Question about sway bars

[13726548]

After some seat time with the car, I've noticed I can induce understeer or oversteer simply by altering my braking points. If I feel that my car will understeer through a certain corner, I can brake earlier so I can power through the turn and hopefully fight understeer in the process. I would do the vice versa to correct oversteer.
This got me wondering about the purpose of having aftermarket sway bars.
If the driver can manipulate a car's handling characteristics by altering his/her driving style, there is no need to install a sway bar on either end of the car.
And I would think that installing sway bars on both ends would make a car more prone to sliding out, which is not desirable on a car that needs more grip.

So besides buying shocks, springs, and tires, what else can one do to improve handling? And what do sway bars really do? I realize they help eliminate body roll, but I was told body roll is not always a bad thing.

 

[908ssp]

You are correct to a certain extent. If you use stock spring rates and no sway bars the car body will lift up on the inside and drop slightly on the outside of the corner and when you change direction the car body has to move the other way this is a lot of weight shifting around. That is a bad for handling. Handling is a compromise, stiff springs can decrease sway but at the cost of a stiff jarring ride. A blend of sway bars and springs have proven the best solution.

 

[13726548]

I understand the necessity of having sway bars in place, but I'm questioning the need for having aftermarket/bigger sway bars. One forum member said the rear end will be more likely to slide out when a larger front sway bar is used..I thought the opposite is true.

 

[Sky Render]

http://www.motoiq.com/tech/the_ultimate_guide_to_suspension_handling.aspx

 

[frank s]

You may influence the attitude of the car by changing braking points, but there is not a reliable correlation between change in attitude and change in speed through a corner and down the subsequent straight.

I believe the adjustment of stabilizer bars will refine the language between car dynamics and driver interpretation of chassis motions. It makes the driver's understanding of what's happening in the important places under his seat more realistic and instant.