Looking for a decent deal on a pair of ARBs for my ND.
Currently have the Eibach/Mazda springs and would usually just go and buy a set of H&R as these have worked reliably on previous cars.
However, with the MX5 there are a whole load of other options available (SuperPro, Whiteline, Hardrace, H&R, Eibach etc) and more if I look to buy further afield like the USA.
Use will be fast road leisure and track days. I wont be changing the suspension other than what I already have.
Can those that track day their cars please recommend a set of ARBs/Sway Bars that will take a good battering before I just go and buy H&R
Hi G, I will throw my 2p in as I have nothing else to do!!!
In order to for an ‘expert’ to advise you need to explain what you are trying to change in the way the car handles. Do you want to change turn in, remove/ add understeer/oversteer etc. Or perhaps you just want to increase/decrease body roll in corners or even just want them to ‘look good’. The important bit is to know how stiff the current bars are and then find the stiffness of the ones available and work out which will most likely achieve your objective. This is a black art and it may be for certain situations you would remove them altogether. The suspension on our cars has so many variables that can be adjusted so it may be that you do not need different antiroll bars to achieve what you want. There are experts who have spent years learning this black art of setting up cars and quite rightly they make a charge for their experience which will usually be money well spent.
I have experimented with Caterham 7 set up by reading up and then trying basic tyre pressure, tracking, camber, roll bar stiffness and rake setting. My conclusions were two fold, I had not got a clue what I was doing and my driving skills were no where near good enough to accurately asses what each change did.
Good luck with your search and I hope you achieve what you are looking to do.
I was looking more to use collective experience to understand where the go-to starting point would be on an ND when it comes to ARBs.
With my previous car there were a known number of tried and tested steps to getting to a good track set up, and essentially I went down the recommended route until I found what worked well for me. In that case it was standard suspension with uprated ARBs, polybushes and a geo set up from a mate who used to race that particular car in days gone by. I had no need to go for coilovers etc. I had a car that I could drive to the circuit (or Tesco) in comfort and and my lap times were still quicker than those that had invested a lot more in branded stuff that really made their car no better overall.
At the moment I have a track day booked (if restrictions are lifted in time) which will give me my baseline, and then I intend on following the same iterative approach, hence my question for recommendations on ARBs.
Seeing as I’m also stuck in the house with time on my hands I figured asking which brands were working for people would be a good start. the only expert that can tell me what I need to change on my suspension is my butt IMHO lol
As roll is controlled by a combination of springs and arbs I would recommend changing the springs as well as the arbs. In my case I would say that road use has not suffered at all and others who have changed theirs to Eibach and other makes say the same.
Update: I found H&R on offer so have decided to stick with what I know and ordered a set. They won’t be going on until I managed to get some track time in so I can get a baseline.
