Torsion bar & ARB question

27th January 2010, 18:16

Can't seem to find any information on thicker torsion and anti roll bars. As in the pros and cons.

27th January 2010, 18:24

Thicker ARBs on the rear will induce more oversteer, which is a good thing on saxos as they tend to understeer more. Poeple think different things about it though.

Some say that a thicker ARB reducding like negative travel making the car tripod is bad as its 3 wheels on the ground therefore less grip etc.

Though saxmax race with thicker ARBs as they say you can counter oversteer but not under AS easy.

Thicker torsion bars also contribute. Also you need the front to be like as equal to the rear or youll get a saggy front. the rear will feel solid but then the front will like take a whiel to level out and you feel the front go up and down.

Not so many disadvantages to thicker torsion bars tbh.

Thats breif, and theres alot more into it which i dont know. So theres a start, somone can make my description more accurate for you.

27th January 2010, 18:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by db_sax

Thicker ARBs on the rear will induce more oversteer, which is a good thing on saxos as they tend to understeer more.

Untill you lift off midcorner

27th January 2010, 22:52

Hey guys thanks for the replies. Reason I am asking these questions is that I have saved quiet a bit of cash together as my plan was to drop my vts engine in at some stage with a turbo conversion. Don't want a new car as I like the sax so much. One thing and I will get slated by hey ho, I am putting an ice install in. This is gonna add some weight but trying to distrubte that nicely. Didn't want the rear to be shit with extra weight so thought maybe these or may be just one or other would make it stiffer or something. Hope you lot on here can shed some light on this. Sorry for all the crap, but this is the best place for information.

29th January 2010, 01:59

any more info?

29th January 2010, 09:12

you shouldn't be lifting off mid corner. lol

4th February 2010, 19:13

Still not a whole lot of info regarding these.

4th February 2010, 19:18

what you want to know? I thought the post No.2 was pretty good tbh

4th February 2010, 19:20

my foots down mid corner !

4th February 2010, 19:22

Fitting bigger torsion bars is the equivalent of fitting stiffer springs. You can't really do the rear without the front though, you want to keep a good front-rear balance - will probably want 170lb+ springs with 21mm bars?

Thicker rear ARB will transfer more 'movement' between the rear wheels, thus reducing the 'roll' of the car. Will probably give the illusion of more grip, but once you've crossed the limit, expect it to try and swap ends quicker than normal. Fitting a thicker rear ARB is more for 'fine tuning' a suspension setup imo... may be some trial and error involved in it.

4th February 2010, 20:10

for road going car with std interior ,and ride heights set correctly ,then first mod should be larger ARB ,as that will only effect handling in the corner ,fitting stiffer torsion bars makes it ride hrader even in a straight line .
the biggest effect on stable handlling will be ride heights of front relative to rear .
if correctly setup youshould be able to make car tuck in or drift out just be smooth application of throttle with no additional steering input when near cornering limit of the car .
front + rear tyre pressure balance will also make a substantial difference .

change car weight or distribution of weight ,ride height front to rear balance and your ideal spring rate and arb stiffness will also change ,as will the total grip avaialble

4th February 2010, 20:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeeumH

Fitting bigger torsion bars is the equivalent of fitting stiffer springs. You can't really do the rear without the front though, you want to keep a good front-rear balance - will probably want 170lb+ springs with 21mm bars?

Thicker rear ARB will transfer more 'movement' between the rear wheels, thus reducing the 'roll' of the car. Will probably give the illusion of more grip, but once you've crossed the limit, expect it to try and swap ends quicker than normal. Fitting a thicker rear ARB is more for 'fine tuning' a suspension setup imo... may be some trial and error involved in it.

if car trys to swop ends then rear height is too low relative to front height and /or tyre pressure balance front to rear is wrong,or your axle is buggered

4th February 2010, 20:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by axsaxoman

if car trys to swop ends then rear height is too low relative to front height and /or tyre pressure balance front to rear is wrong,or your axle is buggered

I wasn't referring to snap oversteer mate - bad choice of words on my part. Was just pointing out that the rear of the car will most likely drift out in a slightly more controlled manner with a smaller rear ARB.

4th February 2010, 21:33

I still maintain that for a ROAD car where ultimate grip at expense of ride quality and predictability on rough roads (eg public roads) is not the the goal , then first step is stiffer ARB before raisng torsion bar size .,. when you have "dialed* that in with tyre pressures and know exactly what the deffiency is then you can contemplate other mods .no point at all in fitting larger torsion bars with fast road spec rear dampers. and if set low then fast road dampers will be too long in stoke

4th February 2010, 21:59

Cheers for the advice. Would the combo of the 2 be ok with the extra weight and at some stage a turbo conversion.