Anti Roll Bar info

[Cali]

Does anyone know if the ARB on the S3 or R32 is thicker than the ones on A3 TDI Quattro and Golf V 4 motion?
Cheers

 

[frenchy2475]

Same arb on S3 and A3 Tdi q. Both 22mm.

 

[Cali]

Same arb on S3 and A3 Tdi q. Both 22mm.

Thats rubbish - lol
Will have to get saving for Eibach or H&R ARB kit
Anyone have any first hand experience with either Eibach or H&R or any others

Cheers

 

[NHN]

I fitted Eibach arb's originally which were ****** good & the rear was knocking on lower arms, so swapped to the HR fat kit 28F/24R & rear doesnt knock but front has some knocking on the stiffest setting, swapped to softer earlier today & seems ok but I know what issue is now, the subframe casting moulds where they were joined from 2 halfs, its left a pointed joint edge which is what the arb is knocking against even the 1-2mm movement with the bushes, I'll fix but still worthy upgrade, although the eibachs have had hardly anyother reports of knocking so could be my particular lower arm revision, even fitting the eibach rear the car was far far better just from one bar fitted let alone both & all from DPM & he's been fantastic with helping me to resolve, go chat to Damian.

 

[devonmikeyboy]

I have H+R ARB`s front and rear and made a lot of difference. I have heard of Eibach ARB`s rubbing or catching the exhaust on some Seat`s,Golfs etc especially when lowered. That was a few years ago now so they might have sorted that out now but i like H+R stuff so would have bought them over Eibach anyway.

 

[NHN]

Just the massive front one 28mm I now have to fix, but dremel or grinder will resolve that I reckon.

But saying that I have to really put it through its paces now its on softer setting, will do tomorrow as sunk few glasses now so impossible, lol

 

[dunk]

most of the arb kits have the front too stiff relative to the rear so although they reduce roll but they encourage understeer.

ideal is about 25-26mm front and about 25mm rear, assuming similar mount hole positions, but with adjustable ones its difficult to say.

golf r32 front is 23.8 or 23.9 (about £75) i think so not bad, neuspeed one is 25mm (£150) - just right
neuspeed rear is 25mm at about £150

 

[NHN]

whats urs again?

 

[Khufu]

you reckon the H&R are the way to go N?

 

[NHN]

They're expensive & the front 28mm is causing me small issues so maybe get the smaller set & I would say you're good to go mate

The car actually goes round corners now rather than tries to, impressed also by the eibachs & if the rear bar didnt knock at all, then I would of kept them, but did my head in, but mine seems to be the exception to the cause tbh as Damian says no ones reported issues, so think maybe was just my lower arm version or combination with FSD's, Eibach Pro 30mm & ARB.

But weird cause the HR rear I now have is same design but 1mm thicker so it should be worse, but not one squeak so far, so for me HR is fine when I fix front which I have ideas on anyway & talking with HR anyway, but I know the 26mm works perfect given eibach front was no problem at all so might just swap for 26mm & be done with it & get some money back.

We'll see, I'll get sorted out next week K.

 

[devonmikeyboy]

neuspeed rear is 25mm at about £150

who sales neuspeed ARB`s at £150 ? Last time i looked they where more like £250 each. AwesomeGTI site has them at £246.67 with VAT added and they don`t sale a front/rear set together so very exspensive compared to everyone else.

 

[NHN]

Off topic, Mikey did you stick with oem filter or change for a better less restrictive panel filter, if so notice any real differences or are they just a psyche part interms of complete ******, lol.

 

[devonmikeyboy]

I always remove the stock air filter system and fit a CDA unit but then i tend to tweak my car slightly more then most. I have read several tests that showed the stock paper panel filter flows just as much air as an "uprated" filter it`s just that paper filters tend to clog up quicker then foam filters. Foam panel filers are only about £40 new and can be cleaned and reused unlike paper filters so you do save money in the long run even if there is no difference. I do have some links somewhere on one of my computers with test results if you want to have a read.

 

[dunk]

my pair of neuspeeds was £300 from awesome, but that was a couple of years ago - a had some other stuff done at the same time so maybe i got a good deal..

alternative, Hotchkis do an a3 set with 27mm front and rear 3 way adjustable fronts (+45%, +70%, +105% front, +125% and +200% rear

% is relative to standard golf gti and are about us$380 a set but dont know of a uk importer

 

[NHN]

I always remove the stock air filter system and fit a CDA unit but then i tend to tweak my car slightly more then most. I have read several tests that showed the stock paper panel filter flows just as much air as an "uprated" filter it`s just that paper filters tend to clog up quicker then foam filters. Foam panel filers are only about £40 new and can be cleaned and reused unlike paper filters so you do save money in the long run even if there is no difference. I do have some links somewhere on one of my computers with test results if you want to have a read.

Ah so you have a CDA on yours, I had that on my S3, well if its done you good then maybe I need to do this again, did you test with the stock filter & with CDA when you had allard done & did you notice any difference with the allard with testing both on the upgrade to the engine?

 

[Scott]

May seem like a stupid question, but will uprated ARB's really make that much difference on a new 2009 2.0 TDI 140 ?? I don't know what to do first... I've heard that H&R ARB's with H&R springs are good, but will these rub on an S Line w/ 18's?

 

[devonmikeyboy]

Ah so you have a CDA on yours, I had that on my S3, well if its done you good then maybe I need to do this again, did you test with the stock filter & with CDA when you had allard done & did you notice any difference with the allard with testing both on the upgrade to the engine?

Never tested the difference between the two as i have gone from a stock new car to a full hybrid turbo within a few months of buying the car.The stock airfilter system is already fairly good even though if i remember rightly the inlet snorkle on the PD140 had a very strange indirect route. If you intend fitting a hybrid turbo i personally would fit a CDA otherwise just stick with the factory system. ISeveal people i know have smoothed out the airbox etc and fitted a different panel filter but at the end of the day if the stock airbox is delivering the requested airflow you will not gain any bhp just maybe some quicker throttle responce.

May seem like a stupid question, but will uprated ARB's really make that much difference on a new 2009 2.0 TDI 140 ?? I don't know what to do first... I've heard that H&R ARB's with H&R springs are good, but will these rub on an S Line w/ 18's?

Fitting H+R ARB`s will make just as much difference on a new car as anything else really. All comes down to what you want to do with the car. Cannot comment on the springs but they shouldn`t run if you get the right ones.

 

[Scott]

Fitting H+R ARB`s will make just as much difference on a new car as anything else really. All comes down to what you want to do with the car. Cannot comment on the springs but they shouldn`t run if you get the right ones.

Hi mate, cheers for the reply. I didn't mean a new vs old car, sorry, I ment "has anything changed on the new A3's to improve handling vs the prefacelift A3's" Also, can I expect much difference in the way the car corners (considerably less body roll?) and handles in general than the current S Line setup with new ARB's and springs?

 

[NHN]

I dont think they've done much to the facelift in that respect but ref your query regarding arb's/springs, well I have added ARB's, FSD shocks & Eibach pro 30mm springs & the drive is much better, it actually goes round corners properly & no bouncy castle rides anymore & the stance is also much nicer & I'm not into lowering as such but will say this was a good choice of setup, even adding the rear arb made alot of difference tbh immediately noticed.

 

[Scott]

I dont think they've done much to the facelift in that respect but ref your query regarding arb's/springs, well I have added ARB's, FSD shocks & Eibach pro 30mm springs & the drive is much better, it actually goes round corners properly & no bouncy castle rides anymore & the stance is also much nicer & I'm not into lowering as such but will say this was a good choice of setup, even adding the rear arb made alot of difference tbh immediately noticed.

thanks!
now my only problem is insurance - but if you don't ask, you don't get!

so, my next question is, where's the best place to buy these???

 

[devonmikeyboy]

My car is an S-Line and was only about eight onths old when i had the ARB`s fitted and i noticed a big difference but then i do a lot of country driving on twisty roads and don`t tend to hang about.

 

[Scott]

Thanks!

I've found dpmperformance.co.uk who seem to be recommended, I think a local motor sport garage can order these in for a similar price and fitting is £150 for f/r ARB's - does this sound reasonable?

Would Eibach 30mm springs make a difference on their own, apart from lowering the ride (infact, how much lower will these even take an S Line?) - don't think I could justify shocks as well at this time...

Cheers for your help guys.

Scott

 

[NHN]

Damian@dpm is top notch scott, you wont get better service for these things than him, nice bloke aswell & very helpful.

Springs do make difference on ride without a doubt & from sline will lower slightly & look perfect for ride height & I would do shocks at same time tbh so not double costs for fitting as do all at same time as same area, saves you money, taking that area apart twice will be maybe half or more the cost of the FSD's mate, get the kit from Damian.

 

[AwesomeSarah]

I always remove the stock air filter system and fit a CDA unit but then i tend to tweak my car slightly more then most. I have read several tests that showed the stock paper panel filter flows just as much air as an "uprated" filter it`s just that paper filters tend to clog up quicker then foam filters. Foam panel filers are only about £40 new and can be cleaned and reused unlike paper filters so you do save money in the long run even if there is no difference. I do have some links somewhere on one of my computers with test results if you want to have a read.

Tweak????? Slight.....
Mike , sorry these are not words that we hear from your mouth often
Hope that your well?
How`s the car?


I must admit , I fitted the rear ARB on my little Fabia and I noticed a very big difference
Even on my little diesel

The Neuspeed ARB`s have gone up now , this is because they come from America and the £ against the $ has got to an all time low
The price of shipping from America has gone up too
Sorry guys
Sarah

 

[Scott]

Damian@dpm is top notch scott, you wont get better service for these things than him, nice bloke aswell & very helpful.

Springs do make difference on ride without a doubt & from sline will lower slightly & look perfect for ride height & I would do shocks at same time tbh so not double costs for fitting as do all at same time as same area, saves you money, taking that area apart twice will be maybe half or more the cost of the FSD's mate, get the kit from Damian.

Cheers mate, can't find that FSD kit but I'm guessing it's expensive, whereas just Eibach springs are less than £150. With new ARB's and new springs, I wonder if it's really worth whatever extra for shocks too? Are the stock shocks so poor that it makes a huge difference with uprated shocks?

I mean, I don't do track days, I don't drive like a total head case, the car now actually handles fine, ESP flashes sometimes but I've never really thought "oh ****" (well, once, and it was wet) - I'd just like to have more confidence in the way in which the car handles as at some point I'd like bigger brakes and then more performance mods.

 

[devonmikeyboy]

What size are your brakes at the moment ?

 

[dunk]

the biggest cost of most of these suspension upgrades is the labour and the additional cost of alignment afterwards - usually once you get a taste of successful mods you keep going so do the research and do them all at once

were i starting again i would go for:

1)neuspeed ARB's - just the right balace of front/rear stiffness to reduce roll and cut understeer or alternatively the hotchkiss ones at 27mm front and rear

2)FSD shocks & Eibach pro 30mm springs - right height and great damping unless you really need height adjustability then good coilovers such as kw

3) tt fwd bottom arms - after trying lots of other options these give -1.5 to -2.3 deg adjustable negative camber at the front using the -30mm springs,

4) r32/3.2/s3 front and rear brakes

5) goodyear f1 asym or michelin ps2

6) whatever engine upgrades - again you can waste money by doing small steps that get thrown away later. decide where you are going to end and do it all at once. i had a remap then threw it away to get hybrid turbo, exhaust and custom remap.

whats going to make the biggest difference? i think ARBs, -30mm springs and negative camber tt arms, particularly if you are fwd

 

[NHN]

Cheers mate, can't find that FSD kit but I'm guessing it's expensive, whereas just Eibach springs are less than £150. With new ARB's and new springs, I wonder if it's really worth whatever extra for shocks too? Are the stock shocks so poor that it makes a huge difference with uprated shocks?

I mean, I don't do track days, I don't drive like a total head case, the car now actually handles fine, ESP flashes sometimes but I've never really thought "oh ****" (well, once, and it was wet) - I'd just like to have more confidence in the way in which the car handles as at some point I'd like bigger brakes and then more performance mods.

Give Damian a shout direct & he'll give price then mate & yes if I was doing springs & arb's the shocks would definitely be on the list aswell, infact 1st on list as the stock suspension is like a bouncy castle as I said, now its just bliss driving on roads man & I'm not a suspension modder at all but is very good choice tbh.

345mm r32/s3/3.2 brakes are perfect upgrade as have myself, stop alot better than stock for sure.

 

[NHN]

the biggest cost of most of these suspension upgrades is the labour and the additional cost of alignment afterwards

3) tt fwd bottom arms - after trying lots of other options these give -1.5 to -2.3 deg adjustable negative camber at the front using the -30mm springs,

whats going to make the biggest difference? i think ARBs, -30mm springs and negative camber tt arms, particularly if you are fwd

This is true & also I've heard about the TT parts, so now heard again maybe an idea.

 

[Scott]

Is there much of an advantage having springs/shocks fitted at the same time as ARB's as I'm thinking of having just the ARB's done first, see how it suits me and maybe a few months later go for springs/shocks.

 

[NHN]

Alignment would need checking again at each point so your adding more costs to the mods, I'd do all at same time & then one alignment cost & one cost to disconnect parts & fit new ones.