Anti-Roll Bar

An anti-roll bar is a metal bar that connects the left and right wheels of a race car to reduce how much the car leans when turning corners, helping it handle better and go faster through turns.

Also called a sway bar or stabilizer bar, this component works like a bridge between the two sides of your car's suspension. When you turn left, the car naturally wants to lean right - the anti-roll bar fights against this leaning motion by transferring some of the force from one wheel to the other.

Think of it like a see-saw that doesn't want to tip. When one side goes down during cornering, the bar pushes back to keep things more level. This keeps your tires flatter against the road surface, which means better grip and more control for the driver.

In motorsport, teams can adjust how stiff or soft their anti-roll bars are to change how the car handles. A stiffer front bar typically makes the car push wide in corners (called understeer), while a stiffer rear bar can make the back end slide out more easily (called oversteer).

Race cars often have adjustable anti-roll bars that teams can fine-tune between practice sessions. Some advanced systems even let drivers adjust them while driving, using controls inside the cockpit to adapt to changing track conditions during a race.

The key benefit is that anti-roll bars only work when the suspension moves differently on each side of the car. When both wheels hit a bump together, the bar doesn't interfere - it only activates during cornering when you actually want to control body roll.

Different racing series use anti-roll bars differently. Formula cars on smooth tracks use very stiff settings for maximum cornering speed, while rally cars might use softer settings or even disconnect them completely to handle rough, uneven surfaces better.