively, of course). the car settles faster after an bump, and it corners noticeably flatter than stock. handling seems more responsive, but i'm no race car driver, so i don't know how much of it is in my head.

 

[CWPspeed3]

I didnt want to go with the FSB so I just went cobb RSB, eibach springs, and a gt spec 4pt brace for the front. Waiting for the weather to be a little better to give driving impressions, that may take until spring though.