Hi all. I'm a newbie to this forum.
Welcome to the forum.
I just bought a Golf GTI Mk V (re-chipped to Stage 1). It's a great car but there is a hint of "body roll" which I'm not too happy about and a bit too "bouncy" over humps.
How old is the car? How many miles on the clock?
I will be changing the suspension to the KW Variant 3 suspension and am thinking whether I should also install the KW ARBs (front and back). I don't intend to take the car on the track but do enjoy a spirited drive now and then on B roads. It's my daily ride so I would not want it to be too hard either. So in trying to balance performance and comfort, I am not sure if I should just stay with the stock ARBs.
If anything, maybe the first option would be to just fit uprated ARBs. ARBs will improve body roll, but shouldn't really affect the comfort at all, because they don't affect the spring and damper rates.
Though if it is a bit 'bouncy', that is usually a strong indication that your dampers are shot. In terms of 'aftermarket' suspensions, you generally get what you pay for. Cheaper ones will generally produce a much more inferior ride quality, whereas the more expensive ones such as Sachs, Bilstein and KW are generally much more refined. Probably the most important advice when fitting new suspension, and particularly adjustable coilovers, is to find a specialist who can correctly set up 'corner weights'.
It has been suggested, as an alternative, that I just change the rear ARB (23 mm) which, apparently, will already make a significant difference in cutting down the "body-roll" problem. Does any one out there have any opinions or advice ?
If you just upgrade the rear ARB, then yes, you will gain improvements with body roll, but you will then find you lose traction in corners.
The Golf 5 GTI seems to be pretty evenly balanced between front and rear roll rates, so I would personally advise to updgrade both ends.
HTH.
