For anyone interested, I thought I'd start a thread to track the progress of my Golf. OK, on to the first mod:
As standard the Mk2 Golf GTI handles nicely, it's very neutral, with a bit of understeer when on/past the limits of grip. It's a very predictable and forgiving chassis.
As good as it is, I prefer my cars to be a little more biased towards oversteer on/past the limit, so to that end I decided to fit an uprated rear ARB. I decided to use a Whiteline adjustable rear ARB as I've used these previously on the Scooby and both Integras with great results, and as luck would have it I found a barely used one for sale on the Golf MK2 forums. I managed to get it for the bargian price of £60 (including droplinks and all fitting hardware). A great buy, considering you can't get them for much less than £200 new at the moment.
Fitting was a little different to the Scooby and 'Tegs, on those cars it's a replacement for the standard ARB, but the Golf doesn't have a rear ARB as standard. The Whiteline item is fitted by basically 'strapping' it to the rear beam, then picking up on the lower strut bolts via drop-links.
Here are a couple of (poor) pics of it fitted:
I also had an alignment done, with 1.3 degrees of negative camber dialled in at the front.
So has the ARB and alignment made a difference? Hell yeah, 'night and day' doesn't even come close to describing the difference. Previously my Golf's handling felt a little 'wooly' (probably due to the alignment being out), but now it's totally transformed.
Less bodyroll, turn-in is improved, and understeer is vastly reduced. It now oversteers at/past the limit in a predictable and controllable manner. The mod has done exactly what wanted it to do: Shift that natural neutral handling of the Golf backwards, with more bias towards oversteer. Overall grip is improved too, I reckon I can corner a good 5-10 mph quicker now too.
VERY pleased with the result
As standard the Mk2 Golf GTI handles nicely, it's very neutral, with a bit of understeer when on/past the limits of grip. It's a very predictable and forgiving chassis.
As good as it is, I prefer my cars to be a little more biased towards oversteer on/past the limit, so to that end I decided to fit an uprated rear ARB. I decided to use a Whiteline adjustable rear ARB as I've used these previously on the Scooby and both Integras with great results, and as luck would have it I found a barely used one for sale on the Golf MK2 forums. I managed to get it for the bargian price of £60 (including droplinks and all fitting hardware). A great buy, considering you can't get them for much less than £200 new at the moment.
Fitting was a little different to the Scooby and 'Tegs, on those cars it's a replacement for the standard ARB, but the Golf doesn't have a rear ARB as standard. The Whiteline item is fitted by basically 'strapping' it to the rear beam, then picking up on the lower strut bolts via drop-links.
Here are a couple of (poor) pics of it fitted:
I also had an alignment done, with 1.3 degrees of negative camber dialled in at the front.
So has the ARB and alignment made a difference? Hell yeah, 'night and day' doesn't even come close to describing the difference. Previously my Golf's handling felt a little 'wooly' (probably due to the alignment being out), but now it's totally transformed.
Less bodyroll, turn-in is improved, and understeer is vastly reduced. It now oversteers at/past the limit in a predictable and controllable manner. The mod has done exactly what wanted it to do: Shift that natural neutral handling of the Golf backwards, with more bias towards oversteer. Overall grip is improved too, I reckon I can corner a good 5-10 mph quicker now too.
VERY pleased with the result
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