rear anti roll bar for quattros.

[Kingfisher]

Anybody fitted the RS4 version ?
( sure I read that it is 17mms as opposed to the 15 or 16mms standard/S4 size)
Is it just a bolt on?
It is for a quattro T Sport.
TIA.

 

[aragorn]

The parts catalog lists the 17mm bar as an option.

All quattros have a 15mm bar afaik.

 

[Blue_Thunder]

Have you considered a decent aftermarket ARB such as Hotchkis or H&R?

 

[aragorn]

Might be worth looking at an aftermarket upgrade on the rear, however DONT touch the front, as it will just make the car more prone to understeer than it already is, and you might want to look at strengthening the brackets on the rear subframe too, as they're prone to cracking with uprated ARB's on them.

 

[Kingfisher]

there is already a 29mm front bar, wasn't going to change that ( needs new bushes....stock or poly? )
Most of the time it is driven fairly sedately ( hers) but I drive more sportingly when I get to drive it
checked the rear and wasn't sure if 15 or 16 mms.Thanks for confirmation.
Do not wish to spend £s on aftermarket although well aware of the quality of those companies. Can get the RS4 version cheaper from a guy upgrading to H&R.
Went from 17 to 19mms on my B6 quattro ( S4 ... before the B7 RS4 21 mms was available). Did the job before Audi upped all the prices..... new stock S4 bar was £38 +vat + couple of ££ for new bolts/bushes !!
A noticeable decrease in understeer so thought it would be good mod for the older car.

 

[Mr K]

are the S2 steel links worth it with a stock ARB? anyone here replaced just the links?

 

[jcb]

check out RS246 on the steel link tip. sounds worth it to me.

Kingfisher: read here before you polybush your ARB bushes:
http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/showthread.php?t=68430&highlight=bush

 

[aragorn]

is the 29mm ARB on the front a stock item (i cant remember the dia of the stock sport arb)

Increasing ARB stiffness on the front of any vehicle will increase its tendancy to understeer and reduce oversteer
Similarly increasing the rear stiffness will increase its tendancy to oversteer and reduce understeer.

I wouldnt use anything stiffer than the normal Sport ARB on the front. Audi didnt fit a stiffer one on the S4 and RS4 for good reason!

 

[PaulJC84]

I have the Hotchkis on my A4.

I ran with just the rear for a day as it got dark before I could fit the front. I think the front is an improvement as well. Car seems a lot flatter round the corners, so I would change both not just the rear with that kit.

If you want to just change the rear get the neuspeed kit.

 

[aragorn]

the car feeling flatter does not mean you have more grip...

The antiroll bar acts to keep the car flat by transferring the force thats compressing the suspension over to the other side. This works to reduce the weight transfer onto the tyre on the outside of the corner (the one under most load) and as such reduces grip. The suspension is also designed such that the tyre cambers up on cornering to keep the contact patch flat against the road surface, uprating the front ARB stops this happening as much, and again loses grip.

I ran my nova both with and without the arb, and while with it made it feel flatter thru the corners, throw it hard into a roundabout and it would understeer much earlier than it did without it.

If you google, you'll see lots of people removing them from all sorts of cars to help reduce understeer, and seen as the A4 is already an understeery car, i wouldnt want to make it worse.

 

[PaulJC84]

Well each to their own but I have found them to be beneficial as have others on RS246/audiSRS.com.

I find the car to be very balanced through the corners and I do not slide straight on as I found when I first got the car.

 

[jcb]

i find that stick between the front seats helps when that happens

 

[Kingfisher]

Interesting guys ! Thanks.

The car is a stock ( but chipped) 1999.5 quattro T Sport.

The front bar appears to be 29mms, from the factory.
It's difficult to know who did what in the factory, iirc GmbH did some suspension 'developement' and then the factory turned out the cars on the ordinary lines. Although the model was an 18 month 'special' in the UK for the B5, it was available in many other markets over the B5 life but RHD only in Australia Japan (?? )

Those of you with Quattro T Sports may notice that the shells have the built in top suspension strut ( I know it doesn't have one but you know whaat I mean !! ).
I do not think that other 'ordinary' A4s have this unless it's the S4.... I only realised a few years ago when I was about to follow the instructions on Audiworld about installing one using slightly modded factory parts.

I think I'll use rubber bushes on the front arb ( they are very perished)
I'm happy to increase the rear arb size bearing in mind I have first hand experience on my B6 and I prefer it , her indoors will probably never realise......
Oh and the stock suspension is hard but there I'm lucky as she hates soft wallowy cars !!

It's a nice car, only 70k miles, owned since new and we would prefer to spend money on it rather than sell and get the Sportback 2.0TFSi quattro DSG that she does like ..... at a list price close to £32k ...........unless it's a RS3 version !!

 

[docurley]

The front anti roll bar does not have a part number just a blob of paint and if it's green then you have the RS4 type which is fitted to the 1.8TQ as standard and to the V6 range I think im not sure about the rear but I have a RS4 one knocking around somewhere if someone is after one and I have the larger OEM one from my 1.8TQ if someone is after one of them.

 

[baltiboys2]

Has anybody looked into whiteline rear ARB as i have stripped a s2 avant and the rear bar is identical to the one on my a4 quattro sport you guys may know this already

cheers Raj