Holy Rear SwayBar!

I just installed my Autotech 28mm adjustable rear sway bar on Friday evening. I thought there was a huge change in handling by doing the suspension (shocks and springs). After that mod I was talking to a friend that had done shock and springs on one car, and just added a rear sway bar on a different car (with stock suspension). He thought the rear sway bar had a bigger effect on minimizing body roll.

All I can say is I believe his statement now, or at least that it's pretty close to accurate! I would say to those that don't want to lower their car and don't want the boat feeling to first put a rear sway bar on. It's less money and easier to install that shocks and springs. If you want the combination, your in for a real treat. Awesome combination. One of my goals after 'inheriting' the Jetta from my wife was to make it at least as fun as the Audi Coupe I just sold.

I've already well surpassed that with the minor things I've done! I would highly recommend adding a rear sway bar before doing shocks and springs (if not the same time), as you'll still have the same comfort with bumps but much less body roll.

Cheers!

How was the install? I was thinking about a rear sway bar a while ago. The O-Bar, a Shine clone, seemed interesting, but there's the drilling of the rear axle...

I orderd my Autotech bar last week. Cant wait to get it Great price as they are on sale for the Month of June. Act quickly if you want to benifit from the sale. Only 2 days left. See the Vendor classifieds for details.

Not that I'm ready to buy, but I didn't see the ad in that forum. Am I blind?

Thanks!

The Shine/O-Bar rear swaybars are way too stiff, from what I hear. The standard style rear swaybar is the way to go.

Unfortunately for me, I'm tapped out, money-wise, for this month so I can't get the Autotech hollow rear sway bar that I have been planning on getting

What's not that attractive to me is the higher 'profile' the non Shine/O bars have. It looks like something that could get caught up in something.

Velvetfoot, I know what you mean about the other bars hanging down lower. I have a Neuspeed 28mm rear sway bar on my Jetta & the ends of the bar connect underneath the lower rear spring perches. However, I live back on a one lane dirt road (read: goat path) with a serious crown in the middle & I have never hit the sway bar. I scrape my steel skid plate now & then but I haven't had any clearance issues with the bar in about 17 months since the installation.

The rear bar makes a huge handling difference. Doing things all over again it would be near the top of the list, well ahead of replacement sport springs.

Hmmm.... I could use it to keep my speed up going around corners, thus saving more fuel.....

must .... resist .... spending .... more ..... money

Not that I'm really going to do this, but quick ..... which is better, Neuspeed or Autotech? (handling but also profile beneath the car... Neuspeed looks a little less bulky, drilling required on the axle beam for both, etc).

Velvetfoot, I haven't seen an Autotech bar so I really can't say. The Neuspeed bar did not require any drilling into the axle beam, it has two clamps that wrap around the axle that hold in the sway bar bushings & the bar. I needed a C-clamp to get them installed but it wasn't too difficult. If you end up shopping, look at Shox.com I bought mine from them for $189 IIRC. They have the 28MM bar listed for $239.00 now but I found that if I e-mailed them a request for a price quote they did a little better than their web site pricing.

I have the Bilstein HD's on my car like you do & really like the way it handles curves & especailly on-ramps/off-ramps. If you are going to MCA's GTG on July 24th you're more than welcome to try my Jetta. I imagine it handles a little differently than the Beetle but it might be worth a try.

Despite my last post, I had a buddy order the Autotech rear bar for me. NAMotorsports did not honor the $10 coupon code since I was buying the cheaper $149 Autotech rear bar for the Mk III cars. It was a great price, though, even without it.

I helped a friend install his Neuspeed rear bar onto his Mk IV Golf because he could not get the clamps onto the rear beam. In the middle (where it's most likely to hit) it only hangs down an additional inch or so from the beam which sits high in the chassis to begin with.

Which is easier to install? Neuspeed (Autotech requires drilling and the beam is hardened steel). Which is a better product? It's a tie on quality. Which gives better results? The Autotech is hollow, which makes it half the weight (I'm concerned with unsprung weight) but it also makes it less stiff (more like a 25mm solid rear bar). Since I want the rear swaybar to be less stiff this works fine for me.

Hi Peter,

I just ordered the Autotech for my Mark IV. I am looking forward to the difference in handling! I can't answer your questions but here's hoping to see you at the next GTG!

Everybody posting seems to have sport springs. Are they required? Will the Autotech or Neuspeed work well with HD's and the Beetle stock springs?

You did not answer my questions before the 8:00 closing time!!! No matter. I just ordered the Autotech anyway.

- -Neuspeed 25mm

IMO ...better to run a rear sway with an already modded suspension. Whether it be Springs and/or Shocks. I have the pleasure of hitting the road in a NB 1.8 turbo Conv. now when I can (new to the fam ) and took it out for my first spin yesterday. I wouldn't put a rear swaybar on it without doing other changes. The springs and shocks leave a bit to be desired from the drive (and I have my 'test' road near me!)...though the tires (17" 225/45) need more than 150 miles on them to give the car a good toss Not saying my shocks are worth a damn on the Golf...they get the yank not too long from now...but the Eibachs with the Autotech (and the 16" 205/55 tires) works amazingly well.

As for installation... I took my sweet time with drilling into the torsion beam making sure I was spot on with the hole placement (you don't get a second chance). Everything else went great...and there won't be an issue of the 2 mid-bar brackets (like those found on the Neuspeed) binding or moving around over time. On the MKIV chassis, you also get adjustable mounts (3 settings soft-mid-firm). If weight is a consideration, go with Autotech. If you don't want to drill, get a bar that doesn't require it. There isn't too much science involved here that differs the companies product substantially.(the end result-better handling )

...just be ready for the oversteer! and when it gets wet...powerslides are easy

Has anyone tried the H&R sway bar? They have three listed for the A4 Jetta's.

Received Autotech bar. Have yet to find time to put it in. Anybone else?

How about front sway bars? are the results just as good?

I hope so I just got a new Eibach anti roll kit front and rear for 315.00.

I received and installed my rear bar today.

As for the front bar, I think I can live without upgrading it. At the most I would try to find the OEM front bar from a VR6 model Mk III car since the OEM TDI front bar is smaller.

You like? What grease did you use? I'm going to install mine tomorrow AM.

Hey all I did an entire Autotech front/rear and strut upgrade on my A3 in the beginning of summer.. I put the strut brace on first and thought that was A VERY significant upgrade.. I then installed the rear swaybar and took out the front one completely. OH the rear makes the car dig in the corners and without a front sway bar it WAS a boat. the front would come up and the back would dig down, wierd feeling. when I installed the front sway bar(Autotech upgrade) it was a solid curve eating beast, and this was on the tired, worn out stock shocks. Be careful though, the VR6 and the TDi front sway bars are a different system, had the problem as Autotech shipped the wrong on to me, they shipped the VR6 and not the TDi one. but I think since I have Both upgraded sway bars installed. that the front should be the last one to be upgraded, but it is still an area for improvement.. but I would stress the importance of the Strut brace as it made a world of difference to me. just the strut brace alone was a great improvement in handling as the front body flex was greatly reduced.. these are my thoughts as they are my experiences... put in the strut brace first, then the rear sway bar then the front... in that order is what I would reccomend.. and since then I have installed Bilstein TCs and wish I had the money for the HDs, but the ride is much better with new shocks...

Eric B.

That's funny, I did almost the same thing on my A3: I went with the Neuspeed front strut brace (get the one made for the VR6 cars), then I got H&R Sport springs and Bilstein Sports, then I got the rear bar. I'll have to live with my current combo for a while to see how I like it before deciding on whether to get an aftermarket front bar or not.

So far I like the rear bar. It's very subtle because you only notice a difference when cornering hard. Since my car is lowered the feeling is even less pronounced. I did notice that the car corners flat, now, whereas before the car would lean over a little.

I installed mines dry. I guess I was just trying to get it installed before my wife got off from work. I'll have a chance to go lube it up later today, though, because I'm going to be working on the brakes today (new pads, rotors, brake lines, fluid).

I intalled it earlier today. I drilled the holes 27" apart. I used one pilot hole on the first one, and it walked a bit, even though I used a center punch. I did a smaller pilot hole on the second one to match the ~1 3/8" distance from the leading edge. I used synthetic brake caliper grease and copper anti seize. I used an extra hydraulic jack on the bottom spring holder to raise it up a bit to install the bolt.

Sorry for not answering you, VelvetFoot! I thought this post died quickly, as I hadn't seen it since I originally posted.

To the person asking if it was okay to add one to a stock suspension. Yes! The only reason I went ahead and got one to put on so soon after my suspension upgrade was from talking with a friend at work that has a new Forester that he just added a rear sway to (stock suspension). He had an upgraded suspension on his last car (Acura something or other - sister to the Accord coupe), and was talking about how he was much happier with just a rear sway vs. a suspension upgrade due to the ride quality difference. He's convinced the rear sway bar made more of a difference to reduce body roll than his suspension on the previous car without a rear sway bar.

The install was very simple (if you can use a drill and a measuring tape). Drilling through the steel just takes the right drill bit and a little patience. Let the drill bit do it's work and you'll make it through in around a minute for each hole.

Cheers

Report: I like the bar. I have it on the middle setting. Very little difference in ride. But, come to a curve, and it stays a lot flatter. Even in normal driving, it makes taking a curve more comfortable. And with Mrs. VelvetFoot not in the car, I put it through some more sporty paces, and it is quite nice.

Glad to hear the good report! I put mine on the tightest setting since I doubt it will/can cause any difference in the cars comfort of ride. I have thought about switching to one of the other settings to see the difference, but figured with would be too much work (since your removing/replacing the bar braces) with already really liking the current setup.

Swaybars = Zero impact on straightline ride, and minimal impact on 'lighter' turns taken at pedestrian speeds. Are people warry that the ride will be impacted adversely? As (one of the links above noted) the car is put into the turn more at a higher rate, one key element: the rear bar actually helps transfer weight to the inside front tire in the turn...why there is OverSteer added with a rear swaybar. That's the bottom line...we 'feel' with the front wheel drive cars quite a bit of understeer...that we're overpowering the outside front tire when going around turns aggressively. That's why we add the rear bar

Just watch yourself in the wet if you inflate your tires to around 40 psi. Powerslides on highway ramps can be achieved way too easily if you're not careful

Not that I'm a pro driver, but how one transfers the weight in the car when going around a turn (accel. thru turn after braking before turn...making the turn as wide as possible - ala using all the pavement you can - type stuff) allows the rear bar to help you... I would think hard braking into the turn would have adverse affects with a rear bar.(physics lesson anyone?!) This is not ESP or ASR!

I imagine the 'firm' setting on the Autotech (and others) bar would be impressive and needed if one adds an aftermarket/larger front swaybar. Might make sense on the Jetta as well, as the front bar is 1mm larger than the stock front bar on the Golf (MKIV or A4 chassis).

Happy twisty hunting!