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ARB's before and after

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  • ARB's before and after

    I'd like some feedback please from owners who drive their car quite hard on the road and have fitted uprated Anti Roll Bars.

    What actual effect in the real world (+ & -) does it have on a road car?.....I've got KW V3 but with stock ARB's and I'm concerned that stiffer ARB's could induce more oversteer or understeer depending on what I fit:

    It's my understanding that a thicker front ARB will increase understeer and a thicker rear will increase oversteer so I assume it's all a compromise of the correct thickness for both.

    Anyway I know everybody raves about this mod but what do they genuinely do for a street MC please?

    Cheers

  • #2
    I fitted them to mine just before it went away for winter so did not have much time to spend with them fitted( I already had kwv3 like yours)

    I set the front mid way and rear to full soft.

    Initial impressions are its a lot flatter when cornering, massive difference.

    I am getting under-steer more now, nothing drastic, but slightly more than before. The turn was maybe a small bit less sharp, but I have yet to swap over the top mounts.

    I also fitted a strut brace at the same time but I doubt this made any significant difference.

    I have a few other bits to fit and I am going to swap the top mounts get it corner weighed and play with the set up some more.


    Edit: Just to add it will destroy the KW drop links, but I am getting some new BMW ones cut and re welded to size, I know a few people running them like this and they are much stronger and a lot cheaper than whiteline etc

    Were they worth it, defiantly. It corners so much flatter. I haven't had it out on track since but I am really looking forward to it. If I bought another coupe it would be my first mod.
    KW V3, H&R arbs, H&R 12mm Spacers, Weichers Strut Brace, Ireland Engineering Bushes, Uprated rear top mounts,swapped front top mounts, EBC Yellows, Simota CAI, Supersprint Exhaust, Shadow chrome Roadstars

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    • #3
      Stiffer ones do what they say on the tin, just a bit harder ;)

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      • #4
        I'm running them on Schnitzer suspension and was surprised just how much difference they made on a fast road run.

        Combined with EBC yellow pads they give much more confidence in the corner to control breaking on approach and a more of a flatter "point and shoot" feel into the bend and through it.

        Even more surprisingly was how they "smoothed" out the ride in a stright line.
        VIDEO or Journal

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        • #5
          They are definitely worth it and "finish" off the handling of the car. Makes high speed handling feel more composed. I didn't really notice any difference in under/over steer just that the car turns in much better particularly at high speed, say on a motorway you feel like you don't need to steer so much. And it stays so flat!

          The normal effect would be more understeer on a stiffer front but someone on here recommended this and it seems to work. I've got mine set on stiff at the front, soft at the rear (even the soft setting is a massive amount stiffer than the standard roll bars).

          What got rid of my understeer was swapping the front top mounts overs for some neg camber. I had slow speed understeer before the ARBs and it was about the same after.

          The ride becomes a little bit lumpier on general urban roads due to less independence though. There is a tiny bit of traction loss on bumpy roads out of corners, but it is tiny.
          Last edited by c_w; 20-03-2011, 10:12 AM.

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          • #6
            would generally agree with Chris...ride is definatly harder and definatly flatter in the corners...but a bit of a mare on bumpy roads..tends to throw the car a bit of course..but you get used to it!..

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            • #7
              So would you reduce, increase or leave the bump adjustment alone to compensate?

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              • #8
                Originally posted by kwoffa View Post
                would generally agree with Chris...ride is definatly harder and definatly flatter in the corners...but a bit of a mare on bumpy roads..tends to throw the car a bit of course..but you get used to it!..
                Thats what I was expecting but on mine I actually felt it smoothed out the ride which I know is wierd
                VIDEO or Journal

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                • #9
                  The considerable reduction in lateral bodyroll that you get with uprated ARBs means that the dynamic suspension geometry, is held more closely to the static geometry to which the suspension is set up. The increased diameter of both front and rear H&R ARBs means that they are twice as stiff as OEM ARBs and they can be fine tuned in 3 positions at the front and two at the back. I also have KW V3 and I find that the H&R ARBs are best on my MC on their softest settings because I can fine tune the KW V3 instead.

                  The photo below is of my car with the H&Rs on softest settings and with the KW V3 set up at near hardest settings all round (both bump/rebound), but for the road I have the KW V3 set up way softer, particularly at the rear, yet the reduction in lateral bodyroll remains the same.

                  Bearing in mind the inherent handling characteristics of any car, IMO, the amount of oversteer/understeer you get is greatly influenced by your driving technique, but the ability of the car to turn, is essentially influenced by the geometry settings. I've found that on the MC, toe settings have the greatest influence on turn.

                  /// Exdos ///
                  "Men who try the impossible and fail spectacularly are infinitely superior to those who reach for nothing and succeed" --Napoleon Bonapart

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                  • #10
                    i had the eibach arb ,feel better in strong position front & rear
                    Tried to go soft position in rear,had an bit more traction but at highspeed had the bad sensation of few weight on steering wheel and too much soft on rear..
                    www.fastdrive.org
                    S50 black/black-red In Rome
                    Front BBK Stoptech Red+Eibach Sway Bars+Kw Clubsport Whit Camber plates+Weichers Strutbar+Agk Urethane front Silent Block & differential Bushing+Tuner Motorposrt Alluminium Rear Mount+Hamann Exaust

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                    • #11
                      Thanks for the input gentlemen.

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                      • #12
                        How come you are looking at ARBs?

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by inside View Post
                          How come you are looking at ARBs?
                          Because mine is still on standard ones and everyone raves about this mod.......I was after some real world feedback to see if there were any negative points.

                          My car can be quite a handful and I didn't want to make it nervous, twitchy or have any more tendancy to swap ends than it already has!

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by fok View Post
                            My car can be quite a handful and I didn't want to make it nervous, twitchy or have any more tendancy to swap ends than it already has!
                            How much lighter is your V8 engine than the S50 cast iron block? Apart from the obvious increase in power and the ease of loss of rear wheel traction you might get, how has the change in fore/aft weight distribution affected the steering and handling when you're not giving it the beans? Did you drive your MC with KW V3 before you fitted the V8?
                            /// Exdos ///
                            "Men who try the impossible and fail spectacularly are infinitely superior to those who reach for nothing and succeed" --Napoleon Bonapart

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by exdos View Post
                              How much lighter is your V8 engine than the S50 cast iron block? Apart from the obvious increase in power and the ease of loss of rear wheel traction you might get, how has the change in fore/aft weight distribution affected the steering and handling when you're not giving it the beans? Did you drive your MC with KW V3 before you fitted the V8?
                              Alloy LS1 is 22kg lighter than iron S50. The 6 speed T56 box is heavier than the BMW 5 speed but I'm not sure by how much. This weight increase is in the middle of the car so is hopefully now offset by fitted Pole Positions on alloy mounts.

                              I have a couple of things up my sleeve to lose more weight with a lithium battery, bumper mount trimming and moving underbonnet stuff, but I'm only going to do that once in possession of some corner scales....To hopefully acheive an overall weight saving but as near perfect balance as possible............We'll see!

                              I can't answer your question about the conversion's effects when "not giving it the beans".........All I can say is it drives nicely and goes where I point it.

                              Did you drive your MC with KW V3 before you fitted the V8?............No, it was completely stock and I thought it was shit to be honest.

                              I can tell you that the V8 conversion is night and day different to an S50 in terms of power / delivery with no discernable negative effects on handling...........What I meant by my earlier post is that you have to treat a short, light, 400rwhp, rear wheel drive car, with no driver aids, with respect and I don't wish to create problems by getting the ARB's wrong.
                              Last edited by fok; 22-03-2011, 09:32 PM.

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