- Sat Nov 29, 2008 10:22 am
#80822
I'd like to add something if I may
There are other ways of improving handling and body roll which will not affect ride quality at all
Anti-roll bars are, in my opinion the single most easy thing you can do to tame body roll and still keep the same ride comfort.
There are many different sizes available both front and back so how do you know which to choose?
My own setup was chosen after some careful though... I wanted a very neutral / slightly oversteery on corner entry setup, so I picked up a stock VTi front roll bar (22mm IIRC) and a whiteline 20mm adjustable. This setup is perfect, some lift off oversteer to bring the back around (not too much though unless it's wet) and perfectly controlled the rest of the time.
With the adjustable one, the positions you can set make it act more like a 19mm or 21mm, while the actual bar thickness is 20mm. They work by changing how much leverage the suspension offers on the bar, shorter means stiffer, so less suspension movement for the swaybar to start doing its job.
So, how to pick? I can't remember the size of the stock VTi / Si roll bars off the top of my head, I believe it's in the region of 22mm up front and 16mm or so at the back. These will be a lot more understeery than my setup and I'd honestly recommend a VTi front bar with at least an 18mm rear bar minimum. Trust me, the handling will be transformed ;)
If you want a more track spec and heavy duty setup, check out the 24mm whiteline bar, or eibach make a 25mm I believe. Match that to at least a 20mm rear bar (22mm preferred). This will probably have a similar effect to what my setup does, only much more controlled and you should be cornering completely flat even in the tightest of turns.
I had the roll bars installed on their own just before I bought the Koni kit and honestly they make a HUGE difference. Remember that you're stiffening the chassis too as they contact the suspension and the subframe. Responsiveness is vastly improved, the feel of the car at both ends is superb and the car does precisely what you want, especially with the bit of lift off oversteer available to correct the naturally understeering front end.
They're cheap too
Only downside is that at the back, you
will need a subframe brace or a tie bar if you're buying a much larger sway bar than standard. With no bar the subframe doesn't carry that much load, but if you install a 18mm or 20mm bar at the back with no brace, you're running the risk of cracking the frame as you do run a much higher load across it with the bar there.
Hope that helps with anti roll bars a little
... Type II's 
