akashram said:
A stiffer set up distributes the cars cornering loads much more evenly than a softer set-up that will store up more kenetic energy in the outer springs/dampers.
Actually, stiffer springs
increase the variation in tire loads. Because F = kx, a given deflection of one spring will produce more change in force. Also, as the car goes over a slowly undulating surface, some tires move up and others down, and these deflections result in larger force variations than if it has softer springs. (Over shorter bumps, it gets more complicated, as the tire itself "hops." Traction varies with each bump, and the car becomes "skittery.") Cars with stiffer springs also require more attention to their initial spring deflection when sitting on a level surface, needing shims to keep loads equal side to side.
akashram said:
To keep it simple, body-roll puts more weight on the outside tyres of the car, which means two of your tyres are doing most of the work whilst the inner two do very little.
This is true, and the total load transfer to the outside tires is the same regardless of the springs, shocks, or anti-roll bars.
akashram said:
Anti-roll bars stop one side of the cars suspension from doing all the work by connecting the left and right-hand suspension arms to each other and to the chassis, which gives 'stiffness' without hampering 'suppleness' like stiffer springs/dampers would.
Anti-roll bars change how much of the total load transfer each axle will produce. If you have equal spring rates front and rear, and you transfer a total of 800 pounds from left to right side, both front and rear axles would see 400 pounds of load transfer. By putting on a front anti-roll bar, the front roll stiffness becomes higher, and the front axle might see 500 pound transfer, while the rear would see 300 pounds. The car will also lean a bit less. You could also install an even stiffer front bar, and add a rear bar, to keep the same 500/300 pound transfer, while reducing roll (and increasing responsiveness). In either anti-roll bar setup, the load on the front tires becomes more unequal than the rears, which reduces their total cornering stiffness and creating understeer.
I wouldn't say that suppleness is preserved with stiffer anti-roll bars. The effective spring rate is still increased by stiffly tying left to right tires, resisting vertical motion of each.
As one of my driving instructors put it, a car with stiffer springs (and anti-roll bars) will respond quicker, while softer springs will give you better traction (given the right damping). I thought that was a very good "layman's terms" explanation that was still physically correct.
Besides the above references, my book (mentioned below) also covers the basics of this.