rear swaybar

Who has had experience with any rear sway bar for the a4 chassis, good or bad? I'm looking into one and i've found a few but I'm sure some are better than others as far as ease of installation and performance.

I like my Autotech with my stock springs. You have to drill some holes but it's not that bad. I understand the Neuspeed doesn't need holes drilled. Shine and O-bar require more and better located drilled holes and are generally for sport sprung cars (at least for Shine).

The only criticism I've really seen for the Autotech is corrosion issues, largely dealing with the fact that it is hollow (which makes it light... not at all a bad thing for a sprung component...). [Read here.]

The Neuspeed is solid, and feels it - I think it's around 35lbs? It also has some adjustability, with 3 possible mounting holes. It also takes away a bit more ground clearance than the Autotech. And I would still be concerned about corroded end links, but it's probably manageable for those of us in salty slushy goodness for a few months of the year.

Install for the O-bar and Shine is more difficult and requires more holes to be drilled. But, they don't give up any ground clearance. They are better suited to lowered/stiffer cars because the stock suspension can introduce more torque across the torsion beam than the bars can handle.

Between NS and AT, I'd go with whichever you could get a better deal on... I don't think there is really anything to choose in terms of driving performance - both have their champions in that regard.

More info (too much info?!):
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1579554

End links are a corrosion concern. Be wary. Check the prices to replace them first and then purchase. I've had several upgraded bars on different cars and the links always wear out. Especially the adjustable ones. Sometimes they are $70 or more to replace. And the noise they make before replacement is really, really bad.

thanks for the good info!

I've had the Autotech for 3 years and no corrosion problems. I was worried at first after reading the 20 valve thread, but I haven't had any issues. When I took it off my GTI I am sand blasting it before I put it on my TDI. But the bushing and bolts have been fine.

I installed a Neuspeed 28mm RSB this morning. Really happy with the results. Got mine used of the vortex.

If I did it again I would go with the SHine bar, although they have had some cracking issues, and if you don't use them with "their" springs they will not warranty it.

Although thinking back I do believe that they re-deigned the bar to make it stronger.

The shine bar is only good with a really stiff suspension. If not used with their suspension components, the Shine bar CAN crack. The O-Bar is basically a knock-off of the Shine, but it is a solid bar rather than a hollow tube. That means it is heavier, but from what I hear is not as problematic when it comes to cracking.

I am seriously considering the O-bar myself, as it gets totally hidden in the stock beam. If you paint the bolt ends black, you probably would never notice the bar being there. As stated, no ground clearance lost, etc.

H&R and Eibach have really nice bars. No special lubrication, and no drilling. They hug close to the axle, both available at ECS Tuning.

See here for a picture of the Eibach, and here for a pic of the H&R 22mm rear anti roll bar. My favorite is the H&R 22mm as the bushings are rubber with a teflon cloth lining assuring trouble & squeek free use. Also, it requires no lubrication.

Hi,

...it gets totally hidden in the stock beam. If you paint the bolt ends black, you probably would never notice the bar being there...

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Here's a photo of a Shine bar on my A3:



The close-up of the bar ends was taken before they were painted. But you can see in the bigger photo they're painted. You can't see the bar from the front unless you lift the car. From the back, all you can see is the four nuts at the bottom. VERY STEALTH!

Scott

Shine rear bar is VERY nice. It is probably the toughest to install, but well worth it!

In hindsight I wish I had kept the shine RSB and sold my Autotech. I had already spent the time under my car drilling the 2 holes for that one...didn't like the idea or drilling 8 more for the Shine

But hey...I'm still happy with how the AT works with the Shine setup...even on the 'mid' setting. I'm keeping the bar set to this point from here thru the winter, then switching to the stiff setting come next spring. My bar doesn't creak...there's a bit of dirt built up on the grease I have on the bar around the connection points... It's a 28mm...hollow and light...very light.

What springs you have on the car also affect what a RSB will do. With Eibach Pro springs and the AT, I had decent amount bit of oversteer...well, it was pretty neutral feeling car in the turns. VS: Now I have a bit more understeer as the front springs are rated 225...much heavier than the Eibachs...(I have 180s on the rear). It's very hard to get the rear to break now that I have 225/50 as well...

My Golf is fun to drive...just tryin to avoid burnin my clutch

H&R is having a lot of issues. I would stay away from that sway bar, the other stuff they produce is top notch, but for some reason they are having a high Failure rate of the sways.

Failure? Could you give me some links to where this is happening, please? Thanks.

Failure? Could you give me some links to where this is happening, please? Thanks.

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Yes I would like to know also as I am about to purchase an H&R 25mm rear.

I give my vote for the O-Bar . Only $100 and made quite a difference. Install was tedious but not difficult. It will be easier to drill the holes with a 3/8" cobalt bit and cutting fluid, I used an 18 volt drill for lots of low speed torque. You will need to retighten bolts for a while, then they hold firm with no clunks.

Failure? Could you give me some links to where this is happening, please? Thanks.

Click to expand...

This is one thread, I have read at least two other threads about H&R breaking. I do not feel like searching for them. Again... H&R makes great products I was shocked to read this as well, but if I did it again I would buy the SHine bar. They had a 3% failure rate, and almost all of those were on non-shine sprung vehicles. Shine re-designed the bar to bring that failure rate down and so far I have not heard of ANY of their bars breaking. The Shine bar also does not add unsprung weight (unsprung weight is basically adding two pounds for every "real" 1 pound). The Shine bar also does not present any clearance issues. I have the Autotech non-adjustable and have not had ANY problems. I was worried about it when I read M-Diddy's thread about his breaking VERY early on the 20vturbo.com thread, but mine has held up fine to Colorado winters (salt, sand, mag chloride).

Oh... here is the one thread about the H&R breaking...
http://forums.20vturbo.com/viewtopic.php?t=27279

Well, if you read the link you posted, it was not the bar to break, but the clamp! Which is quite different and it is something that could break if not installed properly....

I have to see a bar like that to break as to believe it. It may bend first, but to break it you need to do something much more than what a rear beam twist in a car could do to it.

P.S: Have a mini-collection of broken Shine bar and bent Neuspeed bar.

Whats your rear bar of choice Peter?

PS- Gonna pass up the 16's at this point and will most likely just continue to up the power while waiting for the new smart Konis to hit next year. I do however dislike the sway and dive that the butt of my car does with aggressive turning. I assume that a rear sway will help dial some of that out?

Rear bars are great way to reduce under steer on these cars. Everyone who tried one would know. The problem is that they modify the balance of the car in such way that it is fun when driven by an expert, but could be quite dangerous in the hands of novice. Dry surfaces are ok almost for everyone, especially if the car is not driven too hard, but on wet surfaces things change quite dramatically. And I am not talking about when driving quick on wet, being on top of the game. My point is when a kid shows on the road in between the parked cars and the driver panics and steers and brakes following his instincts – then the new found balance of the car may make him pay the toll and the price could be way too high.

Same thing goes with all those high performance kits, like the Shine. It is great stuff, but in the wrong hands is dangerous! If you drive slow, it is not an issue, but usually people get these things to go faster, thinking that “I now have this great suspension, I could fly around corners!” and that is where the trouble starts, because it is very easy to control and recover a stock balanced car, but it takes a lot of experience and knowledge to be faster with modified car. Everybody thinks they want over steer, because they think they know how to deal with it, but is not quite the case. Sliding your car on a huge empty parking lot in the rain is one thing, avoiding a felt on the ground biker on a blind off-ramp at full speed in the rain is something totally different!

Driving modified cars fast requires more attention and constant attention. (And again – if driven fast. If you baby it around, you do not need to modify it in the first place). I personally prefer (these days) a safer and easier car to drive, one that does not make me concentrate all the time. I like it to be under steering at all the time, in all situations. It is safer and easier to control in panic situations. So, no bars for me. And because of that, I can’t really recommend you something that I do not use in first place. You may say that the stock balanced car is boring and I would agree with you. The latest experiments we are doing is with just stiffening the rear springs, leave the front alone – It does the trick pretty well, the car gets little bit more fun to drive, still under steering, but little bit less, it rolls less, but does keep the sweet predictability of the rear, so it is pretty safe in panic maneuvers, etc.

But all this is personal choice and I know that nobody agrees with it. Not even trying to convince people anymore. You asked my personal view and here it is. Rear bar requires more skills in some situations. Many lack those skills and that means potentially they are in bigger danger if they drive their cars hard without the necessary knowledge. The problem is that you will see many posts that say: “I have such and such bar and never lost my car!”, but you will never see posts of the type: “Yesterday I spun my car under the rain when I did a lift-throttle while was turning, like a total novice”, because people never post about these things....

Good post Peter....
But I still love my RSB. I agree that the car does become a different car, take some time to learn the car after a RSB, because the balance does change.