Choosing ARB size.

[J.C]

Hi Guys,

Just wanted to say hello, i'm new to the site and haven't been on a forum before so forgive me if i make a hash of things. I've got a bit of a dilemma and was just wondering if you guys could help me settle it.
Phoned Awesome recently to ask about Fsd's with Eibach springs because like a lot of you guys, i wanted to improve the ride and hadling of my lcr but didn't want coilovers. Whilst on the phone i had a weak moment and having previously read Ruddmeister's sticky, along with what others have said, i decided to add a pair of neuspeed antiroll bars to the order.
I know there's loads of info on the subject of antiroll bars but i just can't seem to find anything to set my mind at rest. I'll rapp it up now.
I've gone for the 22mm front, with a 28mm rear.My original choice was the 25mm front but i changed it after taking the advice of the guy at Awesome who said i'd be better off with the smaller front bar because it will be a bit softer, offer more grip to the front tyres and be better for a general road set up.
Just wondered what you guys thought about it, i haven't recieved any of it yet so there's a chance i could change back to the 25mm. I know i'm probably splitting hairs a bit here but any advice would be greatly appreciated.

P.s Brilliant site, hope to get some pics up soon.

P.P.s Was thinking of having a crack at fitting the bars myself, not bad with the spanners, pretty confident about the back, but any advice on fitting the front would be great.

 

[jaime]

Hello and welcome to SCN!!

As you can see from my sig, I have the FSD/Eibach combo with the Neuspeed ARB's. I went for the thinner ones as, after numerous discussions with members on here and "outsiders", it seemed that if you go for the harder, thicker ARB's, they can be less forgiving if the car gets a bit twitchy when going round corners. I like my car in one piece so my choice was made for me really! Others may have different opinions but I think that for what I wanted it for (making the handling better than standard), the set-up that I have is fine! Maybe some of the others will give you a different opinion.....

 

[J.C]

Hi jaime,

Thanks for the reply mate, i think what you've said has pretty much echoed what Awesome told me, i don't really want a twichy track tool either. I'm begining to think that i'll go with the smaller bar, i use the car for every day transport with a bit of a blast now and again, i think it will suit me fine too.

How do you find the fsd/eibach combo, my car's really crashy and rolls a bit at the moment, so i'm hoping that these will sort me out. I know they seem to be quite popular and reports are favourable.

 

[DPJ]

I'd go with a 25mm front bar.

(I have Neuspeed 25mm front and rear)

 

[DOLBY]

call me a moron, but can you clear something up?...what diferent combos can you have?
25mm front, 28mm back- is this for track use?
22mm front, 25mm back?
22mm front, 22mm back?

im getting confused, i am getting some soon..was going to get 25mm front 28mm back...now i dont know what to have....

obviously its my daily runabout, the odd b road blast, and a few track days...nothing hardcore tho...can you help

 

[J.C]

Hi fella,

Hmmm.....25mm front, how do you find it with regard to twichyness etc...

 

[DPJ]

Hi fella,

Hmmm.....25mm front, how do you find it with regard to twichyness etc...

Not at all twitchy. I don't think there's many have a 22mm front bar fitted.

 

[J.C]

call me a moron, but can you clear something up?...what diferent combos can you have?
25mm front, 28mm back- is this for track use?
22mm front, 25mm back?
22mm front, 22mm back?

im getting confused, i am getting some soon..was going to get 25mm front 28mm back...now i dont know what to have....

obviously its my daily runabout, the odd b road blast, and a few track days...nothing hardcore tho...can you help

I was told by the guy i spoke to at awesome, that you want the back to be as stiff as poss, to help with understeer, thats why i went for a 28mm rear and the front to be a bit softer so that on bumpy corners it will help to stabilise the car, if its too stiff it could become a bit twichy on the limit. Hence 22mm front.

 

[DOLBY]

thanks mate...great advice...

 

[J.C]

Not at all twitchy. I don't think there's many have a 22mm front bar fitted.

The fact that not many seemed to have the 22mm front bar on was the thing that was confusing me, when making the choice for 22 or 25mm.
Starting now to wonder again....

 

[J.C]

The fact that not many seemed to have the 22mm front bar on was the thing that was confusing me, when making the choice for 22 or 25mm.
Starting now to wonder again....

Not at all twitchy. I don't think there's many have a 22mm front bar fitted.

Thanks for the advice m8, will probably give awesome a ring to chase up my bits, its been a while now, (apparently waiting on the springs), i'll then finalize my decision.

 

[J.C]

thanks mate...great advice...

No worries, glad to help, not sure wether this is 100% correct mind you, but its how i understood it to be.

 

[GREY 225]

Hi mate, i got neuspeed 22 front and 25 rear,i too was advised not to go too thick unless it was for track use,for road i was advised on 22/25,after fitting the difference it made was great,for me it was just about right,later i then fitted coilovers and tied with roll bar combination ive got i think the handling is spot on.

 

[J.C]

Hi mate, i got neuspeed 22 front and 25 rear,i too was advised not to go too thick unless it was for track use,for road i was advised on 22/25,after fitting the difference it made was great,for me it was just about right,later i then fitted coilovers and tied with roll bar combination ive got i think the handling is spot on.

Hi,

A mate of mine has an escort cos and he's been a serial modifier for years, his last motor was a mondeo st24 which he did loads to. When i told him i was going for the 28mm bar on the back he seemed quite surprised at the size, saying that the bars on his car were only 24mm.
I know an st24 is different to an LCR but by the sound of it, for the road, the combination you have would be enough....cheaper too, which always helps.

Thanks for your input fell.

 

[GREY 225]

Yeh,everyone has different views on subject and what is right for me wont be for someone else,but all i can say is the set up im running at min does fine on road,i think if i went up to 28mm on rear with the roads round me being as they are i would be worried about rear end stepping out too much and trying to swap ends,you can certainly provoke lift off over steer more and very easily if you want with 25mm on back.
If someone like awesome has given you some advice then there must be something in it.

 

[J.C]

Yeh,everyone has different views on subject and what is right for me wont be for someone else,but all i can say is the set up im running at min does fine on road,i think if i went up to 28mm on rear with the roads round me being as they are i would be worried about rear end stepping out too much and trying to swap ends,you can certainly provoke lift off over steer more and very easily if you want with 25mm on back.
If someone like awesome has given you some advice then there must be something in it.

Roads round by me are pretty crud also, strongly thinking about 22/25 combo now, nice one mate.....

 

[CupraMVR]

go for the 25 mm you know you want to.

The thicker the anti roll bar the more torsion force is applied (twisting) so thicker the better cause it makes the tyres grip the road better, better traction means faster corners and its all won or lost in the bends

 

[UncleFester]

25mm front and rear eibachs here - whether the heavier diesel engine balances out the front bar being 25mm i've no idea however it corners like it's on rails compared to how it was before. I did a lot of reading before i went for these and there was a great many opinions but the general consensus seemed to be there was no noticeable difference between a 25mm rear and a 28mm bar - at least not one that you'd notice on the road. Track may well be a different matter but mine isn't going near a track.

 

[Willie]

I have as my sig (S3 strutt brace and 28mm rear ARB). no twitchyness, no end swapping. This has been FULLY tested on back roads and will be track tested pretty soon.
To throw another stick in the fire, the guys on VW Vortex that do autocross (tarmac racing round cones, requiring the best turn in possible) remove their standard front ARB. Now obviously I do not recommend this for a road car but it does make you think whether the front ARB upgrade is worth it or not.
Conversely to what I thought before and also what everyone else recommends I'd leave the front ARB till after Coilovers or spring/shocks fitted to see how they feel.
The reason I say this is that the front ARB transfers the body roll into the spring/shocks or coilovers. Therefore if you have stiff springs/shocks or coilovers this will make this set up even stiffer.
Food for thought

 

[J.C]

Nice one guys,

Makes for very interesting reading and definately food for thought. Starting to get an idea now of which sizes to opt for.

Unclefester - Had to chuckle at your avatar m8