hi, been told to go down the whiteline ARB road to stiffen my 03 WRX blobeye impreza. Does anyone help me with this? like which one and do i
do front and back or just back?
Cheers Sam

 

If you're on a budget mate do the rear one first and the droplinks if you can afford to.
Also replace all the bolts at the same time.
The rear ARB is the best bang for buck you'll get. I'd recommend a 22mm if you drive sensibly a lot of the time, or a 24mm if you throw the car around a bit more.
If you go for the adjustable blade style bars it allows you to tweak the setup to your liking.
HTH.

 

I would NOT !

If you are smooth and fast 24mm, if you are more like monkey-me stick to a 22mm bar.

Always advise an adjustable rear bar, then you can adjust it suit how you drive.

IMHO.

dunx

P.S. Front bar has less effect until you move to semi-slick tyres.

 

Hi Dunx,

I'm interested in this, as I have adjustable Whiteline 22mm bars front and rear, but having had them for a couple of years now, I've been thinking whether I should move to a 24mm on the rear, and one of my friends with a WRX went straight to a 24mm rear bar and thinks it's great.

Do you feel that this is overkill for a mainly road based car then, and if so can you tell us why as I know you have far more experience in this area than I being a mapper and past Time Attack winner! .

 

Hello m8,

I went straight from standard to 24mm at the rear, it was brilliant!!!

Read too many threads on here about lift off oversteer etc, got worried and put a 22mm on the front, contrary to most on here, I think it ruined the car's handling, and strangely this caused my car to start fish tailing in on damp road, I have now got another standard fron bar to experiment with.

 

thanks for that, im glad you said it as i have just ordered a 24mm for the rear and some drop links hopefully should do the trick.
Can you tell a massive difference?
Cheers Sam

 

Yes, it is quite a big difference, the car still rolls a bit at the front, you can sort of feel the rear is more planted, I thought it worked best on tight b road bends, the car does turn much better, its like it pivots on the rear and just turns.

I dont think you will be disappointed.

 

ps the rear bar is on the middle setting.

 

I ran a 22mm bar on the rear on medium setting for over 18 months before I eventually had an anti lift kit and front ARB fitted (again on medium setting).
I haven't noticed any fish-tailing in the dry or wet since (in fact I think the ALK has made far more difference), but tbh I could get the car to fish tail before the front one was fitted - if you carried too much speed into a corner and then lifted off! I certainly wouldn't say it's ruined anything - the difference is barely noticeable if I'm honest.
I see in another post you noted it wasn't as bad after you changed your shocks to coilovers - wonder if it was your shocks at fault?

I'm intending to change the rear bar to hard now it's (nearly) summer and see what the effect is.

Dunx and Greenwood Racing Developments both recommend 22mm front and rear, rather than 22mm front and 24mm rear.
I guess this way you can always soften up the front and stiffen up the rear and play with the two to get the balance right?

I wonder if the OEM front and rear bars are the same thickness...? Maybe I need to delve into the depths of my garage.

 

A 24mm on medium is around the same as a 22mm on stiff...

Only once have I had the rear of mine let go, but I really had to throw it at a roundabout and "monkey" it to get it to let go, even then it was easily corrected...

I have never liked having an aggressively unstable car, too old, reactions too slow

F is softer than R on OEM bars, 19 & 20 IIRC.

dunx

P.S. You shouldn't rely on ARB's for handling, coil-overs are a better solution. Then the ARB's only influence the handling rather than setting it. As mine did on tired STI suspension.

 

P.P.S. There's another Duncan who has had some TA success...

P.P.S.S. I have pondered about selling my rear bar and upgrading to a 24mm adjustable, but would rather spend the money on the 2.1 build currently.

 

I eventually convinced KojaK to swap the rear bar, on his almost std. WRX, and he was very impressed. 22mm adjustable for his, family spec is medium, toy spec is hard.

dunx

 

Oh **** - it's Dynamix isn't it!
Shame - sorry mate I didn't read your name properly

 

Well you made me smile