Tebo

I fitted my Whiteline 22mm adjustable anti roll bar the weekend with alloy drop links, and set it on the middle holes, but when I went out and tested it, it gave a feeeling of major oversteer(so much that the steering felt twitchy, and I could put my foot down and do rear wheel steering, while I might say it was fun, but for general daily driving this doesn't seem ideal)

Has anyone else fitted one of these arb's?
what setting have you used?

the front end is still stock setup, and the geometry and bumpsteer was done less than four weeks ago(I have now put it on the 1st hole the weakest setting, but havent had a good chance to test it yet, but the steering is no longer twitchy)

any ideas ? or is that how it should feel, and I just need to get used to it.

Thanks
Tebo

ozzy

have your tried search?

loads of people have these fitted (including me). No sign of oversteer unless I'm over-appressive with the steering or try some Scandinavian flicks

you say "gave a feeling of major oversteer". Does that car actually oversteer then?

Stefan

Tebo

It did seriously understeer before I had the geometry done a few weeks ago, and the anti roll bar definately made the steering feel very twitchy, I did not try but I reckon I could flick the back out without too much effort, the tyre pressures were spot on, because I checked them before I went out to test it, but I do have a set goodyear GSD3's on the front and avons on the back of the car which may make the back end a little more slippery than it should be(I did not fit the avons, they were on there when I had it, and they still have a couple of thousand left in them)

Thanks
Tebo

ozzy

ah, so you have different tyre makes / compounds front/back.

What Avons are on the rear?

ozzy

FYI, you are making the rear tyres do more work with the stiffer ARB. If it's breaking away too easily I would say it's just reaching the limits of the Avon (not knowing what compound they are).

You could try swapping the front/rear tyres to see if the Goodyears grip more than the Avons. Personally, I'd never run two different tyre makes front/rear for this very reason.

Failing that, try the rear ARB on the lowest setting OR take it off again.

Stefan

AvalancheS8

There's your reason. Seriously, having the Avons on the back will prevent you ever getting the handling right. The money required to get rears to match the fronts would be well, well worth it in terms of a simple way to get the handling spot on.

Tebo

The Avons are ZZ-3 's, the ARB is now on the lowest setting and from home to work this morning it only seems a slight improvement over the stock ARB, although it's nowhere near as twitchy now. I guess it is pointing more an more towards the rear tyres, I will leave it on the lowest setting on the ARB until the end of the month and then swap the avons for GSD3's.

I am running the fronts at 34psi and the rears at 32psi would that seem ok to you?

Thanks
Tebo

AvalancheS8

I'm running my '97 5 door with basically stock suspension apart from the 22mm adjustable Whiteline rear bar and solid drop links. Running F1 GSD3s all round. The bar is on the middle setting and the car is nowhere near being twitchy, it feels a little tighter and you can feel that it is working the rear tyres more, but there has never been a hint, in 6 months or so, including some hard driving on challenging roads, of unprovoked oversteer.

Although the fact that you have had some geometry work done will make your car more tail happy, I'm pretty certain that fresh and matching rears will be spot on with the bar in the middle setting once the tyres have scrubbed in (500ish miles)

Tyre pressures sound fine, I run my fronts a little harder than that sometimes, but that's a tiny difference compared to what you are noticing here.

Tebo

ok, thanks for all your assistance guys, its much appreciated. I will sort some new tyres out in about two weeks time (I have to find a spare £180, that will please the wife )
then swap the roll bar back to the middle.

Thanks again
Tebo

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

£180? Where can you get decent tyres for £45 each? You need four at a time, my friend, unless the fronts are virtually unworn, in which case, why have the rears got so little tread?

AFAIK, you can do damage to the transmission of an Impreza by running different tread depths front and rear?

Alcazar

Tebo

firstly its a myth to change all 4 tyres at the same time, unless you can enlighten with some technical info that I havent thought of? The transmission is not locked at 50/50 if it was, then the case would be so for changing all four tyres. I only need to change the rears as all 4 tyres are fine, its just that the back is a little loose now that I have put a 22mm anti roll bar on, and the avons are not as grippy as the goodyears that I have on the front.

so the £180 is only for two, I wish I could buy four at a time for that price I would be able to make lots of money.

Thanks
Tebo

ozzy

There's always been talk about keeping tyre tread the same on the same axle. Some even mentioned all 4 corners, but I think this is purely to avoid introducing dodgy handling charactaristics.

I personally would put that argument towards any car, but it's more relevant on 4WD/AWD vehicles.

The reason I change all 4 everytime is to keep the same compounds (and not mess with the handling) plus the tyres get rotated every so often anyway, so wear rate across all 4 tyres is pretty much even.

Stefan

Tebo

the same axle I totally agree, as the car would pull one side or the other, but for front and rear I am not so sure on, there has to be some transmission leeway to allow for lumps and bumps in the road surfaces.

Thanks
Tebo

911

I am wary of just changing the rear bar.
Whiteline say change both; you could say to make more money, but I think not.
I hill climb my Sti v3 very hard, so feel the changes made to the car in extreme.
Changing to 22mm front and rear then playing with the 3 hole settings ALONG with the other mods to find the optimum is part of the fun!

I have both bar, rear on mid hole (was hardest setting) and very grippy short wear life Kumho V70A's on each corner and it's great. Certainly no edgey oversteer!

Whiteline have spent years getting this right, follow their lead and all is well. Just the same for tyres, all 4 the same (just as when the car was new) must be the best?

As to the grip from different makes of tyres? Fit what the majority fit, and that is not Avons!
911

Tebo

911 - do you have a 22mm arb on the front if so which hole is it setup on? as I was told this would give it a tendancy to understeer, but if its adjustable I guess you can balance it a bit.

Thanks
Tebo

911

The front Whiteline 'normal' roll bar only has one position, therefore one stiffness rate. They do a multi position but that is for full race only, they even warn you about it!
The 22mm rear does have 3 positions to choose from.

The effect of each hole, all other things equal, is only really marked with the car on a track. No fear of other people,Gatso's and plod.

My car is extensively modified underneath, but the whole package is fantastic on the road.

You do need to follow what these guys say, they test and test and test responsibly.

911

ozzy

Graham,

Where's the info on the Whiteline site for the geometry setups? Is it under the Tech Talk, FAQ's section?

Maybe I'm being thick and not looking properly

Stefan

ozzy

Is it the "Rex on Rails" document ??

Wonder Wagon

Ozzy have you got a link

Thanks

ozzy

http://www.whiteline.com.au/default..../reviews03.htm

About half-way down. It's an AutoSpeed article (5 parts), so I'm not sure if it has the proper Whiteline geometery settings.

Stefan

911

The W/L web design id cr@p compared to UK sites.
You will find tons of info in the catalogue listing for their suspension parts for Subaru Impreza. At the end of the listing are a range of notes on 'do this' or 'do that' along with a range of geometry settings for road/track/trackonly/extreme.
If you are still in need of help do not hesitate to contact their tech helpline, they will answer you in 48 hours, give really good advice, and link you to the threads I mention.
A first class company.

911

ozzy

Agree, their website is pretty shocking.

I'll have a nosey around the products for the info.

Stefan

superstring

Not sure anymore where this info is on the Whiteline site, but here it is nevertheless


"We (Whiteline) would strongly argue against rear toe-in. We, in fact, recommend a small amount of toe-out for better response or toe neutral at worst."

touring tuned (sport tuned) [race tuned]

Front: Camber: -1.00 deg ( -1.50 deg) [-2.0 to -3.0 deg]
Toe: 0

Rear: Camber: -0.75 deg ( -1.00 to -1.25 deg) [-1.5 to -2.5 deg]

Toe: 1mm out ( 1-2mm out) [0-2mm out]