Anyone got a Sway-Bar installed? Care to voice opinions???

[Trepid4tion]

Talk of dangerous lift off oversteer came up in the old Polo section. From memory a number of us chimed in saying we had not experienced it and didn't see the concern

This is not to say it can't happen, just seems to be a possibility, not an every day reality. As the design of the Mk4 and Mk3 is similar, you could look on other forums for experience in this area. I ended up going front and back, but the rear on its own was a good improvement with the stock suspension, you already have a front bar, just soft.

I have had the liftoff happen, but mind you it was mostly due to lapse in concentration and a little bit of carelessness aswell (forgot im not driving on coils). Threw the polo into a turn on a track during a course and felt a really really bizzare pivoting feeling from the front. Didnt know what had happened at first, but one of the instructors was watching and told me that the rear left was in the air... Swapped back to the middle setting since...

Will deffinately save my pennies to get both the front and back from HP here in Brisbane though. Still not a big fan of not having the silly u-bolts over the rear beam on the whiteline.

[kaanage]

Talk of dangerous lift off oversteer came up in the old Polo section. From memory a number of us chimed in saying we had not experienced it and didn't see the concern

This is not to say it can't happen, just seems to be a possibility, not an every day reality.

Depends a bit on the relative spring/damping rates front/rear and how hard you drive.

My 9N3 can generate liftoff oversteer quite readily when driving on track (have spun it a couple of times) even without a rear anti-roll bar. On the road, I don't push hard enough to get lift-off oversteer - just tightens up of the nose but I believe it could oversteer if I was forced to brake in a turn.

I suspect that the B12 kit that I have fitted has stiffened up the rear relative to the front as the stock suspension allowed me to brake quite hard while turning in to downhill corners without oversteer.

[Bassik]

Will deffinately save my pennies to get both the front and back from HP here in Brisbane though. Still not a big fan of not having the silly u-bolts over the rear beam on the whiteline.

HP you got link, I can't seem to find any other front sway bar other then the APR one for the 6R?

[Trepid4tion]

HP you got link, I can't seem to find any other front sway bar other then the APR one for the 6R?

Sorry, yeah it is the APR one, but going through Harding Performance here in brisbane to get them.

[Bassik]

Wondering if it would be ok to have APR front and Whiteline for rear?

[06eleven]

Honestly, I find this a little hard to believe. the amount of booming that comes from the rear end especially on uneven roads due to the the whole body shaking is really disconcerting, to the point that it has annoyed my girlfriend so much, I either have to fabricate an brace for her car or she sells it.

That was the story back in the day, might not have been right though. Does your GF have a 180? Has it fallen to pieces yet?

[kaanage]

Wondering if it would be ok to have APR front and Whiteline for rear?

It'd at least as good as the Whiteline rear anti-roll bar with the OE VW one up front (better IMO)

[Bassik]

It'd at least as good as the Whiteline rear anti-roll bar with the OE VW one up front (better IMO)

What does OE mean?

[06eleven]

What does OE mean?

Original Equipment

[Bassik]

So your saying don't get a front sway bar?

[gavs]

That was the story back in the day, might not have been right though. Does your GF have a 180? Has it fallen to pieces yet?

No she didn't end up getting one, she ended up going and buying new instead by getting a 207 and that's just as bad. It is after all the same body underneath the exterior sheet metal but still, the rear window shaking while driving over the cobble stone patches around her area is pretty rubbish. She is goin to sell it and look at a hyundai, I'm steerin her toward the voloster.

Bassik a front anti roll bar that is thicker will give flatter cornering but will start reintroducing under steer into the handling characteristics.

[Guy_H]

The main reason to get a front bar in place is to help stop the weight transfer that reduces your corner speed.

On the Polo (and the majority of FWD cars), a huge percentage of the weight is in front of the front axle (have a look next time you have a front wheel off, your wheel centre line & the centre line of the engine / transmission).

When you hook into a corner, the weight transfers to the outside front wheel, and unloads the inside rear wheel (There are many pictures of Polo's & Golf's carrying the inside rear wheel). If you ever get to look at shock data & weight loads from a FWD car, reducing that transfer makes a faster car - Ideally if you could keep the load very neutral front to rear in cornering, that would be perfect (like a mid engined Cayman).

Making the rear end "stiff" or "loose" doesn't do anything for corner speed, it might feel like you can tip it in better (feel less understeer) - let the FWD pull you through the corner as FWD's do best.

Watch some of the footage of the BTCC, I have seen the suspension setup in those things, and the bias is certainly not towards a stiff rear end

my 2c anyway.

[Bassik]

So if I go ahead and get a front sway bar and reduce the stiffness on the rear that should in turn reduce the over steering... theoretically?

I felt that the rear did wonders but now given I'm used to it I feel I need more stability in corning. I know at the end of the day I just need to get used to driving my new car over the DC2.

[Guy_H]

It certainly will shift the oversteer - you just need to spend a lot of time on all your settings, including wheel alignment & tyre pressures - unfortunately suspension tuning is not a one dimensional thing!

[gavs]

Very very true. Bassik, if you crave flatter cornering then the easiest way to do that is by putting stiffer anti roll bars in the car. If you still want it to be flatter again as well as being able to tune the handling, you will need to look at compression and rebound adjustable dampers with various spring combos, coupled with camber adjustment strut mounts, castor kits, bracing etc.