Gridlock Mikey

So what are they all about then? What do they do, are they a consumable that need replacing every 70k or so, can i do it myself and what are the benefits of fitting uprated ones apart from longevity?

Mikey

ozzy

If you want a techie explanation then John gaves us a good one here - http://bbs.22b.com/cgi-bin/ultimateb...;f=23;t=000118

Personally I found the gave a slightly sharper turn-in (as John suggests) and perhaps reduced understeer a little, but I think the last bit could have been a placebo. They do increase road noise slightly, although a lot of that depends on tyres.

As for a consumable, well the OE ones are plastic and I suppose like anything will reduce in performance over time. You'd be lucky to go through another set in a cars lifetime.

Yes, it's pi$$ easy to do yourself - I've pics and instructions on my website

If you really want to see a difference, then change your rear ARB to an adjustable jobbie OR if you can afford another £80 replace the front one too.

Goodbye understeer, hello
Stefan

Richard Askew

Good site Stefan - very informative, cheers

Gridlock Mikey

Informative indeed

So in a nutshell then, drop links are just a part of the story and to really get the benefit you need to change the anti roll bar for a thicker one
That about right?

Mikey

ozzy

Yes IMHO. On their own, the difference isn't that exceptional.

Stefan

Gridlock Mikey

Is it ok just to do the rear of the car. I accept that potentially the car will become a bit more oversteery but it won't become undriveable will it?

ozzy

No, far from it. I did both droplinks, but just fitted a Whiteline adjustable rear anti-roll bar and my car handles fine.

The adjustable one just has the benefit of trying a few different settings (or stiffness). Middle setting works with the OE front ARB well. If I stiffened the front, then I would set my rear to it's stiffest setting.

IIRC the Whiteline adjustable gives the equivelant of 20, 22 & 24mm bars.

So, OE front + 22mm rear would work well or 22mm front, 24mm rear would be even better.

Stefan

P.S. Someone did mention having the Whiteline on stiffest setting and running with the OE front and he found it did give some oversteer, but nothing dramatic or undriveable.