BIGSTEW

DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE OF DRIVING WITH THES FITTED.

I DRIVE A P1 AND WONDERED IF ANYBODY HAS AN UNBIASED OPINION OF WHETHER THEY INCREASE HANDLING CHARACTERISTICS

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Depends what you mean, m8y.
I had it done to a '98UK on monday at Powerstation, and the feel of the steering is much improved, especially at speed.
Alcazar

BIGSTEW

you had any other suspension mods e.g stiffening of anti- roll bars done ?

Adam B

I had the following done (all at the same time) over at Power Station :

bummpsteer removal, anti-lift kit, geometry adjustment

The improvement was staggering ... with no apparent downsides.

Definately worth doing.

Adam

paul-s

how much would the anti lift kit be coz i was considering one.

snowcrash

same here, i've had the bumpsteer done and it's improved it a lot , how much for the anti-lift?

paul-s

how much was bumpsteer as well out of interest ? anyone got a contact / website address of Power Station ?

snowcrash

bumpsteer cost around 140+vat from memory - worth doing IMHO

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

To answer some questions:
Yes, I've had other mods, bumpsteer, solid drop links all round, a new anti-roll bar at the rear, and geometry set up.
Anti-lift, I seem to remember, was quoted to me at £120 + fitting, (1 hour), +VAT
Powerstation are at Athelney way, Cheltenham,
www.powerstation.co.uk
Alcazar

Claudius

I just looked at some brief Anti Lift kit info over at Scooby Mania. Something sounds strange. Check this out:

"The new mount also relocates the arm in another plane to add 0.5 deg. static positive castor. The new mount also features a performance polyurethane bush which replaces the original high compliance rubber type."

Ok, great. And then:

"The 0.5 deg. additional static positive castor coupled with the low compliance bush means over 1.0 deg. more positive dynamic castor."

So that means you get 0.5 deg more castor and 1 deg more if you keep the bush. However, you get a poly bush, so you only get 0.5 deg more castor. I'm not sure that makes such a big difference, especially dynamically without roll cage...

Fuzz

For reference

Andy

AJbaseBloke

Please don't worry about the sales talk (or even the name, as Whiteline admit the ALK moniker is a bit off the mark), just be comfortable in the knowledge that the darn thing works.

Also, additional static does equal some more dynamic castor because as the steering wheel is turned it cants the tyre/wheel a bit more. Dunno about the exact numbers, but the difference it gives in terms of both feel and front grip is enough to bring a smile to anyone looking to cut down the front wash out Scoobs can suffer, IMHO.

Unless the NVH compromise puts you off, I doubt you'd be disappointed with one.

RichiB

Powerstations web site

www.powerstation.org.uk

Rich

Fuzz

Are those prices still current Rich ?
I take it there was no discount on there either

Andy

Claudius

I am not saying I dont believe that more castor isnt an improvement, I was only saying that one could be let to believe one gets 1 degree more castor when one only gets 0.5 degree more. Not that 0.5 degree more isnt going to do anything.

I dont dispute that! Good to hear you got an improvement, mate.

Sorry, what does NVH mean?

I thought that I could adjust the geometry with a double adjustable top mount?

Fuzz

noise something harshness

a measure of how much road noise from the tyres is transfered into the cabin !

Fuzz

Doh ! V= vibration

Andy

AJbaseBloke

Yep Claudius - it can certainly be done with some fancy top mounts - nothing wrong with going that route to glory!

And yes, NVH is just the lazy way of saying something about noise, vibration and harshness. I guess I may notice it more coz I have a B4, but buddies here with the ALK on type Rs etc. also comment that the "competition version" is quite harsh, transfers lots of noise into the cabin, but is also fabulous for feel and rigidity. I run the "comfort version" (having first had the competition version which was great on track but drove me nuts everytime I hit an expansion joint ) and find it to be a good compromise (IMHO).

Cheers

Claudius

Thanks for the info AJ.

So if I get those "fancy top mounts" I can adjust the camber in addition to the castor and it's not that much more and it doesnt make that noise?

AJbaseBloke

Depending on the top mount they can be VERY noisy indeed - you pays yer money and takes yer risks.

Never done a back to back test, someone who has gone the whole hog on upgrades may be able to help more. I have driven a Legacy with TEIN coilovers which had pillow ball top mounts and it was a bit raucous IMHO.

The comfort spec ALK is much less intrusive than the "competition" spec ALK, so IMHO, unless you drive a Legacy, you may not even notice it in NVH terms (esp. in a GC era RA ). IMHO of course

I think I'll be off to my flame proof shelter now

DuncanG

Claudius, Subarus have camber adjusting bolts at front as standard and you can get them for the rear (about £50), so you don't really need fancy top mounts.