A3QTS - confused about ARB's

[buckas]

done a lot of searching and reading on people changing their ARB's for uprated ones for better handing, and after my service yesterday, they said the ARBs + bushes will be need changing pretty soon, i thought i'd upgrade them now - so which one's are best for the A3? also read that some cause instability on the motorway changing lanes etc. so i don't want that, so which is the best all rounder?

cheers for any help or suggestions

drew

 

[Tooks]

It depends what you do with your car really? Do you track day it, or is it just a commuter or a weekend special?

Personally, I went for the factory replacement on the front, but then that's because most of the time I'm just driving to and from work! Even a brand new OEM ARB will be an improvement on a worn out one.

I did put the R32 rear bar on though, but only because folks on here had commented that it dialled out some of the understeer.

In all honesty, I can't tell much if any difference though, and I'm trying to work out what is placebo effect and what is real!

But, maybe I haven't driven it hard enough yet!!

 

[buckas]

Cheers for the reply matey. Was thinking to just replace them with OEM parts aswell, just wondering whether it would be worth changing them for uprated one's as they'll need doing anyways - Do you remember how much the audi standard front's were at all? Is it a big price difference between audi parts and the uprated parts?

thanks

drew

 

[Tooks]

My TDI quattro OEM front ARB was £65, with another £8 for some ARB bushes. Not sure how much the bar would be for your exact model, but it would be in the same ballpark I'd have thought?

The rear R32 bar set me back £130, which was a lot more than an OEM bar would have been. I was quoted £55 for the OEM rear ARB.

Aftermarket replacements I looked at were in the region of £200 to £300 for the set.

I think basically you're looking at least £100 more for a decent aftermarket kit vs the OEM.

As I say, the aftermarket kits should be superior in terms of what they say they do, but it depends how you want your car to feel/handle really.

Brian at Jabbasport recommended I replace the front ARB with an OEM one, as it isn't a bad one at all, but he reckoned all A3 TDI quattro's could do with a bit more 'rear steer' and that the thicker R32 rear bar was supposed to help with that.

 

[ANDYTQ]

£130 for a r32 bar ,i paid less than half that for mine with all the bushes and links etc.Easy to fit yourself with basic tools in about 30 mins-1 hr,i didn't even jack the car up.

 

[Tooks]

Where was that from mate?

I looked around and saw them cheaper online, but I was in a bit of a hurry so just went to my local VW garage. I paid the RRP...

 

[ANDYTQ]

The rrp was cheaper but vw have cottoned on to whats happening and put the price up,i bought mine ages ago from audi dealer.

 

[ANDYTQ]

I have a new spare rear 16mm golf v6 4 motion arb in the garage if anybody wants it,could even bring it to combe on sat if required.Slightly thicker than standard a3 quattro one.Very cheap.

 

[simch]

Get an r32 front bar and as large are rear as you can, 23mil+. And lose your pesky understeer.
Would also suggest new dampers and lowered springs, but dont need to go daft, coilovers are not necessary IMO, just nice macphearson struts etc.

If you keep stock dampers and they are a bit knacked, be careful of going up too much on the arbs though.