Upgrade to Front Antiroll Bar - Thoughts?

Hi guys I wish to upgrade the front anti roll bar on my C2 3.4 Litre, do you have any suggestions re makes? The reason I ask is that after 10 years the original one is not looking as fresh as the day it left the factory, and im debating replacing it with a standard one or an aftermarket one Does anyone know the likely costs of replacing labour wise? Kind Regards Edward

Hi, Think you have 3 options. 1)M030 which is OEM and slightly thicker (read stiffer)front and rear ARB 2)H&R which again are slightly thicker still and IIRC have holes for drop link adjustability 3)GT3 which are OEM again and the thickest of the lot, both front and rear adjustable The cost is not much for install, probably about 1 hour labour, not really that labour intensive. If you go the adjustable route you'll need new drop links. Alot of people go the adjustable route but this may cause problems, see this post... http://911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=37477&highlight=droplinks Hope this helps.

a quick search of the net reveals these, no idea what they are like though: Whiteline (australia):- http://www.balancemotorsport.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=58825 H&R:- http://www.balancemotorsport.co.uk/products.asp any thoughts?

sorry hadnt seen your reply Stuart when I posted my second article. This helps greatly, I had not looked into official Porsche upgrades for some reason, it sounds like MO30 is prob the best version to go with, I do not want it too stiff, a nice balance perhaps. Also, I have seen a lot of Strut braces advertised, like this one from Autofarm, do you think they would make a major difference? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PORSCHE-911-9...39:1|66:3|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 Kind Regards Edward

Never heard of whiteline which is never good. H&R have a good reputation and alot of people use them in the States. A good price comprimise to the GT3 I believe. Again, think very carefully about the adjustable drop links. Unless you're seriously into tracking your car and adjusting things from track to track is it really worth it? My personal recommendation would be H&R or M030. The M030 are what you get when you buy the X74 suspension kit from Porsche. You can buy seperately as well ofcourse.

RE the strut brace. This is from gathered info, I may be wrong. I had the front strut brace on my 3.4 and apparently it helps stiffen up the front by tying the suspension towers together. The 3.6 has extra welding to the fire wall increasing this stiffness in this area therefore you don't need the brace. Saying that though I put the old brace from my 3.4 in my 3.6 :?

Thanks again stuart, all great stuff, I have the 3.4 C2 so will perhaps look into this strutt brace, it seems it may be a worthwhile improvement for not much outlay. I presume luggage access to the bonnet is unaffected? Re: adjustable antiroll bars, I have never done a track day (although want to) so think your right, its not worth going for adjustable Kind Regards Edward

Have you got sports suspension? You might hate me for saying this, but I am pretty sure the Porsche sports suspension pack comes complete with the M030 roll bar. The whole pack (springs, dampers, roll bar, bushes) costs £575, but the roll bar on its own is something like £180, which struck me as ridiculous at the time, so I didnt buy it on its own. Surely its best to buy the whole kit... :food: Let me know what you find out about the strut brace - I have lowered suspension and a 2000 car, so it would interest me. Josh

Thanks Josh, no I dont have sports suspension package, but I agree that it does seem to include the rollbar:- http://www.porsche.com/uk/accessori...us=sportfahrwerk-911-996-sport&hideintro=true In fact, on the web, there is no mention of the roll bar on its own, but this is perhapd a simplified list. Am guessing the labour would be pretty chunky to do the whole lot? My only worry woud be that for day to day driving in London it would further highlight and crash over the Capitals APPALLING surfaced roads!

I paid for labour (incl VAT): £550 fitting new dampers & springs & lower track arms £240 geometry I got the X74 settings (heights etc, but I dont have the actual X74 parts) which has lowered the car even more than the M030 pack I think (someone else will confirm). There is a huge difference over speed bumps: before I had to be careful and now its just a given that the bottom will scrape. Inclines are also tricky, so if you have a steep driveway you will hit it. (But dont forget X74 is lower than M030) But who cares about that? My car looks better (much better) and it feels tighter (could be my imagination, I dont care). :food:

Hmm, good point re: speed bumps etc, I got into trouble a month or two when (having scraped like you say on one or two bumps even with the standard suspension) the front passenger wheelarch lining (which is attached to the little plastic mudguard thing at the front of the wheel arch) came loose (its a large plastic pressing attached by one or two plugs to the front bumper) on the M40 at over 100mph and got decimated by the tyre, not good! luckily could do a bodge repair till could get it to garage, damn speed bumps! Think therefore will just get the anti roll done at this stage, since too many speed bumps in fulham where I live, silly council! Then again, given the car has just gone 10, the suspension could be not quite as tight as it was ex factory... Thanks for info re Labour costs, I assume at a OPC? Kind Regards Edward

Hi edward - i would concur the M030 kit in full is a relatively cheap upgrade that will transform your handling, on comaprison with stock.. not entirley sure you will get what you are looking for by just replacing the ARB. I'm pretty sure that on the MY98 cars the ride height drop is -15mm Front and -10mm rear so you shouldn't have too many problems with speed bumps newer models post MY00 ride height can be dropped c30mm with the same kit afaik. You'll also need a geo when the new springs have settled. - Simon

1) Fulham is bad. I live in Claam, which is okay, but not great. 2) at 10yrs old the dampers may well be past their best. If you have £1300 then this a good modification 3) Dont use the OPC network for this, unless you are flush with cash. I would suggest you use one of the better indy's near-ish SW London. I would suggest a good indy (rather than an average indy) cos you need someone who knows about Porsche geo and can do an M030 setup for you. Fitting the stuff isn't hard, but the geo will make or break it. Click here for a map with some good indy's on it

Annoyingly I only had my car Geometrics done about 2 months ago (not realising that i would want to change the antiroll bar later), does this mean that I will have to do it again so soon if I change the antiroll bar, sounds like it!? Edward