If you want a neutrally handling car, go with the stock front bar and the largest rear swaybar you can find. Like the Shine racing bar.
I'm not just saying this, I've run this setup on multiple A2's. I spend ALOT of time running track events and auto-x's. This is THE setup to have for a good handling VW that doesn't beat the crap out of you on the street. Running incredibly stiff front springs without taking care of the back end of the car will only introduce more understeer into the equation. You have to run higher rates in the rear, either thru the springs or the swaybars to get the car neutral. Since the car pushes to begin with, run higher in the rear initially, then tune to taste and driving style. With your current H&R/Bilstein combo, you don't have enough roll stiffness to begin with. Leave the stock front bar on there! Just go with a larger front bar. -josh --- Rich Blake <[email protected]> wrote: > This is a good thread. On another note, I watched a > EP Scirocco run while I > was turn marshalling at the auto x and he was > totally stiff. Musta had huge > bars front and rear. On one occasion his rear end > was hopping so bad that > both tires came off the ground and he lost control > of the car wiping out > several cones. I didn't have the opportunity to ask > what set up he had > exactly but it seemed as though the rear end was way > too stiff. > > I am under the understanding that to improve > traction at one end, you must > increase roll resistance at the other end. i.e. to > get more at the front, > stiffer bar in the rear. This comes at a price of > loosing traction at the > end the stiffer bar is on. i.e. Hoppity Hop > scirocco. On a FWD drive car > like the VW it is very difficult to come up with a > good formula for > consistent weight transfer without sacraficing grip > in the front or totally > wiping out the rear end. For me I believe that a > mildly increased front bar > coupled with a fat rear bar would be best for > handling that remains somewhat > neutral. The front bar keeps the front inside tire > on the ground while the > outside is "digging in" and the rear bar hopefully > keeps the inside front > tire on track while maintaining rear outside tire > tracking. Spring rates > are important but I don't think they play as much in > a roll resistance > scenario vs. the wheel rate of the bars. > > Like John said, it is amazing how a VW handles with > such suck ass suspension > geometry. It doesn't make sense sometimes. > Everything I know came from > rear wheel drive cars so I could be off track, I > dunno. Need to experiment > more. > > Rich Blake > ===== Josh Wyte Momentum Motorsports 508-833-3024 After 5 pm EST __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? HotJobs - Search Thousands of New Jobs http://www.hotjobs.com
