Rear Anti-Roll Bar - Sedan vs Estate

[addo]

OK, a question: How are the ends created on an Activa rear bar? On a standard they are clearly forged in, but it appears the Activa's bar ends are possibly splined or flatted, to permanently fit the small lever arms.

What I'm looking at, is the possible need to build or modify a rear bar to suit an Estate "Activa".

With the regular sedans including HII, rear bar is Ø21 or Ø22mm. Estates are Ø23mm. With the fourth power of diameter being our criteria here for comparative deflection under load - that's 19.5% stiffer on the estate.

A simple adding of 20% stiffness to the Activa bar for an estate equivalent yields a Ø26.25mm "suggestion".

At one level, this makes good sense - heavier load capacity, with the ability to nearly "pump" level on hard cornering.

Anyone care to comment?

Regards, Adam.

[CitroJim]

Hi Adam,

The ARB on the Activa is totally different to the normal one and very thick. In fact, when the SC/CVAR electrovale is closed, there is no "give" in the ARB whatsoever; it is rigid. The only softening of the ARB comes about through the action of the SC/CAR balancing sphere acting as a spring effectively on the ends of both front and rear ARBs.

To all intents and purposes, Activa ARBs are girders or RSJs

When the weather is kinder, I'm going to try upping the pressure in the SC/CAR balancing sphere to see if I can soften the stiffness in the ARBs a bit for a little more comfort possibly.

Experimentation, the stuff of life