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The reason the Jetta gripped so well is because you stiffened the springs and shocks, not the anti-roll bars. Doing either will reduce body roll, but the anti-roll bars do it by "cheating". While stiffer springs (and especially lower ones) make it harder for the weight to transfer from the inside wheels to the outside wheels, anti-roll bars keep the car level by pulling the inside wheel up level with the outside wheel, reducing downforce further on the inside wheel and reducing grip.
The downside of stiffer springs, of course, is that the ride suffers. Anti-roll bars are fitted by manufacturers largely to reduce body roll for subjective reasons, while the suspension is soft enough to be comfortable. They are also used on the rear of some "hot hatches" (at least those available here in the UK) to "loosen" the rear and reduce the FWD understeer. This is done by fitting a stiff bar on the rear which reduces rear-end grip during cornering as I described above. I have seen a number of video clips of this type of car, stock from the factory, with one rear wheel off the ground during hard cornering. This is also the reason that the SAS bars are a popular fitment on the rear of Saabs, again to neutralise handling. A known trick for handling on FWD cars is to disconnect the front bar to increase traction on the front, if you don't find the body roll unnerving.
My point is that I don't think fitting stiffer anti-roll bars at both ends will increase grip much, and if anything may decrease it. Fitting stiffer springs and shocks all round will certainly help, if you can put up with the ride, and playing with the anti-roll bars can be used to good effect to tune front-rear balance. I'm not aware of any high-end sports car that uses such enormous anti-roll bars, but I'm prepared to be proven wrong as I haven't looked closely at that many. Their stiff ride comes from the more fundamental suspension components like springs and shocks. A well-designed sports car will also have better weight distribution for handling than a 900/9000 as this is not compromised to make it a practical family car.
I think you're doing the right thing by changing the springs. The ride won't be for everyone, but then it's your car, not everyone elses, right?
I agree, though, that when all is said and done, it's the tyres that do the gripping. I don't know much about the PZero, other than by their good reputation. I have Bridgestone S-03s on my Aero and they are the most amazing tyre I have ever used.
posted by 62.253....
, Mon, 1 Jul 2002 10:30:30
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