Cockpit anti-roll bar adjustors were universally used by teams prior to the Gen3 era, with some squads having adopted them in the earliest days of the five-litre V8 rules.
Supercars initially opted not to include them in Gen3 for cost reasons. It then backflipped on that stance, only for time constraints to be blamed on their eventual absence.
Whether they should be reintroduced has been an oft-discussed topic since, with opinions split on whether they help or hinder the overall racing spectacle.
Craig Lowndes reopened the debate when asked for his feelings on the Gen3 cars during an appearance alongside Greg Murphy and Steven Richards at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival.
“The current cars are like driving this era again, because the cars move around, they’ve taken a lot of aero off the car,” said Lowndes while seated next to a 2000 VT Commodore.
“The only thing that I disagree with is not having the anti-roll bar adjustors in the car, because it’s an element for a driver to utilise to get a better balance and also look after the tyre.
“That’s the only thing I’d add to the current car, is put the anti-roll bar adjusters back in them.”
Murphy noted that any move to reintroduce the adjustors would need to be a control item, as anti-roll bars were a costly development area during Gen2.
“There’s no reason why they can’t do that, but it needs to be a control item,” said Murphy.
“The anti-roll bar adjustment thing got absolutely ludicrously out of control, the money that was spent in that area in the previous model cars was stupid, completely stupid.
“They should put it back in with a common, control item. That would be easy to do.”
Richards, whose Supercars career included a stint with Ford Performance Racing when the team chose to run without adjustors, also backed the move.
“That’s the only thing I’d like to see changed is adjustable anti-roll bars for the drivers,” said Richards.
“I concur with what these boys have said. Having adjustment in the cars is important.”
Murphy, meanwhile, expressed overall positivity on how the category has evolved amid market forces outside its control, namely the closure of Holden.
“I still love the philosophy. The philosophy of Supercars as far as I’m concerned is still the same,” said Murphy.
“I love a muscle car, so I think that Camaro and Mustang is suitable for it, Toyota obviously with the Supra coming in next year.
“As long as it’s got a V8 in the front of it and drives the rear wheels, I’m pretty happy.”
