Front ARB

[Paul]

Right who's going to give me a low down, on one?

I usually throw them in the bin, are they actually any good? Road and track use?

[Mieran]

If you picture the tie bar and tca setup on a nova in your head and how it moves up and down with different road surfaces its a bit like a big wishbone, fitting a link (arb) between the two you're stopping this 'wishbone' from moving freely and transmitting bumps to the other side too.

Thats how I see it, could be wrong.

[MK999]

Everyone throws them onto 300lb spring setups and then complains it understeers because the wheel rate is solid as a rock. lower spring rate+ARB rate to equal the same wheel rate in roll while remaining more compliant to bumps and keeping the same wheel reaction under cornering = win.

[bazil]

So it works better on a softer setup then?
( ie 180 - 200 lb springs )

[Edd]

IMO nova's handle lie absolute turd without one on

GTE/GSi/TD arb and tie bar set up is the way to go as they're thicker

Cant for the life of me understand why people run without them, my XE was awful without, had yellow Bilstein and correct springs also, I did about 7 miles without it

Eibach do a thicker one still if your pockets are deep

[Dan]

I've never ran with one. A couple of us did a back to back test many years ago in various cars (diff/no diff, rock hard susp/soft susp) and various driving conditions and deemed the bin the best place for them for our driving uses on b roads and track. With diffs i feel the need is even less (for my particular driving style). The handling of my setups has never been in question, infact it has annoyed many a person from a light hearted point of view lol

In certain conditions an arb by vauxhalls design will induce understeer, thats a given and proven, I am currently pondering fitting one again and shall do a back to back test next time i am out again. Although my circumastances are slightly different when on track, with very hard spring poundages, 225 intermediates and a 90% plate diff understeer is the least of my worries lol lol

[Damo]

So to second pauls question is a nova XE better with or witout one?

[mowgli]

its down to personal preference.....

the best way an arb works is that it controls body roll with soft springing.. so if you are travelling in a straight line, it makes the ride nicer, but through a corner, it in effect increases the spring rate.

it is a good compromise for road use.

now, if you have track spec suspension, it is already really stiff, so a stock arb won't add much...

for stage rallying, an arb is useless cos it cuts the suspension travel down, but for tarmac rallying, it might be some use.

[Damo]

Well im just running standard soft sprung coilovers so bet id be better off with it with my XE in.

[MK999]

So to second pauls question is a nova XE better with or witout one?

What poundage springs front and rear, unsprung weight front and rear, sprung weight front and rear, track width front and rear, wheel diameter, wheel width, weight on front axle, weight on rear axle, total weight, rear wheel rates incl ARB, total braking potential, CofG, power, ride height, installation ratio, track temperature, track conditions and tyres would we be talking?

... Try it and find out lol

Generally the potential for grip is higher with an ARB, as you can tune the wheel rates in bump and roll seperately to a degree which is a very powerful tool, but it depends on, well all of the above...

You will never find the perfect setup (not that there is one!) for you and your car by copying someone else's as the factors that make it as good as it is will be different from car to car.

edit: in fact if you can find out all that data I've just made a program for uni that calculates wheel reactions given all of those values lol

[Stuart]

Springs do NOT control the roll rate... Damper settings do.

And arb means you can tweak the cornering behavior while letting you adjust the dampers for the bumpy bits (proper laymans terms there).

The problem is that the vauxhall Nova design is just dire and you can obtain great results without it as has been proven time and time again. What would be good is a properly mounted bar with droplinks etc, as per the MK4 astra as one example of an epicly great handling car from the factory.

[MK999]

No, it controls the wheel rate in roll, as in the stiffness of the resistance of the suspension against forces acting in opposite directions on the O/S and N/S of the car.

I never said anything about the rate at which it rolls :p

[Stuart]

No, it controls the wheel rate in roll, as in the stiffness of the resistance of the suspension against forces acting in opposite directions on the O/S and N/S of the car.

I never said anything about the rate at which it rolls :p


Just because my post was after yours, it dosent mean it was aimed at you :p

Running soft springs usually infers hard damping to make up for the 'bob', which means it will be skittish and an OEM/poorly adjusted ARB will just make things worse

[MK999]

Well no one else even mentioned the word 'rate' so I assumed :p

Agreed the nova arb is not of the best design, but it's something, I'm quite eager to try one on some softer springs when I get my shell ready, more out of curiosity than it being the best solution.

[Stuart]

Well no one else even mentioned the word 'rate' so I assumed :p

Agreed the nova arb is not of the best design, but it's something, I'm quite eager to try one on some softer springs when I get my shell ready, more out of curiosity than it being the best solution.


You will be hugely disappointed, take the springs off and fit stiffer ones and back the damping off and then be a happy bunny lol

[MK999]

You will be hugely disappointed, take the springs off and fit stiffer ones and back the damping off and then be a happy bunny lol

I never said it'd be the last thing I did :p I just think running without an ARB on a car destined for asphalt circuits is something of a flawed ideal, which may well be greatly improved by a little bit of a tweak with an ARB.

[nova_stee]

anti roll bar = ditch finder
bin it straight away

[Pistol Pete]

^ lol to the point!

IIRC alot with XE's dont run them because of the weight over the front wheels. I still have mine, but havent fitted it. I may do some testing once it is running though.

[Mieran]

With XEs you have to use massive spacers too, not sure the arb will still function like how it was designed with them on