Gary,

I agree, sort of! Just a couple of points to add:

1. The vanagon as it has pretty close to 50/50 weight distribution. Initial
understeer followed by terminal oversteer behaviour you describe may not be
as apparent in vanagons as it is in Type II etc.

2. a rear anti-roll bar was a factory option. The trailing arms (for that
option) have mounting brackets attached.

Alistair

--
'82 Westy -> diesel converted to gas in '94
albell@uvic.ca
http://homepage.mac.com/alistairbell/home/

on 09/04/2002 5:47 AM, Gary Stearns at gstearns@OPTONLINE.NET wrote:

> I haven't installed one yet, but I'm researching it right now.  The only
> source that I know of is ADDCO. http://www.addco.net/ . I'm considering
> making my own out of chromoly tubing and adjustable arms.
>
> You're question "does it help to keep the rear wheels planted when cornering
> hard?" sort of misses the point.  In pure theory an anti-roll bar will
> actually cause the inside rear wheel to lift and spin in a hard corner. The
> advantage is that a rear a/r bar will shift the "roll-couple" or roll
> resistance to the rear wheels, causing the rear wheels to carry more of the
> cornering load.  This takes this roll resistance load off of the front
> wheels allowing them to turn the van more effectively.  In practical terms,
> you'd be shifting the van's designed-in tendancy to understeer (plow),
> toward a tendancy to oversteer (spin-out).  If done moderately leaving the
> van's cornering balance closer to the neutral range, this shift can make for
> a fast vehicle in the corners.
>
> One caution though; from the factory VW set up the Vanagon with a lot of
> understeer for safety reasons. With the engine in the rear, a shift of the
> roll-couple to the rear can create a situation where the van tries to
> spin-out at the worst possible time (in a fast corner, realize you're going
> too fast, take your foot off the gas...there she goes, your in the trees
> butt first).  Test your setup a lot before you trust it.  A wet, smooth,
> empty parking lot is a great place to try to lose the rear in a corner just
> to find out how easily it happens.
>
> Get it right, and your Vanagon will be a lot more fun.
>
> Gary