Fitting rear sway bar only?

[J0hnB]

Hi,

I have a 2002 Audi S3. It has a reactive AWD system (Haldex) with a FWD bias. The standard suspension setup has considerable understeer, which is a problem especially in decreasing radius corners. The standard sway bars are solid 19mm front and 15mm rear. This is the same platform as the Audi Mk1 TT Quattro and VW Golf Mk5 R32.

Will I be able to dial out most of my understeer by upgrading the rear bar to the 20mm whiteline one (BAR16Z)? Will the 22mm bar also be ok?

Is it likely that I can induce snap lift off oversteer with the larger bar on stiff setting? Or is this only an issue if I go to a much larger rear bar only?

I don't want to upgrade both front and rear bars because I think this will increase my spring rate too much and make the ride unacceptable. Any comment on this?

The other suspension mods I was considering are the Koni FSD dampers and Eibach Pro-Kit springs, however I wanted to do the sway bars first to fix my understeer and make the car more neutral.

Thanks

[Whiteline]

Hi.

Most AWD cars suffer from understeer and a rear bar upgrade will help and balance the car out.
The 20mm will be fine as the 22mm was mainly there to pair up with a front upgrade to keep the balance.

A swaybar will not increase spring rates it may change corner weights (usually better and closer between each corner) but does not at all increase the spring rates and is not noticed in a straight line as both sides go up and down with the suspension.

The 20mm will be fine and will not cause oversteer or be a harsh ride in cornering etc and will just improve the whole feel of the car in a corner.

[J0hnB]

Thanks for your quick reply.

My understanding was that fitting a rear sway bar will make the front end stiffer for unbalanced loading such as single wheel bumps. This effectively increases the spring rate on one side? Is this correct?

[Whiteline]

No sorry it will not increase spring rate only a new higher rated spring will do this .

The rear bar may change corner weight of the car to the road on a corner but a rear bar will not stiffen the front.

A rear bar will help take away any understeer you may have and will give less roll on corners in the rear.

You will not notice much harshness at all with the bar that we make for your car it is not that huge and is the right diameter and been tested by our R+D department as the best option to make the car handle allot better than in standard form and not take away comfort or add NVH to the car .