Golf GTI - Rear Sway Bar - What thickness??

[dylan8]

think the 22mm adjustable in the rear would be right if you are going to keep the front stock (its fairly small from memory)
kaanage makes a lot of good points there. if its just for road use you want to keep it feeling a bit like a road car

[Whiteline]

Hi All,

Just remember that some of the 26-28mm rear bars you refer to are hollow at times and will only have the same deflection rate and performance of our 24mm solid steal sway bars.

We just thought we would point that out as a rear with 28mm solid sway bar would aactually reduce grip levels too much and cause slower lap times or speed in corners and have bad lift off oversteer.

Bigger is not always better as we have proved with our suspension data logger when at the track.

The theory is to have heavier spring rates at the track with matched dampening and run say 22 or 24mm sway bars .The sway bar acts llike an extra spring in corners and if both the spring and sway bar are at high rates the shock dampening maybe out during corners and cause less grip.

The best thing is to let the coilover or spring with damper adjustable shock do the work. Also the heavy bars and spring rates you see on some cars may also be track related cars that run good semi or slick tyres with great side wall construction that allow the use of these rates.

most street driven cars are better off with a softer spring rate and a hevier sway bar to keep the comfort but have lateral grip with the sway bars.

We hope this information may help !

[noone]

I have played with my Sways on the Polo quite alot. Definately adjustable so you can tinker. As for which size, I can't comment.

As for the results, I don't know about how they affect track use as I've not had enough track time. They make suburban driving a lot more enjoyable and despite the discussions around grip, etc, you can get more power down out of a corner with a sway over no sway.

Enjoy.

Forgot to add, as the majority of the weight is up the front, this is where I think you would benefit most from a strong swaybar. This is the setup I have found that works best for my car and mods.

[Sirocco20348]

Does anyone know the STOCK FRONT sway bar thickness on a 2001 vw golf? Im replacing my rubber bushes and they are saying there are 21mm and 23mm factory variations. I dont have any digital vernier calipers handy to me...

Should i go rubber or polyurethene? Im thinking just rubber as i want the original feel..