front anti roll bar

polo2k · Post by **polo2k** » Mon Jul 14, 2003 5:45 pm

i just posted this in the mk5 forum after discovering it and it turns out that it is also applicable to the mk4 in the same diameters and te prices are still reasonable

if you would like the front of your polo to feel more responsive then this may be the part for you and to top it off its oem
there are 3 different thicknesses (diameter) antiroll bars fitted to the mk5 and all can be swapped if the mountings are also swapped
the diameters are as follows
18mm
20mm
22mm
and the prices are reasonable hoever i feel it would be innapropriate to post them here so if you are interested then please ask in the vagparts forum

Speedlaw · Post by **Speedlaw** » Mon Jul 14, 2003 10:00 pm

YES.

I've been wondering about this for a while.

The 75 hp/55 kw version has the 18 mm one, the Gti has the 22mm and the diesels have the 20mm IIRC. Some German bloke switched his 18mm to a 22mm, and he said it made a very noticable difference.

How hard is it to fit the thicker bar + holders?

polo2k · Post by **polo2k** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 12:55 pm

niot too hard i shouldnt imagine but i will be ordering one for my mk5 soon

Speedlaw · Post by **Speedlaw** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 6:18 pm

Cool, let me know how hard it is to fit. The car has a lot of body roll at the moment, perhaps the thicker (22mm) anti roll bar will sort that out a bit.

And some coilovers would help too, obviously.

hayesey · Post by **hayesey** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 8:26 pm

yeah, thats sounds interesting. let us know what u think of it.

jakethesnake · Post by **jakethesnake** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 8:39 pm

Is it ok to add a thicker front anti-roll bar and not do anything to the rear ?.

Speedlaw · Post by **Speedlaw** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 9:04 pm

Isn't our rear axle solid as it is now?

Would a tie bar help at all? And where would we fit it?

I know the Mk3 Golf can fit these, makes for a solid ride IIRC. Could help us as well, right?

jakethesnake · Post by **jakethesnake** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 9:20 pm

Hmmm I've had this discussion in the past.
You can get Eibach and H&R front and rear anti-roll bar kits for the Polo but I've never understood the need for a rear because of the solid rear beam suspension.

What exactly is a tie bar ?.

polo2k · Post by **polo2k** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 10:27 pm

a tie bar is bassically an anti roll bar
an anti roll bar is shaped a little like this

--\______/---

the 2 parts that are slightly raised ----- have a rubber mounting wrapped round them and are attached to the bottom arms the / and \ bits are simply levers and the lower part (___) it mounted to the sub frame via rubber mountings
now if you try and imagine that then i can explain how they work;
the front suspension is independant which means that if there were no link nbetween the two then one could go into full compression while the other culd fully extend (trounce) this results in a huge amount of roll so what an anti roll bar does is it links the 2 front struts together so that if one rises then so does the other. unfortunatly if it were completly solid then it could induce a fair deal or understeer as the car cannot shift any weight to the outside wheel by leaning out of the corner a little so they are slightly flexible (by slightly i mean still reall really solid but the forces in cornering can twist it a little) by fittign a thicker bar the 2 front wheels remain at a similar height, but vw design the bar so as not to go into the realms of understeer city, a larger oem bar will slightly increce understeer but at higher initiating speeds (i.e. its harder to get it to understeer but a little harder to recover as both front wheels have a fair ammount of weight on them [due to less body roll] wheras on stock bars the outer wheel will grip a little better due to the added weight) this isnt really too much of a concideration at street speeds so you can safely fit one without understeerign in the local safeways carpark (unless your playing hard~!!!)

the solid beam name is quite misleading as there is actually a bit of twist possible so a rear anti roll bar is actually a reenforcing bar that is "U" shaped and fixes to the rear beam meaning less twist on the beam however this can result in some oversteer for similar reasons as above

jakethesnake · Post by **jakethesnake** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 10:45 pm

Thanks for that. I allready understood the front set-up it was just the rear I was a little confused by. I think my 16V has the thickest OEM bar as standard. May have to look into an aftermarket one in the future.
Are they easy to change ?.

Speedlaw · Post by **Speedlaw** » Sat Jul 19, 2003 8:56 pm

Hey, good explanation.

I just read somewhere (PVW, I think) that H&R are selling tie bars (again?). Could be an alternative. I'm quite tempted by the 22mm OE bit actually. Just wondering how hard it is to fit...

polo2k · Post by **polo2k** » Sun Jul 20, 2003 7:21 pm

i think a tie bar is just another word for strut brace as it ties the 2 struts together

se97mlm · Post by **se97mlm** » Sat Jul 26, 2003 12:48 pm

i put the 22mm gti bar on my 1.4 cl. took about half an hour. No problems. Body roll greatly reduced, really fun to drive now. Good upgrade for under Â£100 dfrom the main stealers. Funnily enough the 22mm bar is the cheapest by about a tenner at about Â£57. I have gone throuhg two mounting brackets in a year though, because the gti rides lower by 20mm, so it is under mre stress

Speedlaw · Post by **Speedlaw** » Sat Jul 26, 2003 2:03 pm

Hey se97mlm, thanks for the info!

So did you need a lift to fit the bar, or how did you manage to get it on?

And you simply bought the bar and the left and right brackets?

*plans mod in agenda*

Oh,

and welcome btw - noticed you were new

polo2k · Post by **polo2k** » Sat Jul 26, 2003 2:14 pm

ok imjust checked the prices and vag parts can do the 22mm gti bar for Â£29.72 + vat (dealer price Â£42.89+vat) however i recomend that you also replace the rubbers that it sits in as these may already be worn and the larger bar uses different rubbers any way

if you want the 22mm kit then you need
1x 6n0 411 309 f (22mm "gti bar") Â£29.72 + vat
2x 6x0 411 313 a (22mm inner rubber) Â£1.74 +vat each
2x 6n0 411 315 d (22mm outer rubber) Â£ 11.44 +vat each
so the total mod should cost around
Â£56.08+ vat
=Â£65.90 (if ive done the math right)
so it works out some what cheaper than the eibach kits that retail at about 200 quid and make the car a little uncomfortable in everyday driving