Custom Anti Roll Bar- Cheap opportunity!

Just thought I would add my two pence worth as a new member.

After following this thread I contacted Steve at Torsion Performance. I was offered a choice of 24mm or 25mm bars (took the 24 option to minimize clearance issues). I was quoted £120 for the bar which was paid for seamlessly by bank transfer. My only quibble was with delivery costs of £44 by courier (I must cough to being in the Channel Islands) but this was a dispute with the courier charge and not Torsion Performance. Torsion we more than accommodating in allowing me to make my own postal arrangements through Parcel Force who collected from Torsions premises and will deliver to me for £17. Most impressive however was that my bar was ordered, paid for, machined and ready for collection in less that 24 hours. That's what I call service!

Excellent company to do business with, can't recommend them enough. Just waiting for the part to arrive now so I can fit it and throw my 3500s around our twisty roads.
 
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Maybe one review by Tuesday. Still waiting on Parcel Force and it'll go in as part of a total rebush of the front end. Just need to make up a tool to keep them bloody front springs under control. :eek:
 
I only wish I hadn't developed a steering vibration at around 60mph to give it a better go. I'm also doing the bearings and a few other bits to tighten things up a bit.

I'm encouraged by the reviews but I do have doubts this doesn't come with some penalties, particularly with uneven roads/potholes etc because making +500% in stiffness is an extremely radical change and things simply don't work like that. Perhaps by modern standards having such huge profile tyres does enough of the early work... Fashions and expectations change of course, a P6 was very sporty for the time and to look at something like a standard e-type or 60s Aston around a track and is pretty comical compared to a current and mundane VW Golf base model.

We'll see.
 
I've got my figures crossed and two new HD rear springs on order.

Oddly I've found the P6 responds quite noticeably to changes which you won't necessarily expect from something so soft by current standards. Certainly alloy wheels which shed a lot of weight and the 6" rims made the car feel a lot more "confident" despite the fact the rim is a mere 0.5" wider. Anyway I have the rostyles on currently which look great but have no other positives whatsoever.
 
Yes alloys make a big difference but I dont know if its the alloys or the wider rubber that the extra width allows, I know with my 205's the response to steering and braking feels greatly improved.
I have driven in cars with stiffer fronts and rear springing and the experience to me was not good , I felt it ruined the refinement of the ride and that it was just plain uncomfortable, maybe it was just that they got the greater stiffness wrong or the spring rates wrong and the front to rear balance wrong.
There may well be a "Goldilocks Zone" that keeps all 3 parameters, comfort, handling and steering in balance.


Graeme
 
[QUOTE="ghce,
There may well be a "Goldilocks Zone" that keeps all 3 parameters, comfort, handling and steering in balance.


Graeme[/QUOTE]
Graeme
I think you are spot on with that which is why I am attempting to go with damping that can be adjusted and springs that are cheap to change for length and poundage also with adjustable ride height.
 
Very happy with my 24mm version. Definitely much happier through the local mini roundabouts. On a very uneven road I know you can unsettle the ride a bit but that's almost a farm track. On normal roads, there simply aren't any downsides. Understeer? You are just going faster than you think - it doesn't feel much different to me but I haven't pushed it because it is wet currently. For the price of a tank and a half of fuel this really is a no brainer.

I even fitted it WITHOUT removing the wing...

I have 14" rostyles with Vredestein sprint classics which are nearly new.
 
There is just enough room on my S1 V8 to feed it in from the LH side no magic required. Very tight to the wheel arch but it did fit.
 
Very happy with my 24mm version. Definitely much happier through the local mini roundabouts. On a very uneven road I know you can unsettle the ride a bit but that's almost a farm track. On normal roads, there simply aren't any downsides. Understeer? You are just going faster than you think - it doesn't feel much different to me but I haven't pushed it because it is wet currently. For the price of a tank and a half of fuel this really is a no brainer.

I even fitted it WITHOUT removing the wing...

I have 14" rostyles with Vredestein sprint classics which are nearly new.

I know it took me a while to shake my old P6B driving habits and become at one with the new paradigm of the 24 mm ARB, your cornering and 'roundabouts will just get faster and faster overtime.

Graeme
 
I live near a rather large roundabout , about 12km from my place .
When I installed my new ARB I headed for this wonderful piece of state highway engineering .I entered it with the intention of staying on it until my rover got used to her new behaviour .
Bit like rebooting your computer.
Raised a few eyebrows .
How do I get rid of this silly grin?
 
Well, yesterday we had a dry day and a chance to do a bit more driving. The conversion is superb in context of what the P6 is – a 50 year old car. There clearly is huge reserves of grip, it’s just a question of how comfortable things feel getting towards that point. The handling is still utterly predictable, which is the main thing - the bar doesn't change this. What becomes obvious now is that the next limitation is at the front tyres. You can certainly feel the sidewalls moving, I’m guessing going for the Vitesse alloys with the bigger tyres pretty much addresses this. Also as has been stated you need to re-educate yourself quite a lot as to what to expect entering a bend. You don’t need to ask your passengers to brace themselves either.

How to describe it? Well, comparisons between anything modern is just completely pointless, everything is now engineered towards wide low profile tyres and a much firmer ride. The nearest in my (limited) experience would be something like an mid-80s Mercedes E-class with a fair bit more balance towards understeer. Perhaps more like a 250D or 300D with the heavy motor out front… Maybe the HD springs can push the balance a little rearwards?

I took it along a local road that follows the Rhein (Irchelsrasse between Teufen and Berg am Irchel) which is about as close to a handling circuit as you can find around here. Every year we get motorcyclists killed because the corners are blind and tighten as they progress. Well the car felt great, until I had a reality check and I could barely keep up with a young woman in her mid-90s Ford Fiesta…. The car handles and has power but with only 3 automatic gears, you simply can’t accelerate out of the slow corners.

One thing I do miss compared to my old P6 is the PAS, not because of the assistance on the move but because the 4.5 turns lock to lock and massive wheel really does make the car more ponderous than it could be. The PAS box is 3.25 turns and this makes a massive difference. (the SD1 only 2.7!).

I think the bar, HD rear springs, gas dampers (which ones?) and PAS (with smaller wheel) is about as far as I’ll go. I don't think any surgery or radical springs are on the cards. I do still want it to ride like a P6. I will certainly put back my 14” alloys as the wider rim gives noticeably better control for the standard tyres. Keep the Rostyles for shows.
 
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