Whiteline adjustable rear swaybar - WOW!

[kaanage]

I used to be firmly of that opinion too Scott but I'm starting to think that our TDi's react a bit differently to the GTi's - there are enough GTi guys who know how to drive and who also find the rear ANTI-ROLL bar helpful in balancing the car.

Without having played with one (and I'd dearly love to so that I could make a definitive statement), I'm thinking that this is because the GTi runs a heavier front ANTI-ROLL bar than the TDi to make the car feel more responsive and "sportier" (especially for the all important 20 minute test drive with the salesman in the passenger seat). This, of course, increases the weight transfer to the outside tyre and unloads the inner so the GTi has less relative front grip than the TDi when pressing on. Adding a rear ANTI-ROLL bar does the same for the rear so the car becomes more balanced.

It would have been interesting when noone was playing around with his front Whiteline ANTI-ROLL bar if he could have reverted to the lighter stock bar and seen if he could have reduced his rear ANTI-ROLL bar setting and maintained the balance of his car.

Even better would be if someone could try a lighter than stock front ANTI-ROLL bar on their GTi and see if the car's balance was improved. Of course the car would roll more and that would be girly...

[noone]

No sways was crazy with the KW coilies. Felt like there was no steering response at speed. This was coming from my stiff setup, where minor steering input changes are instantly reflected, so most likely a comparison issue rather than issue with the setup.

I find the front bar makes a bigger difference, that is where all the weight is and all the steering and power is transferred, so makes sense you want to minimise any roll there, rather than trying to control that from the back.

I'm confused as to why my sways give the car such a different feel and others say they can't tell the difference... Maybe the suspension we are coupling with?

I'd like to have a go with the stock front sway as well, but can't be assed droping the subframe, having to do another wheel alignment.

Fun to play with the sways... Oh sorry, Anti-roll bars.

[kaanage]

Fun to play with the sways... Oh sorry, Anti-roll bars.

Touché

But the use of stupid, misleading amercanisms has led to threads like this one The English terminology would have made the function obvious since it is self explanatory.

[Buller_Scott]

greg, i would be texting this to you but i ran out of credit

i am going to keep my anti roll bar- i like the way the car works as an overall package now and literally the only thing im willing to change is to bump my front tyre pressures up another 2 psi... ride height, rollbar setting, rear damping, tyre make/model etc is not going to change.

BUTTTTT that being said, as long as it's not on any big cruise days etc (not that you'd do a track day and a cruise on the same day, unless the cruise was on the way to the track, and an actual cruise, not like a cruise to winton via reefton spur lol), you're welcome to borrow my anti roll bar and play around with it if it will help you in your choosing whether or not to buy one

[Tim]

I'm confused as to why my sways give the car such a different feel and others say they can't tell the difference... Maybe the suspension we are coupling with?

If you slam a car so it has virtually no suspension travel then the difference in swaybar settings makes less difference. Not pointing any fingers Troy

[Buller_Scott]

i lol'd for a bit

[kaanage]

BUTTTTT that being said, as long as it's not on any big cruise days etc (not that you'd do a track day and a cruise on the same day, unless the cruise was on the way to the track, and an actual cruise, not like a cruise to winton via reefton spur lol), you're welcome to borrow my anti roll bar and play around with it if it will help you in your choosing whether or not to buy one

No worries, Scotty.

I don't think I need a rear sway bar as my car is pretty balanced except under hard brakes where the extra weight transfer that a rear sway bar causes away from the inside tire would make it too unstable, especially with the rears seats removed and the trunk empty. I really would like to have adjustable shock absorbers like yours as then it could be worthwhile for me to try one. Can you easily adjust your rear sway bar like your front shocks when on a cruise, say at a gas station while the gasoline engine cars are adding a few more gallons?

BTW Are the spacers you have made of aluminum or steel?

[safetyman]

Thank you very much for that info Guy.

Have taken them off and the car is liveable again.
You can't imagine the crashing whenever I hit anything thicker than a paddle pop stick.

Which also means I probably just turfed shocks that were still good.

Although it does look much better with the Sport Cup kit.
And the ride is smoother too.

[leegil]

Had my anti roll bar installed and it makes the following noticeable:
1) Naturally much less body roll instigated on the rear.
2) Thus more planted feeling.
3) Less under steer. Feels neutral. Not over steer.
4) No real difference in harshness of ride.

I have stock suspension, 18x7.5 rims on 215/35/18 KU21 tyres. The anti roll was at its maximum stiff setting. This was the perfect setting (I probably would have preferred a stiffer setting if it was available).

It feels good to have a planted car that doesn't push as much. It will be interesting to test it out in the wet at some stage.

[kaanage]

What's it like when you brake in a turn?

[leegil]

I try not to brake in a turn, but the occasional feather on the brake pedal feels neutral, at worst, ever-so-tiny push. When you accelerate from there it balances back nicely in. I have not done this at high speed, just spirited burb driving. Try to let the car flow where I can.

Besides the engine tune, this is the best upgrade. Tempted to get one for the front for a more planted ride, but I don't want to trade off on the turn-in balance.

That said, not spending anymore on the car . Time to enjoy the drive.

[kaanage]

I try not to brake in a turn, ..... Try to let the car flow where I can.

Of course, that is the way you WANT to drive but on public roads, especially unfamiliar ones, you can get caught out or have someone/thing force you into an unanticipated manouever which is why you want some built in understeer, even when the car is provoked.
On a race track, you can tune it to that knife edge responsiveness.

Tempted to get one for the front for a more planted ride,.

You probably need to upgrade your dampers to really get the extra stability, especially with such a large (=>heavy) tyre/wheel combination

[Adam]

So I wanted to grease my swaybar's bushing on this long weekend, and when I undone the U bolts (with an effort). I find one end of both U-bolts bent.

Does anyone with a technical knowledge knows why this occurred? I guess I'll need to source some new U bolts as it's almost impossible to put it back at the moment.

[seangti]

Hi, ive got a spare fitting kit for the white line rear sway bar. I'm pretty sure its a complete kit but will have a look and let you know.

[s4mmie]

Hey mate, mine had bent out a little when I re-greased the bushes.
Get a hammer and straighten the brackets on the top of your pic back out, should fit again.