Morning all,

 

I am very close to get a (Whiteline) RARB fitted & this is why - please correct me if i'm wrong, before I buy it.

 

I beleive this RARB will give my rear end more stability around the corners therefore giving me more steady rear end, would I be right in thinking this would be a similar result if I were to lower the car 20-30mm?

 

The reason i'm swaying towards RARB rather than lowering is because I want a stiffer rear end but dont really want to drop the car much more & my head is saying the RARB will create the effect without dropping the car, is this fair comment?

 

Regards

 

Mark

An uprated RARB is one of the best bang for buck mods you can do. Stiffens up the rear end and reduces under steer as a result. With regards to comparing it to lowering, I had mine lowered on eibachs initially, but then fitted the whiteline rarb and anti lift kit, really made a big big difference.

Get it fitted and set to the hardest setting.

I see you have the ALK set up too. Food for thought.... It's too tempting to get this at the same time it's up on the ramp. Would you say they really complement each other getting the RARB & ALK fitted together.

Fitting instructions and an update in 2nd to last post

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/152785-fitting-a-new-rear-anti-roll-bar-on-a5-chassis/

Did practically the same Nobafett. My first mod was the eibach pro spring kit , as it only lowered the VRS by 15mm. Looked a bit high off the ground and too much space between the tyre and the arches for a sporting model on standard suspension. It improves the handling a bit , but looks so much better. Then fitted the Walk , which really improved the front end. Less understeer and more tractable. Then changed from stanard dampers to koni str.t ( non adjustable ) what a transformation , more forgiving and compliant but comfortable and the whole car rode better on the 3rd world roads we have now. The last thing was the whiteline non-adjustable rarb. Now it handles even better the whole car feels and drives like a dream. It now feels like a sporting model and puts a big smile on my face when pushing on .......just go for it you will have no regrets. 

For me the car now feels so much closer to the best handling old school vw i have driven which was a my corrado ....another vw that put a smile on my face. :love:

Now I really believe KW coilovers are over rated.  I have tried V1/V2/V3 and clubsports on a fair few cars now and IMO they are terrible for road work, no doubt they are great on track though.  IMO, what KW do, is get to the market first with their products, which means that the majority of owners buy KW and then proceed to insist that they are the best option out there which in turn persuades others to buy them and then the viscous circle is complete.  In addition to that, there are loads of guys who have had failed springs, seized spring adjusters, then once you bear in mind that whilst they are adjustable, its no easy feat to achieve as the adjustment dials are at the op of the strut which is practically inaccessible.  There are lots of guys on the GTI forums who have since switched to the likes of Bilstein B16 setups instead.

 

Me personally, and i typically do around 10 trackdays a year (provided my car is working) think that coilovers are just to OTT for a dialy driver, even if you do plenty of trackdays.  the ONLY coilover setup I have found that is acceptable for the road whilst still be great on track is the AST setup with progressive springs, but they arent cheap.  Ive tried cars masses of other coilovers over the years at meets, trackdays and events and Im just not a fan., coilovers are for race cars and dedicated track cars IMO.

 

What i think is the best option is something like the Bilstein B12 kit.  Superior ride quality than the stock setup and its eons ahead in the handling territory.  In addition you dont have to worry about the setup, corner weighting, choosing the best damper settings or coilover adjuster rings seizing etc.  Just fit and forget.  

 

On the Octavia i wouldnt bother with the eibach ARBs, IMO mine wasnt substantial enough and still under-steered a little more than i wanted.  I ended up looking for something more substantial.  Id be looking at the likes of H&R or BSH instead.

 

Brakes wise for £800 you might be able to get hold of Dave Brown from VAGBremtechnik and purchase some ready made kits for £800.  Lots of options available.  Alternatively, the R32 setup with some good fast road pads and fluid will be a vast improvement over stock and will be happy with trackdays provided your not going to crazy.

 

Me personally id be looking at 

 

Rear ARB (H&R, superpro or BSH)

Superpro adjustable ball joints for additional front camber

Superpro front bushings incl anti lift castor bushings (Think WALK but cheaper and allegedly more reliable)

Vibratechniks lower engine mount.

Bilstein B12 Suspension kit

Peloquin or Wavetrac  Hi Torque LSD

996TT brake kit or B7 RS4  360mm twinpot kit

I beleive this RARB will give my rear end more stability around the corners therefore giving me more steady rear end, would I be right in thinking this would be a similar result if I were to lower the car 20-30mm?

Lowering alone will be an improvement, but lowering + rarb will be much more significant change.

On my 2010 car i just had coilovers (weitec) and on my 2012 car i have coilovers (h&r) plus rarb and s3 wishbones + camber adjustable ball joints - its much better in the corners than the first one.

Rarb is the cheaper mod so logicaly you could do that first, then lower it later if you feel the need.