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Recommendations for Swaybar Size, Front and Rear

2

2015WhiteGTI

Go Kart Champion
Location
Chester Springs, PA
RadioFlyer said:
Maybe all hype, but sounded good anyway:
http://www.vwvortex.com/aftermarket...ers-new-sway-bar-upgrade-for-golfs-gti-and-r/
Click to expand...

I'm more than likely going to be doing a coil-over suspension with F&R swaybars. I believe I'm going to go with the Eurocode bars.
I like the fact that they are both adjustable and based on their research, it looks like both front and rear benefit the car.

I currently have about $5K into my BMW suspension with adjustable swaybars, M3 control arms/ coil-overs, camber plates and harder bushings. There is a major difference from the factory in the way the car handles and takes bumps.

I believe with the setup that I'm looking to do, I could get a fantastic ride/handling balance along with stellar turn-in and mid-corner compliance.
This is what I'm thinking:
HPA SHS Coilovers - I've read very good things about the ride and handling
Eurocode F&R swaybars
SuperPro FSB Link kit
SuperPro RSB Link kit
SuperPro Control Arms

The reason I'm going with SuperPro for the end links is I don't really want to use heim joints as they get loud quickly on the street. Plenty of my buddies have used them on their BMWs and it doesn't take long before they start clunking. Heim joints are really meant for the track and not dirty/salty roads.
 
breaking badly

breaking badly

Banned
Location
St. Olaf
Longer lever means softer sway bar, short lever means stiffer.
I never tried Eurocode swaybars, but I strongly believe in H&R
quality, when it comes to sway bars. I fully agree, both F&R is
the way to go though.
 
2

2015WhiteGTI

Go Kart Champion
Location
Chester Springs, PA
breaking badly said:
Longer lever means softer sway bar, short lever means stiffer.
I never tried Eurocode swaybars, but I strongly believe in H&R
quality, when it comes to sway bars. I fully agree, both F&R is
the way to go though.
Click to expand...

With the Eurocode bars having three holes, there are a total of 9 different settings. Most people don't know this, but you can put one side in the outer most hole and the other side in the middle or inner most hole to get a different stiffness to the bar. The bar stiffness is across the entire bar, so mixing up where the end link mounts doesn't affect only one side.
 
J

jayk12

Ready to race!
Location
Holly Springs, NC
flygteye said:
I have the H&R bars 28/26 but they aren't installed...yet.....sigh....If they ever do get installed I'll do a review.
Click to expand...

I also got a 26-inch H&R RSB but haven't installed it yet. I took it out of the packaging and realized it doesn't come with any brackets, just the bushings. Do you or anyone else know if the bushings are the only hardware necessary to properly install?
 
SugarMouth

SugarMouth

Drag Race Newbie
Location
Nevada
nik said:
For street duty you really don't need a new front bar - go for a solid rear bar (I have a SuperPro 24mm solid) and put it on full stiff. The car will rotate much better for you as it will cut a lot of understeer. You can always do a front bar later on if you feel the need, but I'm pretty sure you won't.
Click to expand...

My thoughts as well.
 
P

Panzrwagn

New member
Location
Bellevue, WA
I agree with your advice except the solid/hollow part. The Neuspeed 25mm bar is 2X as stiff as the Superpro solid bar, and lighter. I put one on my 06 A3 and was amazed at the improvement. Going to do the same on my GTI, along with Superpro endlinks. Sphericals are cool, but can get noisy on the street.

I also strongly agree that a FSB is a major PITA and unneeded in most cases. If you want to stiffen up the FSB, just swap the factory bushings for poly - probably cost less that $25 and take less than 30 minutes.

Finally, install a dogbone and rebush the front lower control arms (SuperPro kits) to stop the axle hop and general slop up front from the factory bushings.

This is very unexciting, but is the biggest bang for buck, by far. All the trick suspension parts in the world are wasted if your front end is hung by sloppy soft factory bushing goo.
 
breaking badly

breaking badly

Banned
Location
St. Olaf
Panzrwagn said:
Sphericals are cool, but can get noisy on the street.
Click to expand...
What's "cool" with clunking noises?
Unsealed sphericals WILL get noisy quite soon.



Panzrwagn said:
I also strongly agree that a FSB is a major PITA and unneeded in most cases. If you want to stiffen up the FSB, just swap the factory bushings for poly - probably cost less that $25 and take less than 30 minutes.
Click to expand...
Did you ever try a front sway bar?
Most people who think a FSB is "unneeded" never tried one.
Those who did wouldn't agree with you. That says it all.

;)
 
P

Panzrwagn

New member
Location
Bellevue, WA
Swaybar bushings are a standard size, and just vary in the durometer of the material used and the i.d. of the swaybar hole. SuperPro makes poly swaybar bushings in any diameter you require. In this case, going to poly increases bushing stiffness, effectively increasing roll stiffness of the whole system, not as much as a new front bar, but noticeable, and at a tenth of the cost.

If you watch this FSB/RSB install video https://youtu.be/u9p6ytFbkwY , @ 1:20 you remove the 4 - 13mm FSB mount bolts and at 1:50 you can see where you access the bushings from the inside, reaching up and over. Remove the brackets, pry the bushings off and replace, and reassemble. It's kinda tight, but doable.

Unlike this guy, I would wear shop gloves and safety glasses, and I would definitely lube the bushings before installing them.
 
snobrdrdan

snobrdrdan

former GTI owner
Location
Southeast Michigan
Panzrwagn said:
Swaybar bushings are a standard size, and just vary in the durometer of the material used and the i.d. of the swaybar hole. SuperPro makes poly swaybar bushings in any diameter you require. In this case, going to poly increases bushing stiffness, effectively increasing roll stiffness of the whole system, not as much as a new front bar, but noticeable, and at a tenth of the cost.

If you watch this FSB/RSB install video https://youtu.be/u9p6ytFbkwY , @ 1:20 you remove the 4 - 13mm FSB mount bolts and at 1:50 you can see where you access the bushings from the inside, reaching up and over. Remove the brackets, pry the bushings off and replace, and reassemble. It's kinda tight, but doable.

Unlike this guy, I would wear shop gloves and safety glasses, and I would definitely lube the bushings before installing them.
Click to expand...

Have you ever done a swaybar on this car before?
There's like no room up there. And prying the brackets/bushings off, even with the bar off the car, is a pain in the butt. I couldn't imagine trying to do it still on the car/up there.

So it sounds good in theory, but I'm not sure it'd work out like you're saying.

Just upgade the bar instead
 
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