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Front sway bar good or bad?

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L

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#5 ·
Re: Front sway bar good or bad? (STEALTHDEMONDUB)

I don't think it says to take it off, it just says not to go to a bigger one. They are right about keeping the stock swaybar on a VR6. The nose has a lot of weight riding on it and that swaybar is the perfect size. If you go to the larger solid bar from neuspeed you will notice that it has a tendency to understeer more into corners. On a 2.0 add a sway bar in the front for sure. The 2.0's don't come with a swaybar stock or they didn't in an A3 anyways(unless it was a GTI). In the rear of a VR6 is where you want to upgrade the swaybar. Also, if you can get a upper strut tie bar from the front of your Jetta and have supports welded from the bar to the firewall.
 
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#6 ·
Re: Front sway bar good or bad? (late_apex)

quote:[HR][/HR] On a 2.0 add a sway bar in the front for sure. The 2.0's don't come with a swaybar stock or they didn't in an A3 anyways(unless it was a GTI). In the rear of a VR6 is where you want to upgrade the swaybar. Also, if you can get a upper strut tie bar from the front of your Jetta and have supports welded from the bar to the firewall.
[HR][/HR]​
riiight. where are you getting your info???
welding in a sturt bar??? sure, that will work great until you try to remove your engine or work on the back of the engine. smart.
2.0s dont come with stock fornt bars? sure, i guess im imagining mine.
why would you want to upgrade your stock front bar on a 2.0, the stock bar already causes understeer. putting in a thicker bar will cause MORE understeer.
 
G

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#8 ·
Re: Front sway bar good or bad? (WindsorBlueakapurple)

Actually on a GTI VR6, a good setup is the following (which i have):
Front/rear sway bars (25/28mm)(nuespeed front, autotech hollow rear)
Front/rear strut braces (cheap and good for the money)
Bilstein sports, H&R sports
This setup is very nuetral. IF YOU DRIVE ONLY WITH A REAR SWAY BAR, YOU WILL OVERSTEER. The back of the car will fishtail easily, and is not a good handling characteristic. Front and rear sway bars upgraded make a veyr nuetral setup with some sport suspension. of yourse there is torque steer, but thats where a quaiffe comes into play. INstead of listening to gimics companies use to sell items, just go and ask people who have different setups, and maybe even drive a couple of different setups. Word of mouht is nothing in racing, you either know how the car handles, or you dont. Only real way is to drive it. A good driver can adapt to many setups, although its better to have a nuetral setup (like m3's) then to havr to learn how to adapt to your car. Later
 
L

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#9 ·
Re: Front sway bar good or bad? (GTIVR6RACER4EVER)

Taking off the front swaybar would probably be awesome in autocross and that sort of thing, but if you take corners at above 30mph, I wouldn't chance it, personally. That being said, if you're dialing in your swaybar setups I'd run the rear a bit stiffer than the front, because cars come from the factory with a tendancy to understeer (push the front end) so as to be safer and more stable for the average "non-enthusiast" driver - so if you stiffen up the rear a bit, you'll get it to handle better at the edge if you have the skill
 
L

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#14 ·
Re: Front sway bar good or bad? (JetTAFLiTe)

quote:[HR][/HR] On a 2.0 add a sway bar in the front for sure. The 2.0's don't come with a swaybar stock or they didn't in an A3 anyways(unless it was a GTI). In the rear of a VR6 is where you want to upgrade the swaybar. Also, if you can get a upper strut tie bar from the front of your Jetta and have supports welded from the bar to the firewall.

with stock fornt bars? sure, i guess im imagining minein a sturt bar??? sure, that will work great until you try to remove your engine or work on the back oriiight. where are you getting your info???
welding f the engine. smart.
2.0s dont come .
why would you want to upgrade your stock front bar on a 2.0, the stock bar already causes understeer. putting in a thicker bar will cause MORE understeer. [HR][/HR]​

Ok, I may be wrong about no sway bar on a 2.0, but when I got my 97 GL which was a 2.0 it didn't come with a sway bar, the only one that did was the GTI. My 2.0 didn't have a problem understeering (maybe you are too worried about hitting the apex and dive in too soon that would cause understeer.) I fully understand how suspension works so, I get that a larger bar would cause more understeer. No need to try and act superior. As for the welding, when was the last time you pulled your motor out of the top of the engine compartment? How often do you need to work on something that two small supports would prevent you from accessing? How did you clear the hood. Oh and all those years of race cars welding supports to the firewall must be wrong, it can't possibly reduce roll(you know what a tie bar claims to do but doesn't usually). You must be right, because of your retort I can tell that you are maybe 20? So in all your years of racing you must have aquired this knowledge that I apparently am lacking. Adding a larger bar to the front of a 6 will increase understeer, by adding a larger bar to the rear and leaving the front alone you will reduce it and give it a tendency to oversteer. The oversteering will only occur in a real hard corner with an unexpectedly late apex point(meaning you weren't ready for the turn and setup too late). Adding a larger bar to the front of a 6 will increase understeer. My point was originally that on a 6 it is not nessasary to upgrade the front sway bar but to add one on a 2.0, so that site is not wrong per say. I look forward to your reply.
 
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#15 ·
Re: Front sway bar good or bad? (late_apex)

Its seems like you know your stuff, but i think your comnfused about something, or some things you think are implied are confusing me, haha. If you add a thicker front sway bar on stock vr6 setup, it will induce understeer. However, if you remove it will not induce oversteer, just wont have as much understeer, or bite at low speeds. although if you have aftermarket suspension, and a rear sway bar, a front sway bar has to be added, unless you drift your vr6 in the turns, which is not encouraged, since it is very unstable, and not predictable. My gti vr6 configuration, i feel should be one of the more nuetral setups available for our heavy front, FWD cars. That again is H&R/Bilstein sports, with 25mm front, 28mm rear sway bar setup, with engine mounts and strut braces to help tighten everything up. Has anyone tried the b-pillar brace that goes on the floor in the back seat? Does it work at all? Thanx sorry for any confusion, i have been studying for finals all day, and its getting me down

Also check out www.formularpi.com it should be fully up and running soon, and you can check out our formula car we're bulding, we should be very succesful this year
[Modified by GTIVR6RACER4EVER, 7:47 PM 12-1-2001]


[Modified by GTIVR6RACER4EVER, 7:48 PM 12-1-2001]
 
L

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#16 ·
Re: Front sway bar good or bad? (GTIVR6RACER4EVER)

quote:[HR][/HR]Its seems like you know your stuff, but i think your comnfused about something, or some things you think are implied are confusing me, haha. If you add a thicker front sway bar on stock vr6 setup, it will induce understeer. However, if you remove it will not induce oversteer, just wont have as much understeer, or bite at low speeds. although if you have aftermarket suspension, and a rear sway bar, a front sway bar has to be added, unless you drift your vr6 in the turns, which is not encouraged, since it is very unstable, and not predictable. My gti vr6 configuration, i feel should be one of the more nuetral setups available for our heavy front, FWD cars. That again is H&R/Bilstein sports, with 25mm front, 28mm rear sway bar setup, with engine mounts and strut braces to help tighten everything up. Has anyone tried the b-pillar brace that goes on the floor in the back seat? Does it work at all? Thanx sorry for any confusion, i have been studying for finals all day, and its getting me down

Also check out www.formularpi.com it should be fully up and running soon, and you can check out our formula car we're bulding, we should be very succesful this year
[Modified by GTIVR6RACER4EVER, 7:47 PM 12-1-2001]

[Modified by GTIVR6RACER4EVER, 7:48 PM 12-1-2001][HR][/HR]​
Hey thanks!
Just to clear it up I wasn't saying to completely remove your front sway bar on a VR6. Just that there is no need to upgrade it, the stock equipped one will work fine. Just add a larger one to the rear along with the normal mods. Then you virtually eliminate the understeer problem that you tend to have in a six. Sorry if my post wasn't clear to begin with.
late_apex
 
M

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#17 ·
Re: Front sway bar good or bad? (late_apex)

Sorry for bringing up a dead / dying topic but my newbie question:
so a good idea is to start out w/ a rear sway bar and if we find that it oversteers too much for my personal taste upgrade the front to add in more understeer?
thanks - i currently have an '01 Jetta VR6 w/ Shine A4 VR6 springs and Bilstin HDs ... (basically the Real Street setup but the Shine bar is still sitting in its shipping box in my room right now ...) ...
Thanks!!
 
A

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#20 ·
Re: Front sway bar good or bad? (Mencius01)

Yeah you've got it right...put in the rear bar and take the car out on a nice dry day. Do some hard cornering and try to decide for yourself whether the car is oversteering too much for your tastes. One of the biggest things to watch is the steering wheel. Let's say you take a high speed corner sweeping to your left. You dive into the turn, moving the steering wheel to the left - the direction you want the car to go. Once the car is turning, hold your speed, or increase your speed through the turn so that your tires are slightly close to losing some traction. Now...do you find yourself fighting with the steering wheel...having to countersteer a bit (to the right)? Does the rear end feel particularly loose to you? If yes, you might consider adding a slightly bigger bar up front. If everything feels ok to you, leave things as they are and save your money for something else. Remember, oversteer is not bad in moderation...but if it gets out of hand, it is quite dangerous. To decide what setup is right for you, you'll will have to test your car's limits and find out what it is going to do when put under stress. Ultimately, experiment and find out what you are most comfortable with. Good luck!
 
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