front anti roll bar dilema

[DanDiesel]

have been doing searches on the size of my front arb and most people seem to think it 18-19mm on a pd130 sport.

i have ordered an H&R bar which is 25mm but when it turned up with no uprated bushes, i was slightly confused

contacted AMD who supplied the item, who contacted H&R who said that i can use the standard bushes

so i measured the arb on my car and its 25mm! weird non? so a few questions arise, firstly is this correct? i've had the bushes changed already so they should be the right ones for the car!

secondly, would i see much improvement in the cars handling between the standard bar (seeing as its 25mm) and the H&R bar (25mm)??

i already have coilovers and a front SS strut brace and its a late 2002 early mk4. Any help would be much appreciated

 

[Altech]

My origional ARB was 18mm in thickness, i measured it using a vernier caliper (think that's the word for the tool!) My car is the same age and model as yours aswell. How did you measure yours?

I changed the ARB for a revised vRS one with metal retainers, which i think is 21mm. The new bushes that i fitted were exactly the same size as my old ones.

I noticed a huge different after fitting the vRS ARB. My old bar used to knock against the subframe all the time due to the crappy plastic retainers breaking off. My car also used to sway about at high speed! All that's stopped now and the front end feels a lot tighter. I did change my wisbone bushes for the cupra ones aswell

 

[kriso]

Sounds like the previous owner upgraded the ARB if it is that think.

 

[devonmikeyboy]

According to Seat :
PD100 has 18mm ARB
PD130 has 19mm ARB
PD160 has 20mm ARB

 

[kriso]

Yep and VRS one is 21mm

 

[orange]

And there is no H&R arb for the Ibiza with 25mm...

 

[DanDiesel]

hey thanks for the replies,
i also measured both bars with a vernier caliper and both bars are definately 25mm including the H&R one.

the thing that makes me think that the current bar is standard is, i had my arb bushes changed a while back and if it was an uprated bar, the standard bushes that were ordered by Seat, wouldn't have fitted.

 

[orange]

What's the part number of the H&R bar?

Cheers,

 

[DanDiesel]

its HR33325VA

been re-remeasured to try and get a more accurate measurement, the bar on the car is between 22-23mm (its awkward to measure laying on your back on the ground with a low car), not 25mm as first though.
this still makes it bigger than any VRS/Cupra bar though. To make matters even weirder, my mum has a polo 1.2 9n 2004 model and we measured the bar on this and its the same size as mine!!??

 

[orange]

...you should buy a new vernier as that bar has 20mm diameter I've one installed on my car...

Not a great buy though. I mean, Its a great quality product but for less money you could buy the Cupra bar (also with 20mm) or the VRS with 21mm...

Never the less, here is the info from H&R website...

33325-1 VW Polo 9N inkl GTI; VW Fox 5Z; Seat Cordoba/Ibiza 6L (incl.Cupra+FR); Skoda Fabia 6Y incl. stationwagon+RS (Set incl. 2x Pendelstütze only for Gewndefahrwerk 29325-1) color black (newe version!!!!!)
VA 33 325VA, ø 20 mm; color black (newe version)

33325-2 VW Polo 9N inkl GTI; VW Fox 5Z; Seat Cordoba/Ibiza 6L (incl.Cupra+FR); Skoda Fabia 6Y incl. stationwagon+RS; color black (newe version!!!!)
VA 33 325VA, ø 20 mm; color black (newe version)

Cheers,
João

 

[depresion]

There is more to the stiffness of an ARB or any spring than just it's diameter.

 

[orange]

100% agree. The steel, angles, all take part on the overall quality and "performance" of the article, but.... today, I would bought the Skoda VRS, or the new KW with 22mm...

Cheers,
João

 

[DanDiesel]

in the words of Captain Slow "Oh ****"

ok so it turns out i've been taking the reading from the wrong marker on the vernier caliper
standard bar (on my ibiza and my mums 9n polo) is 18mm, and the H&R bar is 20mm


so what i need to know is, should i have got new bushes or can i use the standard bushes that are already on the car seeing as theres only a 2mm difference?
i went for the H&R one as i was told it has larger hoops to avoid the contact between the driveshaft and the ARB, as my car suffers from this problem as it is lowered more than 50mm.

 

[kriso]

in the words of Captain Slow "Oh ****"

ok so it turns out i've been taking the reading from the wrong marker on the vernier caliper

 

[DanDiesel]

yar, thought that might get a laugh!

 

[orange]

i went for the H&R one as i was told it has larger hoops to avoid the contact between the driveshaft and the ARB, as my car suffers from this problem as it is lowered more than 50mm.

I have my doubt about that. Best thing is to buy also the shorter drop links H&R provide....also, the 18mm bushes should fit fine. I have 18mm Powerflex and they work perfectly

Cheers