Comparison: Small -v- Large Sway bars - Coilovers -v- Strut Dampers

Thanks WJ, I always like reading the info you share. I don’t have any fundamental problems with anything here, except potentially the talk of a rear-only sway bar set up being potentially unbalanced and dangerous in emergency situations.

I just do not see it, have experience that is the opposite and suspension developers like whiteline proudly proclaim a rear only bar as the best value suspension mod available for fwd.

I think with talk of skating off the road a 60, you are potentially unnecessarily putting people off what is the best value suspension mod available.

(I’m talking mainstream/modest bars, not solid 28mm ones, mine was the neusepeed set to hard.)

I have no particular agenda, I’m not selling anything and I don’t mind what mods anyone does to their car, but I am confident in my own experiences during which I haven’t observed any of these concerns you raise with this set-up, only improvements.

^Fair enough ... I'm taking the conservative approach; which I think is the best approach for street use.

I agree on the rear sway bar upgrade to a certain degree ... that's why most with matched front & rear sway bars set the front on soft and rear on hard.

In principle ... this also applies to upgrading the rear sway bar only ... that is going firmer at the rear than the front to dial out understeer.

Problem I see with aftermarket sway bars that come as a matched set is that the rear upgrade only with no other upgrades to suspension tends to pass that ideal point of front to rear relative sway bar spring rate, as the bars are generally designed to work in unison with each other. Also highlights the trend of Manufacturers offering complete sorted kits that compliment each other (bars, dampers, springs).

Cheers
WJ

I will see how the car performs with the BSH only and if I feel something is wrong, will add the bigger Front H&R bar !

Forgot to mention..I have a Wiechers front upper strut bar around the house. Do u think it could help stiffening the front ?

I'm no expert either, but doesn't replacing the rear bar only push more forces onto the stock suspension and other areas? It's cheap, but i've always believed to do suspension/coilovers first then a pair of sway bars.

Golf is a very stiff little hatchback. Strongest chassis in the hatchback market they tell me. Experts are saying no need for chassis bracing, unless very frequent track or competition. Having said that, I have found that with the addition of aftermarket sway bars front & rear, the rear end tends to flex a bit on graded turns, hearing the plastic trim/metal rub against the rear leather seat base. This problem may also be apparent with the stock GTI/R32. No apparent movement in the front end to my knowledge. A front strut brace will induce a tad more understeer, due to extra rigidity between struts. In a nutshell, no need for front strut brace, more apt for Subbie's, MPS3, Focus or Lancer.

Cheers
WJ

i know this thread is from forever ago but it has great information in it so i figured id post my question here. i am going ko4 in a few weeks and am still unsure about what suspension i will be running. my car is a daily driver and i do a decent amount of 'spirited driving' when roads are clear and others not present. the road conditions arent the greatest around here but nothing that cant be avoided by slowing it down a bit. also, we see every typer of weather up here in the northeast including snow and road ice. i may be tracking my car in the future. no autcross though. so i am looking for the suspension that will offer the most neutral handling.

i plan on going with koni coilovers and the 24mm h&r rsb. what i am unsure about is which fsb to go with and which setting?

h&R 24mm rsb on stiff with 28mm on soft seemed good but have you ever tried the 24mm rsb on stiff with the 26mm fsb on either soft or stiff?

any info is appreciated.

Wouldn't bother with the Koni coilovers. Koni c/o are cheap and ride nicely; but have issues with excessive noise based on forum member reports. If you're going for a big turbo, you'd require something more sports biased than comfort to cope with all that added power. KW V1-V3 have a good distinction between low & high speed compression rates & offer best NVH with no spring bind or tug'n'release issues, but are not easy to adjust. Bilstein PSS10 are good, but will ride a bit rougher. Sachs Street Coilovers, like Bilstein PSS, are easily adjustable by notch and should ride a bit better than Bilstein - make sure you check that the Sachs have the newer type of spring (if it's been introduced across the board) - otherwise older style Sachs spring may not have enough rebound rate - something you're going to need to keep the front wheels planted firmly on the ground.

A small front H&R 26mm solid adjustable anti-roll bar on either hard or soft / rear H&R 24mm anti-roll bar on soft could be a good starting point. Bear in mind, you have upped the spring rate front and rear with coilover springs/dampers - so maybe try a rear H&R bar only first and then add the front bar after a few months if required.

Cheers
WJ

thanks for the info my man. so the bilstein pss10 would be alright for daily driving and the occasional track day? from what ive read 4f/6r is a good starting point, do you agree?

and i was initially going to run just the 24mm rsb on stiff but since i wont be doing any autcrossing i figured adding a front bar would help give the car a more neutral handling.