anti roll bars
Discussion
splatspeed...seeing as nobody with an Ultima has helped, maybe you can make something of my experience with anti roll bars in my Noble.
Front ARBs are standard on the M400 but not on the 3R (which I have), but being the kind of bloke I am I had to have them
. The weld broke on them once so I had to disconnect them totally the day before a track day, so I've driven the car back to back with, and without, on a track and the road. It's my experience that the fitting of ARB's turns a car that bites and refuses to understeer, back end allways going first, into a car that has very mild understeer, therefor giving a bit confidence to people who are more used to driving front wheel drive cars. I have a tendancy to trail-brake with my left foot so it was pretty damned good on track (with the ARBs), but I never noticed the difference on the road. HTH.
Martin.
Front ARBs are standard on the M400 but not on the 3R (which I have), but being the kind of bloke I am I had to have them
. The weld broke on them once so I had to disconnect them totally the day before a track day, so I've driven the car back to back with, and without, on a track and the road. It's my experience that the fitting of ARB's turns a car that bites and refuses to understeer, back end allways going first, into a car that has very mild understeer, therefor giving a bit confidence to people who are more used to driving front wheel drive cars. I have a tendancy to trail-brake with my left foot so it was pretty damned good on track (with the ARBs), but I never noticed the difference on the road. HTH. Martin.
The great thing about adding ARBs (assuming they are not masking a fundamental handling problem) is that you can partially de-couple pitch from roll. The swaybars help control body roll, taking part of the burden away from the springs. This allows you to use softer springs, which may increase mechanical grip depending on your suspension geometry (a more comfortable ride is a bonus). A popular race car setup philosophy is to run springs that are as soft as possible ie just enough so the car doesn't bottom out under bump or max aero load, and let the ARBs take care of the cornering loads.
As suspension setup is all about compromise, you can get a myriad of side effects. For example, I understand the Ultimas have relatively short front control arms (please correct me if i'm off base), which may result in too much negative camber gain with softer springs. This may cause more understeer at the limit, uneven tread wear and poorer braking performance it the tyres are allowed to tilt in too much at the top as you approach full bump.
A well sorted suspension system can normally take advantage of front and rear ARBs, but I reckon you should consult with someone who knows what they are doing, or drive a car with the setup you are thinking about in anger. It is very easy to make a well behaved powerful car into a nightmare at the limit. Have a long chat to the factory. Sorry for the preach/rant, but this is really all about safety at the end of the day.
Regards
Richard
As suspension setup is all about compromise, you can get a myriad of side effects. For example, I understand the Ultimas have relatively short front control arms (please correct me if i'm off base), which may result in too much negative camber gain with softer springs. This may cause more understeer at the limit, uneven tread wear and poorer braking performance it the tyres are allowed to tilt in too much at the top as you approach full bump.
A well sorted suspension system can normally take advantage of front and rear ARBs, but I reckon you should consult with someone who knows what they are doing, or drive a car with the setup you are thinking about in anger. It is very easy to make a well behaved powerful car into a nightmare at the limit. Have a long chat to the factory. Sorry for the preach/rant, but this is really all about safety at the end of the day.
Regards
Richard
mogg said:
To quote the legendary motoring journalist LJK Setright - "In essence, an anti-roll bar is an admission of engineering failure"
Im no expert but ive heard this before... i believe i was told anti-roll bars were a last resort?...
Maybe you guys might find this interesting...? have a read up on the camber compensation dax now fit to there vehicles...
www.daxcars.co.uk/start.htm
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