I'm 38 today, and for my birthday the Mrs and her Mum clubbed together and bought me a

Whiteline RARB. It arrived today at 10 AM at the mother in laws and I was laying in wait for it.

She has a nice block paved drive whereas mine is gravel so I decided to fit it there.

I applied the handbrake, put it in gear and chocked the front wheels, then jacked it up

until I could get a 7-8inch high stack of 2ft long scaffold board offcuts under each rear tyre.

Lowered the car down on to these and happy with the stability I got on and fitted the thing.

I do have axle stands but this method kept the work area clear as when I checked with the

stands they came pretty close to where I needed to swing the bar up to clamp it on.

Getting the old bolts out of the lower shock mounts was by far the hardest part of the job,

they were very stubborn, not helped by the fact that I didn't have a socket that would

fit so ended up doing it with 2 big adjustable spanners instead.

Fortunately the new nyloc nuts, bolts and washers that went on with the bar were much

easier to manipulate and the fitment was pretty straight forward.

Jacked her back up, removed the boards and lowered her down again.

Couldn't wait to get out there with it on, I set it on it's firmest setting when installing it

and the difference was immediate. Even at low speed the car felt more composed

round the 20mph backstreets, cornering more keenly but I was looking forward to the 4

mile twisty lane stretch between the mother in laws and mine.

God I hoped I had a clear run through that section but it was not to be... :no:

Got stuck behind Mrss Daisy in a clio who wanted to plod along at 30

whilst gassing constantly to her mate beside her, too twisty for overtaking

with lots of oncoming traffic I didn't have a chance to pass her so I missed

the chance to have a proper whizz. :( Shame, that was a 60 road.

Am off out to a nice restaurant near Chew Magna later with Mrs Grr.

Theres a few bits of twisty between here and there too so

I'll have a thrash tonight and post my findings later assuming I don't end up on my roof .

Hopefully the road will be clear and I'll get more of a feel for it,

No new squeaks or rattles which I was expecting TBH so thats good. Am running a strut brace

and standard shocks and springs at the moment but even with standard suspension I was

able to feel the difference at relatively low speeds, Looking forward to getting the chance

to press on a bit...

Took a few pics which I'll post later for those interested.

So far... So good.

Happy birthday! An ARB is something I'm VERY tempted to fit too my Polo at some point based on reviews on here. What thickness is the whiteline? If you know off hand that is.

Theirs two. If you look on their site under polo you'll see they do a thicker one. Think it's 20mm and 22mm.

Happy birthday! An ARB is something I'm VERY tempted to fit too my Polo at some point based on reviews on here. What thickness is the whiteline? If you know off hand that is.

The packaging said 20mm,

It was thrown to one side and not studied too much if you see what I mean

cos I just wanted to get it on.... I've wanted one of these for a long time now.

Finally! - about time too!

You'll love it when you get to push it a little

Oh, and happy birthday too mate

Cheers Gary - just what I wanted to hear.

<br />Theirs two. If you look on their site under polo you'll see they do a thicker one. Think it's 20mm and 22mm.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

They don't do one for my Polo directly, it's off a Golf or Ibiza or something. I was just curious as I figured if it was able to make a difference on a bigger car like the Fabia, it should be fine on mine diameter wise as the ones I've found are 22mm. Hope that makes sense.

http://www.balancemotorsport.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=58834

http://www.balancemotorsport.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=58885

Happy birthday Gary

You lucky bugger

I wish I had birthday presents like that !

Thats the next mod on my list

I bet you'll have a smile on your face when you get a chance to try it properly

Karl

I think I got some golf balls and socks for my last birthday!

I'm still tempted to get a RARB and the Whiteline one seems the logical choice but a lot of people swear by the Jabba one! Both do the same job I guess, HMMMMMMM! Decisions, decisions!

Happy Birthday Garry, only 2 more to go to the BIG 4-0!

Happy birthday dude.

happy birthday enjoy

Do you rekon a woman could drive a car with a rarb or will she smash it ?

Thanks for all the birthday wishes folks

Do you rekon a woman could drive a car with a rarb or will she smash it ?

I think the car feels much safer with it on and I don't think my Mrs will find it a problem.

She's a very steady driver anyway, I'd like to fit one to her SDI next as the transformation

in how the car copes with twisty roads is fantastic. I just got back from a thrash round the lanes and I

can't believe the difference, it feels like a different car.... Really... :yes:

My last car was a Bora on Spax Coilies and it handled very well indeed, it was quite a lot of fun,

but uncomfortable on bad roads.

When I got the vRS I found the handling baggy to say the least and nowhere near

as good as it should have been considering how much more power there was available.

It felt like a jet powered shopping trolley compared to the Bora, which always felt

underpowered because it handled so well.

Tonight I pushed the car pretty hard (a fair bit harder than usual... )

and it felt very composed in all but the sharpest of hairpins, and with no sacrifice

in ride quality either. In fact I think ride has improved a little.

A terrific modification and I can't wait until I'm 100% used to it.

I'm delighted with it, just regret waiting so long to get one.

What a terrific birthday it's been.

Happy birthday mate, enjoy the pressie, i am 30 next month so hoping for some cash towards it as ive just ordered 1 also :p .....

Happy birthday mate, enjoy the pressie, i am 30 next month so hoping for some cash towards it as ive just ordered 1 also :p .....

You'll love it mate.

Can't believe a bit of metal rod makes such a difference.

Can these be dangerous?

I've wondered that too what with lift-off oversteer.

That said, I never had an issue with it in the snow and I've never induced it before on the roads lift-off or otherwise.

I've wondered that too what with lift-off oversteer.

That said, I never had an issue with it in the snow and I've never induced it before on the roads lift-off or otherwise.

The only time I've ever had proper sideways lift off oversteer was in the snow, and that was because I went into it at a "normal" speed without realising how bad the snow actually was.

Lucky it was 7am, and the road was empty, but it sure was fun

I only get LOOS when pushing proper hard, like... PROPER hard, so nah, not dangerous IMO.

as said it shouldn't be dangerous, it will be down to your driving style to make it so imo

Happy birthday Garry, I want one of these too, just finding the right time to get one with money etc, glad your enjoying it mate

I only get LOOS when pushing proper hard, like... PROPER hard, so nah, not dangerous IMO.

I agee with this, when i first got mine 2 years ago everyone said put it on the soft setting and get used to it. I put it on the hard and to be honest didnt notice a difference, other than if you really really tried you could get the back end out. Its never hapened just driving normally. (well twice but there was water/diesel/oil on the roundabout lol)

You'll be driving about looking like this all the time!

Now get it on Eibachs, I know it looks better on coillies but like me you're kicking on, Your spine isn't as forgiving as it once was!

i was drive the car on a bit a few times a week but i wouldnt say i push the limits of cornering as it is, you think id be safe enough? lowered on coilovers aswel. just dont want to be driving brisk enough going through a corner then BOOM oversteer=hedge lol does oversteer only happen on lift off cause ive all my braking and gear changing done before going into the corner.

i was drive the car on a bit a few times a week but i wouldnt say i push the limits of cornering as it is, you think id be safe enough? lowered on coilovers aswel. just dont want to be driving brisk enough going through a corner then BOOM oversteer=hedge lol does oversteer only happen on lift off cause ive all my braking and gear changing done before going into the corner.

When it did let go, it was very controllable, and nothing like snap oversteer. I'm sure you'll be fine.

Cheers Gary - just what I wanted to hear.

<br /><br /><br />

They don't do one for my Polo directly, it's off a Golf or Ibiza or something. I was just curious as I figured if it was able to make a difference on a bigger car like the Fabia, it should be fine on mine diameter wise as the ones I've found are 22mm. Hope that makes sense.

http://www.balancemotorsport.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=58834

http://www.balancemotorsport.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=58885

Will these fit...

http://www.balancemotorsport.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=98803

or

http://www.balancemotorsport.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=113912

J.