VRs Rear Anti Roll Bar Upgrade

[Towelie]

Hi guys,

 

I'm looking at next step for my vrs, I want to improve the handling. I've read a few posts stating rear anti roll bar upgrade has made a big improvement to:

1) handling

2) the feel of how the car turns in

 

Can I just ask for some further feedback from anyone who has upgraded their vrs rear anti roll bar please? I'd like to have it feeling a bit tighter through the bends and there is a bit of body roll on the rear, did skoda intentionally soften the back end on these? 

 

Whats best manufacturer to go with? Thickness, adjustability, are new drop links also required and if so where did you go to procure these.

 

Thanks,

 

Mike

[weyland]

I had a mk2 VRS a long time ago and upgraded the RARB to a whiteline one, the change to the handling was nothing short of amazing - much quicker response and turn in. A tyre with a stiffer sidewall also makes a big difference, I can't remember  what I had fitted but it was a premium sports tyre, that and the RARB are a great pairing! I did a lot of trackway at the time so can confirm it's  great for on road and on track - you notice it straight away.

 

I had the work carried  out at Jabbasport in Cambridgeshire about 12 years ago!

Edited 28 September, 2020 by weyland

[Towelie]

11 minutes ago, weyland said:

I had a mk2 VRS a long time ago and upgraded the RARB to a whiteline one, the change to the handling was nothing short of amazing - much quicker response and turn in. A tyre with a stiffer sidewall also makes a big difference, I can't remember  what I had fitted but it was a premium sports tyre, that and the RARB are a great pairing! I did a lot of trackway at the time so can confirm it's  great for on road and on track - you notice it straight away.

 

I had the work carried  out at Jabbasport in Cambridgeshire about 12 years ago!

 

Cheers for the reply mate. Sounds like it made a big difference! I've got Michelin pilotsport4s fitted so pretty good tyres. Shall check out the whiteline RARB 👍

 

Did the whiteline have adjustability?

Edited 28 September, 2020 by Towelie

[weyland]

Pretty cheap mod as well in the scheme of things, well worth it 

[SashaGrace]

Consider a strut brace too! Have one from Strut Brace UK, huge wait time on the group buy so expect a long wait now while orders are filled but very impressed so far.

 

[weyland]

Another good mod. Certainly on the MK2 you only really needed to sort the RARB out, not much gained from doing the strut brace, might be different in the MK3 though. Generally best to get the rear end tightened up on a FWD car

[encephalopathy]

https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/482795-looking-to-improve-grip-handling-of-20-tsi-220-ps/?tab=comments#comment-5426375

 

i posted some stuff in the thread above, also

strut brace - subtle effect cutting down chatter through the wheel when cornering on bumpy roads

front and rear arbs - brilliant upgrade

bilstein spring/shocks moderateimprovement although fitted at the same time as my arbs

michelin ps4 tyres (im running 18s)

 

and get a proper hunter 4 wheel alignment - this is what i would do first!

[Ads230]

Few other threads on this topic including the one below, as well as some suggestions for brand options if you scroll up.

Would also consider a dogbone (lower) engine mount to tighten up the engine chassis connection which adds to the 'feeling' of tighter handling, if you haven't already. Not only reduced wheel-hop under load, but when cornering on mid/higher throttle, it works well with a tighter suspension setup too 

[roaddetective]

21 hours ago, weyland said:

I had a mk2 VRS a long time ago and upgraded the RARB to a whiteline one, the change to the handling was nothing short of amazing - much quicker response and turn in. A tyre with a stiffer sidewall also makes a big difference, I can't remember  what I had fitted but it was a premium sports tyre, that and the RARB are a great pairing! I did a lot of trackway at the time so can confirm it's  great for on road and on track - you notice it straight away.

 

I had the work carried  out at Jabbasport in Cambridgeshire about 12 years ago!

Same story as weyland. I also had a MK2 Octavia VRS a while ago and fitted a rear Whiteline ARB. Improved handling around corners with less body roll. It did mean a touch of oversteer, but more than controllable if you know what you are doing. I also fitted Bilstein B8 shocks and poly bushed the front wishbones. The old MK2 Octavia VRS certainly then handled with those upgrades, better than my present MK3. Maybe one day the MK3 will get some extra bits.

[flybynite]

On 28/09/2020 at 11:24, Towelie said:

Can I just ask for some further feedback from anyone who has upgraded their vrs rear anti roll bar please? I'd like to have it feeling a bit tighter through the bends and there is a bit of body roll on the rear, did skoda intentionally soften the back end on these? 

 

 

I don't have a vRS but found the same. The cars have a strong FARB of 24mm (same as a Golf 7R) but a weak RARB (18mm vRS,  16mm standard) when Golf sizes are 20mm and 22mm.

 

I found the rear did wallow so changed the RARB to a standard Golf 7R one of 22mm. (you would need a GTi PP one if you are FWD) It fixed the problem.

 

I would have said before that it was done to compensate for the wheelbase length difference between the Octy and the Golf but the problem with that is the handling has been spot-on for years since the change so at a loss for doing it other than cost and weight.

[Towelie]

3 hours ago, Ads230 said:

Few other threads on this topic including the one below, as well as some suggestions for brand options if you scroll up.

Would also consider a dogbone (lower) engine mount to tighten up the engine chassis connection which adds to the 'feeling' of tighter handling, if you haven't already. Not only reduced wheel-hop under load, but when cornering on mid/higher throttle, it works well with a tighter suspension setup too 

 

Cheers yeh I feel that would probably help quite a bit with the diesel wheel hop.

 

3 hours ago, roaddetective said:

Same story as weyland. I also had a MK2 Octavia VRS a while ago and fitted a rear Whiteline ARB. Improved handling around corners with less body roll. It did mean a touch of oversteer, but more than controllable if you know what you are doing. I also fitted Bilstein B8 shocks and poly bushed the front wishbones. The old MK2 Octavia VRS certainly then handled with those upgrades, better than my present MK3. Maybe one day the MK3 will get some extra bits.

 

Thanks for the feedback, sounds like Whiteline did a good job on the mk2. I certainly feel that upgraded the dampers to go with the lowering springs may also be a good way forward.

 

2 hours ago, flybynite said:

 

I don't have a vRS but found the same. The cars have a strong FARB of 24mm (same as a Golf 7R) but a weak RARB (18mm vRS,  16mm standard) when Golf sizes are 20mm and 22mm.

 

I found the rear did wallow so changed the RARB to a standard Golf 7R one of 22mm. (you would need a GTi PP one if you are FWD) It fixed the problem.

 

I would have said before that it was done to compensate for the wheelbase length difference between the Octy and the Golf but the problem with that is the handling has been spot-on for years since the change so at a loss for doing it other than cost and weight.

 

Quite a difference from front to rear isn't it! Might have a look and see if any gti pp are up on ebay, but it looks like whiteline are doing £20 off at the moment as well so options out there.

 

Cheers everyone for the feedback 👍 

[lab4games]

Are these suitable for MK3 with torsion beams?

 

https://ukwhitelineperformance.com/collections/all/products/bwr24z-anti-roll-bar

Edited 30 September, 2020 by lab4games

[flybynite]

15 hours ago, lab4games said:

Are these suitable for MK3 with torsion beams?

 

https://ukwhitelineperformance.com/collections/all/products/bwr24z-anti-roll-bar

 

No, torture beams do not have RARB because that is kind of what a torsion beam is.

 

There are things made to stiffen the torsion beam  like THIS but I think often they make a bad situation worse.

[FrankLK]

Is it enough to upgrade only rear and leave front stock? 

[flybynite]

6 hours ago, FrankLK said:

Is it enough to upgrade only rear and leave front stock? 

 

That is exactly what i did and it works very well indeed, exactly how it should be. You have the Multilink rear suspension so will have the same setup as mine, just no 4x4

 

22mm OEM VW rear ARB from a Golf PP would be what I would do

[encephalopathy]

12 hours ago, flybynite said:

 

That is exactly what i did and it works very well indeed, exactly how it should be. You have the Multilink rear suspension so will have the same setup as mine, just no 4x4

 

22mm OEM VW rear ARB from a Golf PP would be what I would do

don't create too much of a difference between front and rear or you can have unwelcome handling traits like unexpected snap oversteer. Either go with a modest upgrade as mentioned in post above or a matched front and rear setup (matched being matched for the pair, not necessarily matched for the same thickness)

[flybynite]

15 minutes ago, encephalopathy said:

don't create too much of a difference between front and rear or you can have unwelcome handling traits like unexpected snap oversteer. Either go with a modest upgrade as mentioned in post above or a matched front and rear setup (matched being matched for the pair, not necessarily matched for the same thickness)

 

What you do not want is the ARB over-riding the springs. That will cause handling problems. The ARBs should only be upgraded if the rest of the suspension is known to be good good. They should not be upgraded to compensate for weak springs.

 

The ARB is just one part of the suspension and like anything should not be changed blindly.

 

Increase thickness of front compared to rear it increases understeer, reduces oversteer, Thicker rear compared to the front reduces understeer, increases oversteer. The difference is not as important as how it fits the rest of the suspension.

 

However I really cannot understand why Skoda put a 16mm rear ARB on some of these cars and made it wallow at the rear. It is not like a 22mm rear bar has launched it into wild oversteer, it simply handles like a normal car without the rear wallowing in every corner.

[Towelie]

Do you by chance happen to know the part number for the Gti PP RARB?

 

 

[DC04R]

Rear arb is one of, if not the best mod I've done on all my cars, Vrs included.

 

Golf Gti Clubsport is cheapest option, but not adjustable like the whiteline, which is only a few quid more.

 

Watch out for some of them, they're advertised as thicker diameter but are hollow

[radders567]

Does anyone have the part numbers for the current one fitted to a VRS TDI and the clubsport one

 

What is the part number of the one fitted to the MK7 Glof R?

 

Thanks.

[flybynite]

4 hours ago, radders567 said:

Does anyone have the part numbers for the current one fitted to a VRS TDI and the clubsport one

What is the part number of the one fitted to the MK7 Glof R?

Thanks.

 

On 02/10/2020 at 09:07, Towelie said:

Do you by chance happen to know the part number for the Gti PP RARB?

 

Unfortunately I don't have the part numbers anymore, it was a while ago

 

To be honest you are just as well looking it up on ETKA, or phoning a Stealer/TPS depot with a reg number of a car off autotrader. That is what i would do if looking now.

 

I can confirm the 21.7x3.6 Golf 7R rear bar fits on an Octavia 4x4 and works.

 

The only ones I can find for the 21.7x3.6 size bar are

 

5Q0 511 305 BA 2wd

5Q0 511 305 BF 4wd

 

(there is also a 21.7mm bar that is 3.0mm thick that I believe is the std GTI bar which is not what you want.)

 

Also facelift vRS with the wider track may have a different bar

[DC04R]

I've just ordered the H&R 33851-4 kit now (28f/26r) as I'm fitting coilovers too.

 

Why do H&R sell a kit that's 26f/24r (33851-2) as well? Why not just the 1 kit? IS 33851-4 better suited to coils and 33851-2 for shocks/springs setup?

 

Will be flogging my whiteline kit in Jan (22mm adjustable rear)

[jaymd]

Is the -4 one for 4x4 and -2 for fwd?

[DC04R]

On 26/11/2020 at 22:17, jaymd said:

Is the -4 one for 4x4 and -2 for fwd?

 

no

 

-4 is 28f/26r

 

-2 is 26f/24r

 

Think there's another version for the 4x4, not sure

[MarkyG82]

I imagine it's for differing requirements.