Anti Roll Bars - Wet Weather Handling..your thoughts...

[Tfsi_Mike]

Mind me asking how much such a course would be? 

[RedRobin]

Mind me asking how much such a course would be? 

....Was about £250 when I did it about 5 years ago. Dunno what it costs now but I'd say it's worth it unless you already have Police or Services training. 'Big John' is a highly qualified instructor who has trained Police drivers.

[Tfsi_Mike]

Thanks Robin.

Have done several services driving courses and will be doing ADAC course in the coming weeks but haven't done any such as evasive driving / master driver as it's not my trade.

[gobbleplease]

I found that a matched set of ARBs dont benifit over the standard in the wet, there is defintootly noticable reductions in grip.
Infact when i bought my ARBs VW racing informed me that they dont actually run them on  their race cars !

I had eibach on mine and the reduced grip in the wet didnt bother me,in the dry when pushing on, it felt like you shaved 150Kg of the car and shortend the rack, so much more precice and direct its a brill MOD and worth doing IMO 

[RedRobin]

I found that a matched set of ARBs dont benifit over the standard in the wet, there is defintootly noticable reductions in grip.
Infact when i bought my ARBs VW racing informed me that they dont actually run them on  their race cars !

I had eibach on mine and the reduced grip in the wet didnt bother me,in the dry when pushing on, it felt like you shaved 150Kg of the car and shortend the rack, so much more precice and direct its a brill MOD and worth doing IMO 

....I've had the same Eibachs on mine for 5 years and VWR advised me when they were doing my suspension that I didn't need to change to theirs.

Unless you do back-to-back comparisons I don't see how people can be so convinced about grip reductions - There are so many other factors which influence grip/traction. I can't feel that having ARB's make any difference in the wet - You drive according to the conditions and if you're not experiencing problems then it all works just fine n dandy. Unless you are doing regular trackdays like SteveP I don't think you need to start fine tuning ARB's. They help the overall handling and so are a worthwhile enough mod for fast road use.

[alackofspeed]

On my other car (Golf is the daily), I have adjustable front and rear ARBs and use them to tune the balance of the car on track. Very crudely the end of the car you stiffen loosens (within limits). At times it can be reassuring to have the front push wide just ahead of rear, as understeer by its nature is "fail-safe" (increases cornering radius until equilibrium is established) and oversteer is the opposite. I generally soften the bars when it's wet.

Fitting ARBs should not affect weight transfer under straight line braking or acceleration.

I can't say I've played with the ARBs on the Golf, but I did find getting rid of the OEM console bushes made the front end more precise and less prone to (excess) understeer.

Some will disagree but on the road I prefer a hint of understeer, and since changing the console bushes I don't find the Golf too bad in this respect.

[Redev]

Ok - i see the ARB debate going both ways...let me try another angle.

In order to increase grip/stability in the wet, what would you guys suggest??

[SteveP]

Drive slower and buy decent tyres 

[Redev]

Drive slower and buy decent tyres 

  I'll admit the Pilot Sport 3 isn't the best tyre! I'll be going back to Goodyear as soon as they wear...

[Tfsi_Mike]

Drive slower and buy decent tyres 

[RedRobin]

Drive slower and buy decent tyres 

.... x 2 

[pipston]

In wet weather understeer is safe, whereas oversteer is very much not safe. As i have only fitted a rear arb and in may was on a trackday i learned that in the wet the best you can do is to remove one dogbone on the rear to get the max traction from the rear wheels in slippery condition. Trust me you do not want overstter in slippery condition. 

this is soo true, i would much rather have understeer than oversteer, who has the b*lls to snap the steering wheel for a bit of opposite lock on twisty b roads, not I!

[Russ_leeds]

i find the ps3s pretty good in the wet tbh much better than conti sc2 and dunlop sport max

[gobbleplease]

Robin - when i was looking in to arbs i researched a few types and it came back that the eibachs seem to be pretty neutral - thats why i went for them, at the end of the day i dont think there is much of a differance between any of the aftermarket ARBs unless you are going for the thickest of the two h&r bars
so thats probably why VWR suggested you not to change as the eibachs are just as good.
Im with you though they are great for fast road and track, aswell as sharpening the car up no end !
I had a play about with the settings on them too, its good to get the car to behave how you want, it was set to medium on the rear which felt pretty good but i didnt like the fact you used opposite holes to get that adjustment ( it looked weird kind of like the arb was kinked ! ) so i then put it soft on the rear ! Which i thought made the rear sqirm a bit under braking!
My plan is to get them back on after winter and try hard on the rear to see what thats like !

There was deffo a reduction in wet grip though and it was compared back to back with oem as i dropped my car off standard and picked it up with the eibachs, like you said though its no grate shakes you just adjust your speed to suit, thats maybe why vwr dont use them, there cars are stiff enough with race coilies and would maybe have some grip issues in the wet??