"TeGGeR����������������������" wrote:

interestingly enough, the loaded car is /exactly/ the situation where
the sway bar's function is going to be most apparent to the "average"
driver.  when transitioning from a lean in one direction to a lean in
the other, like when you're on the freeway having to do an emergency
lane change because of some dangerous behavior ahead, if the return rate
of the first lean happens to coincide with the turn-in rate of the
second lean, and unfortunately there's a strong coincidence, suddenly
you have a very dangerous roll moment.  that's the mechanism by which
heavy high center of gravity suv's flip over.  heavily loaded cars can
do it too.

sway bars do two things: raise the return rate so the chances of the
driver turning into the second lean hard enough and fast enough to get
this "coincidence" is much reduced.  secondly, it reduces the actual
degree of lean, so the overall body return moment is reduced in the
first place.

sway bars aren't on all cars because they're associated with "sports",
and unfortunately, the kind of bean counters that run car companies have
all been to the same "management" school that tells them they must
differentiate between product and extract the highest dollar for every
marginal difference possible.  if engineering school attendance was
mandatory for these people, cars would be much safer.  fortunately for
more modern vehicles, the european "moose test" and thread of class
action law suits keeps the worst behavior at bay, but it doesn't mean
there's not significant room for improvement.

if you want to test all this, it's easy enough to disconnect the sway
bars on your integra.  just wire the ends up out of the way and the
suspension can move through full travel without problem.  put some bags
of sand in the back seats if you really want to believe.