Anti Roll Bars

[lordgibbness]

Thanks for posting your findings from the trackday, Willie - much appreciated!

ARBs will definately be my next upgrade as soon as funds permit. I haven't done a trackday myself, but had a great time go-karting at Buckmore park in Kent the other weekend. Can't beat a bit of track action!

Oh, thanks for the CG-Lock recommendation too - I fitted it at the weekend and it really does make you
feel more confident being held in your seat properly (and seems to help with driving posture too).

 

[Willie]

Plenty of available oversteer but only when massively on the edge on a tight right hand fast corner with a big drop in level.
Haven't really pushed it in the wet yet TBH, Scotland's been pretty dry since I've had this set up

Strange one this, after reading what I had posted the last time, there was ZERO over steer noted on this same corner at MUCH higher speeds this time.
I had dropped the rear tyre pressures to 33.5PSI (Hot), I had also stripped the car since then so rear lighter with lower tyre pressures but probably hotter/stickier rubber

 

[lordgibbness]

Yeah I remember you saying a while back when you stripped your car that on fast road driving the rear felt light and twitchy, and that you were going to set the rear ARB to a softer setting. Did you end up doing that in the end? Also, did you move the battery into the spare-tyre well?

 

[Willie]

Na left the bar at it's stiffest setting (thinking that if it did become twitchy I'd change this, it didn't so it stayed there), seems like the drop in tyre pressure was good enough.
Battery not moved yet

 

[jonjay]

Well guys, a bit of a report on how the set up handled on the track, Knockhill.

To remind you all I have Audi TT roadster (rear), LCR OEM (front) wish bone bushes, 23mm MK4 R32 (front) ARB, 28mm Neuspeed (rear) ARB set to stiff and S3 Strutt brace. With this set up I have KWV3 coilovers with bump set to half and rebound set to 3/4 and lowered 25mm front and rear. My car is fitted with Good Year Eagle F1 Asymmetrics set to 36PSI hot pressure.

So basically I couldn't fault the handling set up of the car, this felt WELL planted throughout the whole day. The tyres were very good and only really started to fail with high speed very sharp turns (hair pin). So next on the list is R888 tyres to help the front end grip a bit better on the tighter corners.

The first corner at the end of the start finish straight, which you approach at 110MPH, is a 90 degree right turn with a very steep down hill slope, which is over steer city. This is where most people would go off, lol. Honestly the back end NEVER felt like it was going to step out, even taking this at 75-80 MPH

So I can honestly say with 23mm front ARB, S3 strutt brace and 28mm rear ARB teamed with good suspension and tyres you will have a very good handling car.

I think everyone owes you a big thanks for the info.

Willie, do you think its worth upgrading a rear 25mm ARB to 28mm?

 

[Willie]

I think everyone owes you a big thanks for the info.

Willie, do you think its worth upgrading a rear 25mm ARB to 28mm?

Jonjay, don't mention it. it was all my pleasure
For the extra cost I don't think it would be worth the potential gains. It has been mentioned that the 25mm on hard is like the 28mm on soft. Have you got yours on full hard?
Perhaps keep your eyes open for a 2nd hand one

 

[lordgibbness]

Spoke to Andy at Storm Developments while my car was there for a few things today and mentioned ARBs in conversation. He said they are quite nice; the car corners flatter but you lose some of the feel that you normally get as you lose suspension independance of the wheels.

He said a much better option would be something like KW v3 coilovers, tweaked for your preference, as you get better traction and less roll, and in some cases a better ride quality, but also keep the independance that you would lose by sticking on a large ARB; and keep the feel for what the car is doing.

When just adding ARBs the car always corners flattly so you can lose quite a bit of feeling for the limits etc this way. He said if it still wasn't stiff enough on cornering after uprating the suspension, then adding larger ARBs might be a good option.

Obviously this is just another opinion, but something to chew on nonetheless...

 

[Willie]

Spoke to Andy at Storm Developments while my car was there for a few things today and mentioned ARBs in conversation. He said they are quite nice; the car corners flatter but you lose some of the feel that you normally get as you lose suspension independance of the wheels.

He said a much better option would be something like KW v3 coilovers, tweaked for your preference, as you get better traction and less roll, and in some cases a better ride quality, but also keep the independance that you would lose by sticking on a large ARB; and keep the feel for what the car is doing.

When just adding ARBs the car always corners flattly so you can lose quite a bit of feeling for the limits etc this way. He said if it still wasn't stiff enough on cornering after uprating the suspension, then adding larger ARBs might be a good option.

Obviously this is just another opinion, but something to chew on nonetheless...

A man with a very good point.
My LCR feels great but I know I have a very fine line now between oversteer/understeer and complete wipe out.
But TBH for all you have said about how you will use the car ARB's will give you the good feel of the car when cornering as you will never get to the limit on the road of this set up thhe other bits shouldn't bother you

 

[jonjay]

Jonjay, don't mention it. it was all my pleasure
For the extra cost I don't think it would be worth the potential gains. It has been mentioned that the 25mm on hard is like the 28mm on soft. Have you got yours on full hard?
Perhaps keep your eyes open for a 2nd hand one

Just ordered V3's. Going to need to PM you on your opinion of how it should be setup if thats ok?

 

[Willie]

Just ordered V3's. Going to need to PM you on your opinion of how it should be setup if thats ok?

PM away matey

 

[vwbassett]

would anyone recommend the whiteline arb 22mm(non adj) i think this would sound a good compromise as im going for the r32 front and lowering shortly. As im lowering with increased damping rates my thoughts are not to stiffen it too far to keep optimal dynamic camber but some tried and tested opinions would be great.

 

[lordgibbness]

I am still considering opinions from various people.

I will be visiting a chassis specialist in a few weeks for new tyres so will ask for their opinion too, but I'm thinking not to go too stiff with ARBs as you do trade feel against body roll.

If I did ever uprate the suspension then going too stiff with ARBs won't be necessary due to the reduced roll from better springs and dampers. I had always said I would stick with the OEM suspension but have been wondering if it would really be better to start with the suspension, as recommended, and then move onto ARBs if required.

So, driving/testing at the weekend I think the level of grip is pretty good and the car does communicate this quite well, but I think I would like a small reduction is body roll. So I think I will stick with the OEM suspension for the time being - it is cheaper to uprate the ARBs and I know the comfort level will remain the same. I can always uprate suspension later and so the ARBs I'm thinking of opting for are the smaller 22/25 Neuspeed ARBs atm...

 

[lordgibbness]

would anyone recommend the whiteline arb 22mm(non adj) i think this would sound a good compromise as im going for the r32 front and lowering shortly. As im lowering with increased damping rates my thoughts are not to stiffen it too far to keep optimal dynamic camber but some tried and tested opinions would be great.

Do you have the standard exhaust on your car? Rudd and a few others have said only Neuspeed fit on the rear with this.

 

[vwbassett]

Will be buying a piper exhaust at the same time so hopefully ok on that front

 

[wild willy]

I had the pleasure of fitting a new coil spring today to my dads Golf V5 (2.3)which had snapped but during the work i noticed that it had a rather chunky front ARB on it. It looked approx 25mm thick. Can anyone check what size it is (i will try and get a calliper on it tomorow) as it may be another alternative for the LCR. It maybe the same as the R32 one but it seemed a little larger.

 

[turbin]

ok, my turn. I have some fairly stiff coilovers, K-sport with adjustable dampers. Have also changed the front ARB bcs the original one broke and the replacement from Seat was beefier than the original one. At least 1-2mm thicker and different shape. Fitted straight on tho. Also have S3 strut brace and 235/40 18 tires. Car feels pretty stiff and good on hard setting. Now I wonder about rear ARB... would it help me on trackdays ?

 

[james walker]

have you read any threads on rear arbs??

 

[turbin]

have you read any threads on rear arbs??

Ive read them all I think.. my head is spinning...

Some have reported TCS problems when fitting too stiff rear ARB and I wonder if my setup would benefit from a rear ARB at all....

 

[james walker]

yes it will... tcs problems with rear arb... never heard that one,

if youve read all the threads you will have noticed one of if not the best handling mod and usually what gets done forst

 

[turbin]

yes it will... tcs problems with rear arb... never heard that one,

if youve read all the threads you will have noticed one of if not the best handling mod and usually what gets done forst

yes, before coilover... I have coilovers so my car has a stiffer base for the arb to act. Read my question instead of questioning what Ive read or not.

cheers