Uprated ARBs

[vetch]

Yeeees, I know this topic has been covered a million times. But, having done the springs, dampers, adjustable tiebars and most of the bushes, the only thing left to do to improve the handling and feel of the car is the ARBs.

And to me, having already spent about £1k on the suspension already, it seems an expensive upgrade. So, to all the people that have forked out for Eibach, Neuspeed etc uprated ARBs, was it worth it? Did your understeering, roly poly S3 become the flat cornering, pointy and nimble car you always wanted (and how it shouldve been from the factory)? Or am I expecting too much from upgrading my anti roll bars?

 

[jonny87]

not done mine yet but am planning to go with whiteline arbs
check out balance motorsport website, offering front and rear arbs for s3 for £235
bargain imo, much better than £400+ for neuspeed etc

 

[mattyboy199]

i did a poll a month on so ago on arb's to see who had what. Still havent bought a set & still not sure if the H&R's everyone bangs on about is worth buying in comparison to the cheaper options such as whiteline & R32's. Parts + fitting your looking at around £500 i recon. Checking out R32 prices at the moment.

 

[tompearson]

I've got R32s on mine, but changed them along with adjustable tie bars, bushes, springs and dampers (H&R and Koni Sports) all together. This along with good alignment made a huge difference to front end bite and massively reduced roll, it also provided a much more neutral mid corner to exit behaviour. Not sure which part made the biggest difference, but the alignment does affect it quiet a lot (currently needed due to recent clutch change and you can feel it). If yours is set up well and still lacking bite then I would expect you should feel a difference once fitted and realigned given you've uprated the other areas already.

 

[mattyboy199]

i think the R32 front & rear bars are something like £180 alot cheaper than a H&R kit obviously there is a difference but these are cheaper than the S3's bars & better (i think)

 

[MartayMcFly]

My suspension is still stock apart from Neuspeed 19/22mm ARBs. MUCH less roly-poly now, very happy.

 

[Piester]

I just sorted a group buy for the Neuspeed ARBs but haven't fitted them yet so couldn't tell you. If you are thinking about them though, drop Sarah at Awesome an email and you should still be able to get the discount (just say it's the A-S.net group buy). Mine were £360 delivered (22mm front, 19mm rear).

 

[mattyboy199]

Anyone know where i can get prices & order online for the R32 ARB's ?

 

[jonny87]

Anyone know where i can get prices & order online for the R32 ARB's ?

i would imagine that you would have to go to vw for these?

 

[JS1500]

not done mine yet but am planning to go with whiteline arbs
check out balance motorsport website, offering front and rear arbs for s3 for £235
bargain imo, much better than £400+ for neuspeed etc

Good price!
Only thing concerning me about the Whiteline ARBs (apart from being made in Oz) is the thicknesses.
20mm front, 18mm rear - I thought I read a 3mm difference was best, i.e 21mm / 18mm? I don't suppose it makes much difference in reality!

Anyone have experience of the Whiteline 20mm/18mm ARBs?

 

[Alex C]

just got neuspeed ARBs for £360 front and back in a group buy from AwseomeGTI(10% off, free P+P), pretty good IMO.

 

[vetch]

The whiteline ARBs certainly seem to be the best value, and with a 20mm-18mm setup Id imagine the car would feel very neutral indeed. Out of curiosity, why did the guys who bought Neuspeeds go for 22mm-19mm? If I was going to stump up big money for Neuspeed ARBs I wouldve gone for 25mm-22mm?

 

[jonny87]

Good price!
Only thing concerning me about the Whiteline ARBs (apart from being made in Oz) is the thicknesses.
20mm front, 18mm rear - I thought I read a 3mm difference was best, i.e 21mm / 18mm? I don't suppose it makes much difference in reality!

Anyone have experience of the Whiteline 20mm/18mm ARBs?

bonus with whitelines, they are adjustable (stiffness) so you could compensate the difference in diameters, if you really thought it was worth it of course, which imo it isnt, for everyday use, any uprated arb is going to be suitable, which is why i cant justify 400 notes on neuspeed arbs, as you just wont be able to use them effectivley on the road, if you did lots of track days then yer, but who here does?

same argument for coilovers, plenty of people have them, but why?

 

[mattyboy199]

jonny thats the exact reason why i m thinking r32, i havent got coilovers i might not even be holding on to the car for anything longer than year cant really justify the cost

 

[DPM]

Both the H&R and Eibach's are a good option a long with the new Weitec bars as well.

Damian @ DPM Performance

 

[JS1500]

bonus with whitelines, they are adjustable (stiffness) so you could compensate the difference in diameters, if you really thought it was worth it of course, which imo it isnt, for everyday use, any uprated arb is going to be suitable, which is why i cant justify 400 notes on neuspeed arbs, as you just wont be able to use them effectivley on the road, if you did lots of track days then yer, but who here does?

same argument for coilovers, plenty of people have them, but why?

Jonny,
I didn't know they were adjustable,
Cheers again,
Johnny

 

[jonny87]

jonny thats the exact reason why i m thinking r32, i havent got coilovers i might not even be holding on to the car for anything longer than year cant really justify the cost

il be keeping my car for a while but for what will be 97% road use cant justify the expense, i dont know how much r32 arbs are but i bet they aint far off the price of the whitelines

 

[jonny87]

Jonny,
I didn't know they were adjustable,
Cheers again,
Johnny

:icon_thumright:
neither did i untill i did a bit of investigation

 

[A3Tom]

I think changing the ARB's on my A3 was the best thing I've ever done to it,...it didnt even come with one on the rear as standard!.

I'm running 25mm KW ones front and back and they're spot on

 

[mattyboy199]

does anyone know the part numbers of the R32 ARB's ? i think their around £150 for the set which seems pretty good value.