Cracked anti roll bars

Dansmith

Dansmith

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just got my car back from the stealers from having the cam belt changed, thats all great and car running well.

BUT

They have told me that the front anti roll bar is cracked and the rear one is snapped completely. For the rear they have quoted me £157 for part and fitting (is this good or bad?)

Then after hearing this I thought it may be rude not to upgrade them if they are both snapped already right??

What parts would you recommend? from memory I can remember reading that r32 anti roll bars are a good upgrade? (I'm running standard suspension at the mo, and will be until my car stops eatting all my funds)

Cheers guys!

Dan
 
I'm in the same position and I looked at r32 bars but most will tell you that it's not a good idea to put different arbs onto standard suspension. I desided to just stick a new standard part on in the end.
 
LOL im the same you guys, been looking for R32 ARB's for a while now. The proportions are the as a S3 but 4mm bigger front and back.

It wont change the handling characteristic of you car but the car wont be as rollie pollie in the corners as the standard setup, good upgrade.
 
It depends upon how long you intend to keep the car as to whether you go OE Audi; R32 or something aftermarket.

The reason why the dealer wants to replace your ARBs is that the bar itself is plastic/paint coated, but then runs through some rubber/plastic sleeves. THis is a design fault as over time the plastic sleeve splits, taking the plastic coating on the ARB with it as well, causing corrosion on the ARB, which is then an MOT fail.

The bad news is that the R32 ones are exactly the same design as the original S3 ones. I made the mistake of replacing my OE Audi ones with R32 ones 5 years ago - and then this year the R32 ones failed in exactly the same way.

So I bought some Neuspeed ones which are designed differently. I think the sleeve is completely separate from the bar - so if the sleeve cracks, it doesn't take the bar coating with it as well. I've had Neuspeed ones on the Ibiza for 4.5 years now and no problems with them. Neuspeed are a bit more expensive but worth it if you're planning on keeping the car.
 
I had the front replaced, considered an upgrade for ages but in reality couldn't justify paying to change the rear (as both parts should be upgraded at the same time) which was fine.

Went for an OEM part and the design has now been changed with metal rather than plastic sleeves so the traditional front ARB problem shouldn't happen again.
 
R32 ARB on standard suspension is fine I ran it for a couple of years before doing all the suspension. The R32 ones don`t have the sleeve like the S3 ones do so there is nothing to crack. Both the S3 and R32 ARB use the same bush iirc.

If you change just the rear then the back end is lively do both and it feels like the std S3 but stiffer
 
The sleeves on the S3 ARB are to effectivly make them the same dia around the point the bushes go as the R32 ARBs. Stupid idea, but hey !!
 
I'd go for the Neuspeed ones myself, having done loads of looking around on this site and spoken to Ess_Three personally, the advice i've taken is to get the suspension sorted on the car first as the S3 in standard form is rubbish at handling. IMO of course.

So my cars booked in for a complete suspension works to include Bilstein B8's, H&R Springs, Neuspeed ARBs front and rear, lastly the neuspeed rear control arms.

Hopefully it'll be great handling after all thats done.

G
 
Oops forgot to say it's also having 4 wheel laser alignment and a custom geometry setup as per Ess's specification.

Which reminds me i must ring him again. :D

G
 
the only reason I'm replacing tho is cos the current ones are broken! I think I will have a look into the R32 ones if there only a little more then its worth it! I'm not a super aggressive driver anyway so probably won't notice much difference!
 
I'd imagine that they are of similar pricing. The Neuspeeds aren't that expensive. I was told that neuspeeds are better for the car, hence my decision to go with them.

G
 
jcs356 said:
It depends upon how long you intend to keep the car as to whether you go OE Audi; R32 or something aftermarket.

The reason why the dealer wants to replace your ARBs is that the bar itself is plastic/paint coated, but then runs through some rubber/plastic sleeves. THis is a design fault as over time the plastic sleeve splits, taking the plastic coating on the ARB with it as well, causing corrosion on the ARB, which is then an MOT fail.


QUOTE]

The sleeves split due to corrosion not the way you have explained. the bar corrodes, swells up and breaks the sleeve. Corrosion on an anti roll bar is also not a fail (unless it was corroded so heavily it may cause a problem)
Click to expand...
 
Are Quattro ARB's the same as the S3 ?? feeling the need to go looking under my car now.... i find it quite worrying that an anti roll bar can fail within 5 years from being new
 
does anyone know how much standard arb's are from the dealers
 
not sure if this is special prices I have been quoted but my research so far..

R32 front - 56.35+ vat
R32 rear - 74.36 + vat

S3 front - 54.61 +vat
S3 rear - 44.12 + vat

got the prices from a local Vag forum so not sure if that is with a discount! R32 ones seem to be a good price compared to the neuspeed! I know they prob aren't as good but as I said im not an agressive driver and i think my handling is pretty good now so only can get better!
 
That's cheaper than I can get them at cost from audi, gt a link?
 
Kunit said:
That's cheaper than I can get them at cost from audi, gt a link?
Click to expand...

there maybe a web site but...

Bournemouth Trade Parts Specialists
Unit 8 Virage Business Park
132-134 Stanley Green Road
Poole
Dorset.

01202 644480
i did get a better price as im a memember of a local club but im sure he will be able to sort something out!
 
Im in the market for new ARBs as Im sure both mine are fecked, and Ive already got new springs, dampers, adjustable tiebars and bushes. So the ARBs and alighnment/geometry should be the last pieces for the puzzle.

I'd really like to get the Neuspped 22mm and 19mm combo but AwesomeGTI want over £400 for them, which I think is rather expensive! Im tempted by the R32 items, so if anyone had a confirmed supplier and price, stick them up.
 
R32 ones are about £220 from VW with new bushes and bolts
 
Mr.G said:
I'd go for the Neuspeed ones myself, having done loads of looking around on this site and spoken to Ess_Three personally, the advice i've taken is to get the suspension sorted on the car first as the S3 in standard form is rubbish at handling. IMO of course.

So my cars booked in for a complete suspension works to include Bilstein B8's, H&R Springs, Neuspeed ARBs front and rear, lastly the neuspeed rear control arms.

Hopefully it'll be great handling after all thats done.

G
Click to expand...

Hi, did you get a good deal on all those parts? Where's best to buy? I'm thinking of doing the same.

Did you got for the 25mm drop H&R springs?
 
Spoke to many companies yesterday about the suspension setup on the S3.

What was common was the fact that they all said the S3 could be better on handling. I'm not saying who said what, so i'll just give an outline:

Most said R32 ARB's wont give much difference if any at all as they are not marginally thick enough to do so.

To get a noticable difference better to go with either H&R, AutoTech or Neuspeeds.

The general idea being that the bigger you go (balancing the thicknesses) the better the car is more likely to be.

I asked for the 22mm Front and 19mm rear.

Prices vary from £351 to £391 depending on make.

The Neuspeeds are a different shape and fitment to the standards and all the rest of the manufacturers. They say achieving a better fitment, no idea if thats true!

G
 
metricspaces said:
Hi, did you get a good deal on all those parts? Where's best to buy? I'm thinking of doing the same.

Did you got for the 25mm drop H&R springs?
Click to expand...

Haven't bought them yet. I'm just trying to make up my mind. I might even go 20MM MTM spring instead as this has less effect on the camber at the rear, making no need for the rear tie bars, anything over 20MM needs the correction.

It's cheaper, but i'm so indecisive at the best of times and when someone said, look, get the 20MM springs, leave the ARB's for now and get a re-map i was like.....OOOOOOOhhhh that sounds great. lol. So it's put a spanner in the works as i'm loving that idea.

Only issue is i need front discs too so thats an additional cost implied yet again. Won't have any re-map done with worn discs. Dangerous if you ask me, plus the company will NOT perform the re-map until the car is of satisfactory standard.

PM me if you like, i'd rather not divuldge prices from different companies here as it's not fair to them.

G
 
Personally i think it's pointless if you are changing arb's for standard ones unless you plan to keep the car standard. Which i don't, think it handles like a pig at the best of times.

Yes it's more money but i'm changing my shocks and springs too.

G
 
I dont intend on taking the next big jump and upgrading all the suspension as the car will probably have to be sold when I buy my first house in the next 6 months. I just want the car to be a well kept standardish S3.

The car handles fine for my road driving it just got a bit hairy on the ring earlier this year, but that made it exciting :)
 
I'm really shocked to see that no one has yet mentioned or recommended these:

http://www.dpmperformance.co.uk/eib...-roll-bars-s3-8l-18t-quattro-0199-p-2949.html

Honestly transformed the handling of my car and the two most common comments I hear from people are 1. Your car appears to corner without any roll, it looks spooky! (from people who have followed it)

and 2. How does your car get that much grip on turn in, if I tried that in my car I'd be dead (from passengers)

The difference is unbelievable. I'll be at Bedford Aerodrome most of the day sat 31st if anyone else is there and wants a passenger ride? Its the black s3 with the BBS wheels on it.
 
^^ ps no connection with the company just very impressed with the way the ARB's transfer load on entry.
 
The Eibachs from DPM are thicker than most people go for, and the size difference is 1mm less than the more common 22mm front/19mm rear upgrade.

Im assuming they'd make the car about as neutral as you can get without making it oversteer like a pig? Although Id love a bit of oversteer in the S3, would take me back to my days of driving my 306 GTi6!

Im rather tempted by these. And DPM are top notch too.
 
Mr.G said:
Haven't bought them yet. I'm just trying to make up my mind.
G
Click to expand...

Ahh I'm in the same boat. Trying to cost everything to see what to go for and how far to go down each route...suspension, new tyres, front brakes. It's pretty pricey if you do the whole lot!

I priced all the suspension bits and they were coming in around £1200 - then I'd need to stick labour on top of that. That's BB8's shocks, H&R 25mm springs, anti-roll bars, rear tie bar.
 
I did the rear on my drive took 30 mins ish the front I did on a ramp and took 1 hr with a bit of chatting with my mate.
 
vetch said:
The Eibachs from DPM are thicker than most people go for, and the size difference is 1mm less than the more common 22mm front/19mm rear upgrade.

Im assuming they'd make the car about as neutral as you can get without making it oversteer like a pig? Although Id love a bit of oversteer in the S3, would take me back to my days of driving my 306 GTi6!

Im rather tempted by these. And DPM are top notch too.
Click to expand...

:icon_thumright: You wont be disappointed. Its nigh on impossible to make the S3 oversteer in the dry (believe me I have tried), it still just lifts the inside back wheel and hoons its way through the corner even if you throw it in over the limit! The difference is that turn in is now unbelievable/unrealistic to the laws of Physics and with the help of a performance Haldex it is now impossible to make the car understeer! You can do whatever you like. The front end WILL NOT wash wide! Full throttle it at the grip limit in a bend and the back end will start to come around on the power, or go into a corner too fast and trailing the brakes and it will again slide from the rear (and try to spin) but realistically you couldn't get any more grip out of the tyres than an S3 with this set up.

It's as you say. Very neutral.:blackrs4:
 
Well mines booked in next month for a complete suspension overhaul!

List includes

Bilstein B8 - Shocks
H&R - Springs
KW- Rear Tie bars
OE - Top Mounts
Autotech ARB's

Should be pretty nice afterwards.

Any views on the above?

G

Will feedback to you all once it's done.
 
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